By David Jenkin

For the past few years, Jacque du Preez, founder and managing director of PMG, has given feedback to stakeholders about developments that affect the industry. This year, his approach was slightly different, he said, as he had given a lot of focus to the global commuter landscape and how South Africa fits into the bigger picture.

He addressed a dominant trend globally and locally – the increase in urbanisation. Africa is set to take the lead in urbanisation rates by 2030 with a massive population influx into the metros. Johannesburg is unique as it is set to become the first megacity that isn’t near the coast or a major river system, and that means massive pressure will be placed on infrastructure. Of concern is the misalignment of demand and supply, he said. “Seventy percent will be living in urban areas by 2030 in South Africa, so we had better get our planning and our infrastructure alignment ready. And it’s already happening.”

He explained that this added pressure results in longer commuting times, which is part of a global issue. Many developed cities have successfully adopted the ‘smart city’ approach to planning, with a mass transport system at its core that enables intermodality. Bus rapid transit (BRT), such as Johannesburg’s Rea Vaya, is therefore going to become increasingly important in South Africa, and this forms part of the gradual formalisation of the taxi industry, while more aggressive tolling can be expected in order to disincentivise private vehicle use. “BRT systems are here to stay, and they’re going to change the way people live and behave and consume media – it’s critical that you understand the implications.”

In terms of spaces, he said; “People are looking for convenience, and they are shopping closer to the nodes where they are disembarking or embarking, and obviously retailers are organising themselves around those nodes – with infrastructure formalising, it’s a key trend.” A question was raised from the floor about whether informal traders may suffer as a result and Du Preez acknowledged that it was a problem and one that government is concerned about. “You build infrastructure and it has implications for society,” he said.

As far as marketing opportunities are concerned, he explained how commuters want to be tuned in and consume a lot of information through their phones. “The integration of out-of-home media, transit media, and social media platforms is going to be critical going forward,” he said.
“Value exchange is also a common theme we’re picking up with all the major cities – it’s a big theme in the out-of-home landscape.” He explained that cities will issue advertising concessions in exchange for certain services. “So you will have advertising rights if you provide free wifi networks, or look after ablution facilities free of charge.”

Currently, he said, there is an opportunity for brands in what he called ‘third space opportunities’. “Commuters are spending more time out of the home, they’re looking for that third space – rest areas, almost like a business lounge at an airport. So can we create that type of environment or that opportunity for brands in ranks, in intermodal facilities? I think there’s a lot of unique ideas we can throw around.”

Retailers, he said, will have to adjust dramatically in terms of their operating hours, formats, and locations, and this has already started happening.
“What we’re predicting as well is that a lot of out of home media opportunities will be standardised, and they will be stricter in terms of enforcement. Globally, what we’re seeing is less and less out of home media, but more sophisticated out of home media. By that I mean digital, smarter devices, and opportunities, and they will become more expensive.”

Another opportunity, he said, lies with big data. “There’s a lot of big data available, especially in these commuter nodes – passenger data, there’s a lot of geographic data in a specific area that you can now access, and brands in my opinion are not even close to understanding what’s available, nevermind getting their minds around it and mining that data and building some intelligence off it.”

He concluded with a few remarks on why transit media is so important, and will remain so – namely the ability to target geographically, with guaranteed exposure to regular audiences that are active in the economy.

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