Christchurch Airport is no longer the sole airport listed in APN Outdoor New Zealand’s ledger, because the company has just announced that it has also won the Auckland Airport account.
APN Outdoor general manager Phil Clemas says that he is delighted to finally talk about the deal, which he describes as the largest outdoor media advertising concession in New Zealand.
“The contract was signed prior to Christmas, but Auckland Airport wanted to wait for the end-of-year rush to pass before announcing it to the public,” he says.
According to the APN Outdoor GM, agencies were invited to pitch for the account last year, and he adds that the tender process proved “long-winded and very competitive.”
“We were all asked to put together a media proposal for the airport … and although there was significant interest from various agencies, Auckland Airport saw value in our plans to realign the billboard advertising [currently on offer],” he says.
“Our first plan is to introduce new technology and add a digital element to the displays. We also want to [localise]some of the advertising. At the moment there’s a lot of American and Australian-centric advertising, and we hope to give it a more local feel. Finally, we also hope to declutter the space to enhance the premium environment of the airport.”
APN Outdoor will, however, have to wait to effect these changes, because Australia-based oOh Media, the incumbent, will continue to hold the account until 1 November 2014, when its contract with the airport expires.
Despite this major loss, oOh’s chief executive Brendon Cook remained optimistic about the company’s presence in the New Zealand market.
“We wish the winner of the tender well, but welcome the opportunity to invest money, which would otherwise have been needed for the delivery of our Auckland Airport proposal, into aggressively expanding and improving our retail and study offerings,” he said in a release shortly after the news became public.
Clemas said that the deal with the airport consists of an eight-year, fixed term contract, which while not being subject to any specific KPIs will be dependent on strict budget constraints delineated by the client.