Recent visitors to Oliver Tambo International Airport have seen LG’s curved OLED and Ultra HDTVs installed at both the domestic and international retail spaces of the airport.

They provide an interactive demonstration of cutting-edge display technology. UHDTV and OLED have been widely hailed as the future of TV viewing. The curved OLED has the distinction of being the thinnest TV in the world.

Both technologies are already available in the South African market, but these airport installations allow LG to personally demonstrate the immersive qualities of the screens. South Africans are able personally experience high level innovation within premium environments, says Thomas van der Linde, GM Marketing LG Electronics.

“Choosing OR Tambo as a prime location for showcasing the next-gen televisions is a strategic one. Over a million visitors pass through the airport on a monthly basis. As a captive audience, they represent a wide cross-section of demographics, from goal-oriented business travellers and to holiday-makers” he concludes.

“I would like to congratulate LG and the rest of the LG South Africa team on the billboard at OR Tambo domestic departures,” says Bulelani Maxongo, the key account manager for Advertising for O.R. Tambo International Airport. The Group Marketing Manager for Until Manager adds, “Dominating domestic departures is genius, as this is the busiest area in airports in Africa”.

The TVs aren’t the only way LG is taking advantage of O.R. Tambo’s location as the gateway to Africa and a hub for corporate travellers. The consumer electronics company has installed a massive 102 metre long billboard – the longest in South Africa airports – at domestic departures.

The billboard has proved a hit with high LSM airport visitors in terms of recall. In a poll of 248 consumers across LSM 7 to 10, respondents had overwhelming praise for the billboard. Seventy-eight percent of respondents felt that the LG billboard had an impact on them, with a majority choosing it as the one that spoke to them the most out of all marketing campaigns in the airport.

The words used to describe it were uniformly positive.

The findings are particularly optimistic when compared against research on the effectiveness of Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising. A recent GIBS study found that OOH is the third highest channel general consumers connect with 15,9% of South African consumers connecting with OOH advertising. The study went on to predict the impact that OOH advertising in malls had on shopper behaviour against markets prioritising both luxury and consumer brands.

The success of LG’s engagement strategies at an airport location shows that there are incredible opportunities for the marketing of premium products outside of traditional channels. The company’s approach to OOH placements make it clear that it emphasises innovation in all aspects of its operations, not just its products.