S’KHUMBUZO NKOSI DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PRIMEDIA OUTDOOR EVALUATES OUTDOOR INDUSTRY EMPOWERMENT AND TRANSFERENCE OF SKILLS

Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and skills transfer have become industry ‘buzzwords’. While commerce has made a concerted effort to effectively implement the process, many perceive the response from the advertising industry as being slow to transform, and applying ‘cosmetic’ methods of complying with regulation. Deputy Managing Director, Primedia Outdoor S’khumbuzo Nkosi, shares his views on transformation.

“BEE requires dedication and committed input from senior management, investors and other stakeholders to be viable and genuinely successful. For effective transference of skills, the existing business has to run at optimum levels. The workforce must excel in each aspect to make transference workable. When recruiting, Employment Equity (EE) must be implemented; bearing in mind that effective recruitment is nothing without a competent mentor to transfer skills. Applying a goal-setting process is crucial to the learning of the industry, an integral part of the growth of employees.

Primedia Outdoor’s model of empowerment is premised on that of the organisation’s black shareholder, the Mineworkers Investment Company, and has five empowerment doctrines: Equity and ownership to influence strategy; day to day running of the company to ensure management control; training and skills development through setting and achieving EE targets, and a rigorous community social investment.

The process is overseen by an internal Transformation Committee, whose mandate is to set policy frame work in terms of the ITC Charter monitor the progress and continuously evaluate new opportunities to constantly improve the company’s BEE credentials.

Primedia Outdoor’s credentials add weight to the momentous goals we’ve set for the organisation and elevate Primedia Outdoor to an exemplary level. We are committed to the transformation process and aim to make a valuable contribution to job creation, raise our employees’ quality of life and consistently deliver value to our clients.

The Primedia Group as a whole is dedicated to going forward by sustaining the financial growth of the company, creating jobs and directing a portion of its profits to social responsibility issues. Primedia Outdoor has invested R8 million in empowered suppliers and contractors, including ongoing support and mentoring, addressing human resource issues, assisting wherever possible with equipment, flighting and maintenance criteria. Further ensuring sustainable economic empowerment, Primedia Outdoor supports these entrepreneurs in their business practices, enabling them to empower other individuals.

“Primedia Outdoor’s ethos, in turn, mirrors South Africa’s dictums. As an organisation we aim to contribute to the improved quality of life. Profit, growth, empowerment and skills transfer are imperative if the country is to continue to nurture development.”

S’KHUMBUZO NKOSI DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR, PRIMEDIA OUTDOOR CONFIRMS THE POSITIVE CHANGES WITHIN THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY

Deputy Managing Director, Primedia Outdoor, S’khumbuzo Nkosi examines the evolution of the outdoor industry, the introduction of authoritative bodies, and increased regulations.

“The implementation of a democratic government has seen many positive results including enhanced economical and social growth. In turn, the outdoor advertising industry has been subject to much debate and the introduction of increased regulations and advisory bodies, has made the medium more accountable, removing the previous ‘cowboy’ image. This has encouraged advertisers to realise the marketing and communication channels’ potential of outdoor advertising as opposed to electing to use the medium based on race definitions as in previous years, where billboards were predominantly utilised in under-regulated rural and township environments ” comments Nkosi.

According to Nkosi, there are still several challenges to be overcome. “It is essential that regulatory bodies and authorities understand the intricacies of the outdoor business and industry. Rulings should be rigorously enforced and embraced in a responsible manner. Authorities should be cognisant of the fact that while regulation is necessary, over-regulating could hinder the growth process resulting in the proliferation of illegal billboards. To avoid stunting the growth of the industry regulatory processes must be applied in a manner that encourages, rather than restrains, entrepreneurial spirit.”

In addition, societal issues have to be addressed, communities that haven’t yet been exposed to the positive elements of the outdoor industry should be educated on the benefits. Primedia Outdoor is able to provide cities and its citizens with public amenities, in the form of street furniture such as bus or taxi shelters and street name signs. The supply and maintenance of such amenities provided by Primedia Outdoor afford the public much needed facilities and sustain a mutually beneficial relationship between the public and private sector while offering marketers unique brand building opportunities within a regulated environment.

South Africa is a strong country with phenomenal business opportunities, including advertising. The emerging black market is another avenue for marketers to explore but requires the eradication of misconceptions and stereotypes. Advertising to the black emerging market must be executed with the same level of respect applied when advertising to the traditional white markets.

To aggressively market the positive attributes of outdoor advertising: increased awareness, big brand feel and exceptional return on investment, the industry must continue to be accountable, highlight the benefits and reinforce its position as a results-driven medium.

Increasing costs and media fragmentation are taking their toll on marketing budgets, forcing traditional media formats to cope with lean times, and Nkosi is buoyant about the industry predicting a positive outlook for solution based outdoor advertising and out-of-home media activity.

The outdoor advertising industry has and will continue to grow through innovation, flexibility, competitive production costs, greater capital investment into quality inventory, improved campaign planning and evaluation techniques. Greater media accountability has become the norm, contributing to outdoor’s share of advertising spend increasing to 4.3% in the last year.

Primedia Outdoor is the largest wholly South African owned national outdoor advertiser. For more information visit www.primeoutdoor.co.za

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