Moving billboards offer Tanzania businesses cheaper advertising options

A new advertising model is allowing small businesses in Moshi area of Tanzania cut down on advertising budget while reaching out to targeted clientele, interacting directly with them and translating into increased sales.

Known as moving billboards the new concept is giving advertisers a chance to meet and interact with prospective clients and engage with them directly. Clients are charged according to time taken, allowing clients to choose convenient packages depending on their financial muscles. They are placed in moving cars or customized bicycles and motorbikes. A 30 minutes advertisement cost Sh$50 on a van while it costs a client $20 on the same when a motorbike is used. Advertisement messages and designs are done by Swelter Advertising Limited, one of the companies involved in such billboards.

Advertisement messages once crafted and approved by the client are printed neatly on a hard paper which is covered by a slim transparent nylon paper. Those papers are then stuck on the sideways or on strategic positions of select cars and motorbikes and which then move to areas where the business niche market may be identified to be located. This is based on the agreement between the client and the advertising company. According to the company's Managing Director Sylvester Mwambani, they have a formidable advertising team with wide experience in marketing that easily identify possible market for different goods and services. '' Once a client has approached the advertising of their product or services, our team quickly figure out possible markets, learn more about them, identify its competitors in the market, craft and design catchy messages before heading to the field,'' said Mwambani.

He explained that a client is charged depending on the length of the advertisement, where it is located, how long they want the advertisement to move around and whether they want the advert on a motorbike or in the car.  “We have to call to mind all these factors because we are also in business. For example, an advert placed on a car would cost more expensive than those on motorbike first because the size will be bigger in a car and because the car gives more space to accommodate bigger and more adverts,” said Mwambani. For motorbikes, the adverts are placed as banners towering behind the driver’s seat.
A minute advert on a national television in Tanzania costs between $1500 and $3000 depending on time it is aired.

The moving billboards are also cheaper than the billboards erected in the streets. They have become famous with supermarkets, beauty shops, hotels and education institutions in Moshi town.  ''We reach a client in person and take time to explain to them how the service works because it is still alien to most of them,” said Mwambani. He explained that a client can easily evaluate efficiency of their services by accessing the number of sells made after, during and before advertisement. The company has entered into an arrangement with the local motorbike drivers to be working with them and letting them earn commissions based on distance covered and number of enquiries and sales that come from advertisement on their bikes. “We felt it was a potent model for us as a business and for our engagement with the locals to partner with the motorbike guys. It has worked wonders so far,” Ambani added.