eTV confirmed that the outdoor advertising campaign contributed substantially to the successful launch of Scandal and commented that the show's AR's exceeded expectations.

"We designed the advertising campaign to ensure that viewers tuned in to the first episode, and promoted this through outdoor advertising, selected radio stations, national newspapers, and magazines containing television programme information. The success of the campaign and its various elements are evident in the AR's received," states Bronwyn Keene-Young, Channel Director of eTV.

The ratings extracted from SAARF TAMS January 2005, indicate that over the first two episodes, the media plan delivered an AR rating of 7.2 across all adults. Further examination indicated an 8.5 rating within the LSM group 5 - 6 and 6.2 within the LSM group 7 - 10. Ratings for the second episode achieved 3.6 across all adults.

"We expected the ratings to drop after the first episode as this is a daily drama in one of the most competitive timeslots in the country. Given our expectations that the show will take some time to settle in and grow its audience the results are very positive," reiterates Keene- Young.

"Outdoor's big brand feel, ease of application, flexibility and its capacity to provide region-specific solutions means that outdoor advertising has continuously generated exceptional brand exposure with high frequency. In the past, radio was one of the most dominant electronic media spending on outdoor advertising, but recent trends have seen a marked increase in the number of television stations purchasing outdoor media space, and at a much faster rate" comments Dashni Naidu, Marketing Manager, Primedia Outdoor.

"Combining outdoor and television exposure delivers marketers media synergies where television ads are reinforced by outdoor visuals. Flighting the same message on two different mediums simultaneously, like outdoor and television sharpens: awareness, brand retention, high recall value and reinforces the message in two different, but very receptive environments." Says Naidu

eTV effectively maximised their Adspend across outdoor, television, print and radio, resulting in a high impact launch of Scandal, evidenced by AR ratings," reinforces Naidu.

"The Scandal advertising campaign and the inclusion of outdoor in the mix effectively demonstrates the impact of outdoor advertising when used in conjunction with other leading mediums," concludes Naidu.