Adshel scoops 'world's best'

By Karyn Scherer

Never mind Kawakawa's toilets, another architectural masterpiece is about to make its mark..

This time they are bus shelters, and they will soon be coming to a street near you.

Thanks to a deal between eight city councils and outdoor advertising company Adshel New Zealand, around 800 new bus shelters are about to pop up all over the North Island.

The shelters have been designed by Richard Meier, the man behind Los Angeles' new Getty Centre and one of the world's most prominent architects.

According to Adshel's Australian-based managing director, Peter Cope, the Meier shelters are up there with the world's best.

Eventually, they will carry real-time information on when the next bus is due to arrive, but that will be dependent on councils installing GPS systems in buses.

In the meantime, Aucklanders will get the chance to decide for themselves how impressive they are. A prototype has recently been installed outside the Civic Theatre on Queen St, Auckland, and the council is hoping for public feedback.

It has contracted Adshel to install several hundred of the shelters around the suburbs, although a different shelter is likely to be designed for the central business district. The same firm that designed the Viaduct Basin's street furniture, Architectus, will be in charge of finalising designs. The Wellington City Council also plans to design its own shelter.

The massive project was signalled by Adshel almost two years ago, but its plans were put on hold while it held lengthy negotiations with a team representing eight city councils: Auckland, North Shore, Waitakere, Manukau, Hamilton, Rotorua, Lower Hutt and Wellington.

The 23-year contract is seen as a milestone for the outdoor advertising industry, as it is the first time the councils have got together to negotiate a joint proposal.

In total, the contracts are estimated to be worth around $200 million and will increase the number of advertising faces Adshel has in New Zealand to around 3000.

The deal, which includes pedestrian shelters, phone kiosks, automatic public toilets, seats, litter bins and other street furniture, is hard for councils to resist. The shelters are supplied free of charge by Adshel, which is also obliged to clean them, inspect them, and fix any damage within 24 hours. Councils also get a cut of the advertising revenue they generate.

They are also able to tailor the contract to their own needs, with at least two - Auckland and Manukau - including a clause which prevents the shelters being used to advertise alcohol. The issue has been controversial in the past because of concern by councils that young people using the bus shelters would be influenced by the ads.

Adshel was formed in New Zealand in 1998, as part of the worldwide merger mania that has swept the industry.

In a convoluted deal, 3M Media's billboard and airport advertising division was snapped up by a consortium between APN News and Media, Wilson & Horton, and Clear Channel Communications - the same consortium that also owns New Zealand's largest radio company, The Radio Network.

Meanwhile, APN - which already owned bus advertising company Buspak in New Zealand - joined forces with one of the world's biggest outdoor advertising companies, the More Group, to run the bus shelter division.

The More Group has itself since been taken over by Clear Channel, an American-based media company which also has significant investments in radio and television.

Bus shelter advertising has existed in New Zealand for less than a decade, and has previously struggled to make much headway amid a plethora of other advertising media.

Until now, the Hamilton and Lower Hutt councils had not allowed advertising on their bus shelters, and the Tauranga and Dunedin councils remain committed to keeping their bus shelters advertising-free.

According to the latest figures, collated by the Advertising Agencies Association, outdoor advertising accounted for just $14 million of spending on advertising in 1998 - 1 per cent of overall spending.

In other countries, it generally accounts for around 10 per cent of advertising spending.

Mr Cope said New Zealand had the "dubious distinction" of having the lowest ratio of outdoor advertising in the western world.

"[General manager of Adshel] Len van der Harst more than doubled the business last year, but I guess if we'd been building at a steady rate we would be a bit bigger than what we are," he concedes.

While he admits Adshel is taking a gamble on New Zealand companies taking advantage of the extra sites, he is crossing his fingers that we will mimic Australia's experience.

Adshel moved into the Australian market in June 1997 and now holds 90 per cent of the street furniture business, with 11,500 advertising panels nationally.

Over the past three years, its revenue has increased from $A7 million to more than $A20 million, and it is aiming to hit $A40 million this year.

"People are aware it is emerging as the last true mass media," Mr Cope said. "You can go out and buy 300 sites and be reasonably confident that 80 per cent of consumers will see that campaign.

"We're bigger than the internet and we're growing faster than the internet. We've seen four-fold growth, which is awesome. It has taken off like a rocket.

"If we can see anything approaching the same take-off in investment in New Zealand we will achieve our business plan and we will be New Zealand's biggest outdoor advertising company."