04 Dec The biggest owned media deal of the year
Australia’s national telco Telstra has long been a pioneer of owned media leverage: they conducted the award-winning THANKS programme almost exclusively through owned channels, they breathed life into tired phone boxes with their free WiFi initiative AIR and they monetise AFL & NRL websites with advertiser dollars. Now they have done it again by revolutionising the standard payphone into a solution that adds value to the population and makes them money.
The new Telstra kiosks are WiFi enabled and include USB charging docks and touchscreens, which display information about public transport, community polling, and multilingual and disability services. They also have a large digital billboard attached which will generate handsome revenues from up to 6 advertisers each week, who will take advantage of their prime locations & high traffic counts.
The partnership with street furniture experts JC Decaux will see them roll out 1800 kiosks in five major cities over the next two years, with Perth already launched and Melbourne to follow in the new year. Decaux are calling it the the “most sophisticated digital out-of-home ecosystem in Australia”.
This deal makes Telstra one of the largest media networks in Australia, competing with established media businesses for the same advertising dollars. Brands are already media owners, they just need to find ways to unlock their assets and in Australia, Telstra are leading the way.