South African Tourism: Underwater sharks to hot air balloons

OAP's campaign, spread across 22 cities, highlights South Africa as an attractive tourist destination. From caged people facing sharks under water to fantasy flights in hot air balloons, the creatives bring out the major attractions of the country.

South African Tourism has featured its country's landscape, adventures, and wild life through innovative outdoor creative created by Outdoor Advertising Professionals (OAP).

As part of the campaign, the agency has created a 40 feet X 20 feet billboard, which displays an image of a shark under water. A 12 feet X 6 feet cage, with the cut-out of a person inside it, hangs over the billboard. The cage moves up and down with the help of a hydraulic pulley. The billboard showcases the underwater adventure offered by South African Tourism.

Another innovation involves a revolving tri-vision billboard. The billboard, which moves with the help of a motor, displays the three creatives, which are lit up for extra effect during the evening. Both innovations have been executed at Mahim Causeway, Mumbai.

A 40 feet X 20 feet billboard at Worli, Mumbai, features the wildlife sanctuary in South Africa. It has a 12 feet cut-out of a rhinoceros separately attached to it. The head of the rhinoceros moves with the help of a motor attached behind it.

Yet another billboard displays a sunset scene in South Africa. Measuring 60 feet X 20 feet, it contains a 7 feet cut-out of a hot-air balloon placed separately to create a 3D effect. On the right side of the billboard, a light brings out the effect of the setting sun.

The agency has used 23 different kinds of outdoor media over 440 sites, which include billboards, backlit walls, bus shelters, cantilevers, glass façades, flagpoles, gantries, glow cubes, King Long buses, Metro signages, pole kiosks, subway panels, skywalks, standalones, malls, and airport displays across the country.

The campaign covers 22 cities including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Baroda, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kochi, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Thane, Vashi, Noida, Pune, Rajkot, and Surat. The innovations have been carried out only in Mumbai.

The client brief was to offer a high impact and high quality exposure, thereby ensuring top-of-the-mind recall. The challenges involved looking for proper outdoor formats and placing them at the right places for maximum visibility.

James Varghese, vice-president, OAP, says, "The strategy behind the campaign was to execute an impactful campaign using outdoor media by reaching various media touch-points. Innovations have been the driving factor in attracting the target audience, who are the niche travellers. Every single detail of the campaign is backed by a technical explanation. The creatives of the campaign showcase the landscapes, natural scenery and wild life of the place, with a message that reads 'Leave ordinary behind.'"

The campaign kicked off on January 26, and will continue until the end of February.