Octopus Media Lights Up Cavill Avenue
Story: Christopher Holder
For digital outdoor media there are only three things that concern the advertiser, the buyer and the owner of the network: location, location, location.
And one of the most desirable untapped locations going around has been the Cavill Ave corner site on the Gold Coast.
Understandably, Octopus Media is rather pleased with itself that it has secured the site, and installed a large-format hi-def screen that is now fully operational.
The $300k investment makes the Cavill Avenue installation one of the largest and highest quality outdoor LED screens in the region and complements the recent multi-million dollar redevelopment of the landmark tourist attraction on the Gold Coast.
“The upgrade of the screen will make this landmark site one of the most watched outdoor advertising sites in Australia with full animation capability, real-time updating and new levels of consumer interaction,” says Octopus Media Founder and Group Managing Director Nir Hadad.
SMART SCREEN
The large format LED screen has several world-class features.
The state-of-the-art screen has the potential to engage audiences through the latest social media interactive tools including the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Advertisers have the opportunity to keep their customers informed with the latest relevant news pulled from specific RSS feeds, up to the minute news of special offers or information about product availability. Consumers can connect and communicate directly with the screen, live, 24 hours a day. The screen’s functionality has the ability to run competitions or gaming promotions and the client can still have full creative control.
Given the hi-def screen spec, advertisers can run full animation. It also means it can act as a full-blown public display, showing cinema or live sports broadcasts.
GOLD PLATED
The installation is also expected to bring benefit to local traders by adding new levels of interaction with the 195,000+ weekly visitors. Certainly that’s what Surfers Paradise Alliance CEO Mike Winlaw would like to think: “We have more than 3700 businesses operating across Surfers Paradise and all benefit from the world class facilities and tourist attractions located along Cavill Avenue. This new digital screen only adds to the redevelopment.”
The Cavill Ave installation signals a significant expansion of Octopus Media digital advertising sites across the country, with several ‘new installations’ in prime landmark sites, announcements expected in the coming months.
$300k investment makes the Cavill Avenue installation one of the largest and highest quality outdoor LED screens in the region
OCTOPUS: MORE REACH
Octopus Group Managing Director Nir Hadad describes how he shook up the Australian DOOH landscape.
Nir Hadad: I moved to Australia around 12 years ago. I’ve been in the media game all my life.
What took me by surprise was just how difficult it was to get approvals for digital signage in Australia. But I persisted. I challenged the government and it took a court ruling to make digital outdoor easier.
It’s still a hard slog to secure these sites. It took me 18 months to land our Dandenong Rd/St Kilda Junction site, for example. Normally the process goes something like this: begin negotiations with landlord/owner of the building; engage a traffic expert, town planning expert and engineers. That might take three months. Use the data and plans to apply to the council. Wait a few months. Often you’re knocked back. Go to VCAT. Win. Then take about two months to install the sign.
I don’t quite understand why the road authority is quite so suspicious of DOOH. Take Times Square, it makes New York City hundreds of millions of dollars, it creates jobs, the place is an icon largely because of the amazing signage.
It’s never been our aim to have the biggest network in the country, we work on ‘quality’ rather than ‘quantity’. For example, I was willing to pay more than our competitors for the Kew Junction site. But, from a strategic point of view, I knew we needed it. We now have network exposure covering the Eastern Seaboard.
With the big iconic sites we often find that significant clients will often want to take over the sign. Nissan ‘owned’ our Kew Junction sign for two years. What’s more, these signs are often more effective for a local business, which are unlikely to want to book advertising nationally. Doncaster BMW for example. That’s not to say that we don’t have major clients that book the whole network, we do, but our signs lend themselves to being more flexible than that.
Octopus Media: (03) 8534 3800 or
www.octopusmedia.com.au