Council partners with 75Media and Wildstone on four new digital billboards in the city.

Outdoor advertising operator 75Media and outdoor media infrastructure owner, Wildstone, have announced a new partnership with Salford City Council. 

An innovative new partnership is serving the dual purpose of helping Salford City Council to deliver vital income into the local area whilst also sharing important communications with local residents.

Wildstone has worked in partnership with Salford City Council to develop four new digital billboard sites, which will be managed and operated by 75Media. The sites will generate a significant annual rental for the council, as well as providing the council with access to the state-of-the-art digital screens at no extra cost. 

The new sites are situated in key roadside locations in and out of the City, on redundant council land. They include two digital 48-sheet billboards and Salford’s first digital 96-sheet billboards in the following locations:

A Salford City Council campaign is currently running on these sites, encouraging people to take pride in their local area and not to drop litter. Recruiting more foster carers, encouraging people to vote in upcoming elections and highlighting important services, initiatives and support residents can access are just some examples of other campaigns planned for the future.

The growth of the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry as a whole shows no sign of slowing down, as organisations continue to value the power of billboards. There’s predicted to be a 4.9% increase in spend on OOH advertising in 2023, compared to a growth in total advertising spend of just 0.5%*.

Katy Conway, Marketing and Communications Director at 75Media, said:

“We all know council budgets are overstretched and resources are limited so this is a fantastic win-win situation for everyone involved: the council benefits not only from much-needed funds from the ground rent but also from the opportunity to use free-of-charge advertising space to push home important messages to local residents. Out-of-home is a powerful advertising medium which can’t be skipped or switched off meaning it’s a fantastic marketing tool for local councils, as well as local businesses, to communicate effectively with their immediate target audiences.”

Councillor Hannah Robinson-Smith, Salford City Council’s Executive Support Member for Culture, Communications & Strategic Priorities, said:

“As an organisation, we understand the importance of good communications. Making local residents aware of key services, support and initiatives that are available and helping them access support they need is vital. Outdoor media plays a crucial role in the marketing mix and we have always used this channel for key campaign activity. These new boards will offer a great addition to our communications activity and what’s great about this partnership is that we can get more messages out, reach more residents and we’re able to utilise outdoor for campaigns, which historically we might not have had the budget to pay for this channel spend.”

Mike Duty, Development Manager at Wildstone, said:

“Wildstone is delighted to have managed the delivery of these exceptional, state-of-the-art media assets in Salford. These developments further underpin our excellent working relationship with Salford City Council, generating vital revenue for the council and its services in these times of austerity, with council budgets continually being constrained. The partnership will initially deliver a total of four screens on key arterial roads throughout the City of Salford, a move that will generate significant annual rental for the council and also bolster our continued growth with 75Media. We look forward to working more closely with both partners on future projects. Additionally, Wildstone are proud to actively support essential community awareness initiatives such as the ongoing litter picking campaign."