The birth of “Billboard” in Nigeria’s Ad Industry: A Review

It is not out of place to refer to “Billboard” as a business publication since its editorial content is aimed at a specific business, i.e. out-of-home advertising. However, it should be noted that out-of-home advertising is more than billboards though the most common product in OOH is the billboard. In that vein, the adopted name, i.e. Billboard, is appropriate for the newsletter.

Outdoor products are actually divided among three primary categories, namely: Billboards, Street Furniture and Transit. While OOH encompasses outdoor advertising, it also extends to the indoors as well, e.g. advertisements in shopping malls, etc.

In a nutshell, it is fervently hoped that Billboard Newsletter will not restrict itself to billboards as hinted in the editorial content of issue No. 1.

Printed on 135 grams matt paper (cover inclusive), BILLBOARD displays a bold but warm masthead that should attract readership.

Its size, i.e. A4 makes it portable and easy to handle and carry around.

A critical look at its content betrays a balanced make-up, showing a methodical arrangement of its stories and pictures, asymmetrical in design and harmony among its type styles.

Readers cannot have a vague feeling of uneasiness because weight is hardly concentrated in any one section of the page.

The newsletter uses at least two or more elements on a page, each of which is dramatically different from the other, e.g. page three interchanges between contrasting light headlines with bold ones.

The same page, e.g. displays a small picture contrasting a larger one. Each page is made to appear lively and interesting because one element is different from the other.

The proportions of elements in the newsletter are pleasing to the eyes. The length of one line can easily compare with that of another, the shape of a story also compares with another and pictures also compare in width and depth.

It also succeeds in avoiding the use of square shape in artistic illustration since this appears dull and uninspiring. Common on pages of the newsletter therefore are unequal proportions of a rectangle, which seem to be more attractive.

While a couple of pages achieve unity whereby each story contributes significantly to the total page design, a few others fail as they carry a collection of stories, each of which tries to get the readers’ attention. The danger here, however, is the possibility of having a page appearance that is far from being unified.

To the extent that most typographic elements relate with one another harmoniously, it can be said that Billboard newsletter achieves harmony.

The flow of the newsletter’s typographic elements makes eye-contact by the reader an experience to savour. The reader is taken round the page with a beautiful presentation of the elements, e.g. its adoption of a combination of horizontal-cum-vertical make-ups only makes reading a delight.

The following characteristics can easily be associated with the newsletter:

• One can spot the use of upper and lower case heads (flush left)
• It uses a couple of larger pictures with some appearing to be dominant on a page.
• It uses a block of text usually beginning with a typographic method that compels the reader to read the opening of the story.
• It breathes as it makes use of air (white space) to emphasize text and illustrations.
• It uses a combination of colours not only in illustrations but in type and decorations as well
• The grade of paper, i.e. matt, is better than most magazines we see around these days.
The two basic weaknesses of the newsletter are:

1. As common with most Nigerian publications, the reviewed edition is not without typographic as well as grammatical errors. I hope that the publisher will pay attention to this
2. The publisher should also consider using a better grade of paper and endeavour to make the cover heavier and glossy than the paper for inside pages. As a mater of fact, art paper brings out colour ads better. Therefore it should be considered for inner pages featuring ads. Why not make the inner pages glossy but with less grammage than the cover?

Generally, the newsletter is exciting to read, attractive as a medium of visual arts and a modern package of beauty. I predict it should command wider acceptance than a lot of magazines in our marketing communications industry today. It can be read time and time again and should offer a high opportunity to see (OTS).

Considering that advertising accounts for almost 80 percent of total revenue in the case of business and professional press (reason why Billboard resorts to free circulation), an attractive advantage the newsletter should have for advertisers is the ability to guarantee latest, superb reproduction techniques to be used.

Another advantage is the tight segmentation opportunities available for advertisers courtesy of controlled circulation.

It may be tough getting ads especially when you are new to the advertising industry. This is because evidence has shown that copies received free are treated much less reverently than copies paid for and so less, are read.

The publisher, if he must continue to give out free copies, should therefore brace up to carry out research on levels of readership, awareness and interest in the stories, features and advertisements.

Will your advertisers patronize your medium primarily to please you rather than to necessarily reach their target market?

Finally, it should be noted that several magazines, newsletters, etc. exist with new ones appearing and old ones disappearing on a regular basis. The publisher of Billboard should therefore ensure continuity so that the newsletter would not have appeared as a flash in the pan at the end of the day.

I pray that the newsletter turns out to be an industry leader in the long run.