Communications in Ghana: DDP Outdoor, Ghana’s Largest Billboard and Signage Printing Firm

Interview with Torgbor Mensah, CEO of DDP Outdoor

What is your assessment of the communications and advertising sector in Ghana and the subregion? What are the latest trends? What is the image the sector has now?

The advertising sector in Ghana is very dynamic. We represent most of the big brands around the world here. We have a population of nearly 50 million people in the country. It is really 30 million people, but when you add travelers from Nigeria, Togo or Burkina who come here daily to buy and then go home, they are also influenced by what they see through advertising in Ghana. They see outdoor advertising the most, maybe only a few television ads in their hotels. If you are a citizen, you see more television adverts, a few in the newspapers, but most of it is outdoor. We do not have that many television sets in homes in this country. We have very few printed newspapers. Radio is good, but not many people have radios. So, in a country that is middle income like Ghana, outdoor advertising is the number one medium of selling. People are constantly reminded of the products they are used to or products they must buy or continue to buy. What you see is what you get.

Are there many companies in the sector? Is it competitive?

We have over 100 outdoor advertising companies in Ghana. Because DDP has been in the market for four decades, we have a lot of competitive advantage. We started installing signs in this country over 40 years ago so we have been the driving force of all national campaigns in Ghana. Ghana Goes Right, Ghana Goes Left, Ghana Goes Digital, all those campaigns are being led by DDP. We continue to be the number one provider of strategic outdoor signs across the country.

What are the segments where you are present? There are airports, roads, digital, LEDs, etc. What are your competitive advantages in each segment?

Our main advantage is to serve our clients across West Africa where we are champions. In Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, and other West African countries, even though we do not have our own presence there, we have established affiliates and we help to install signs.

Because of the size of our presence, we also have interest as a group in media companies and creative advertising companies. We have clients who want total service: PR, media placement, BTL which is below the line services, etc. So, we have other companies in our group that do that. It helps us to give 100% service to our clients. This makes DDP easily the top in our area of expertise. People who want good outdoor ads always come to DDP first before they go anywhere else. We now have the sole franchise for airport advertising in Ghana for the new Terminal 3. For the next five years and beyond, we are in control of the advertising in the airport. We have over 4,000 faces of advertising signs in Ghana, and over 2,000 billboards nationwide in every district. We have the largest signs across the country. We have lighted signs, digital signs, LEDs. We are leading in every sector of outdoor advertising.

What is your international exposure?

Our main advantage is to serve our clients across West Africa where we are champions. In Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, and other West African countries, even though we do not have our own presence there, we have established affiliates and we help to install signs. For example, DDP did signs for Air Côte d’Ivoire across West Africa from Senegal to Sierra Leone, Gambia, Nigeria, and Cameroon.

What is your strategy for your international presence?

We want to grow that market. The same brands operating in Ghana are operating across Africa. For example, we are the largest suppliers of outdoor services to MTN in Ghana. But MTN is in Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Benin, and other West African countries. It is easier for us to serve our clients better if they hand over their jobs to us in Accra and we migrate their services across Africa. One touch, that is what we do.

What are the challenges that you face in this industry?

The only challenges we face sometimes are restrictions. In one country they do not take billboards bigger than 3×4 meters. In other countries, like Ghana or Nigeria, you can go up to 6×20 or even 40 meters. It does not matter because they have the space. In other countries, it might be restricted and you cannot have a sign the size of what you would in Ghana or Nigeria, but you might have no limit on the number of signs.

Are you restricted in the areas you can put up advertising?

There are some areas such as state houses. You of course cannot put signs in front of state buildings. You must respect that. For example, in America, there are no signs in Washington. The capital of the US will not allow billboards as a law, although America is the home of advertising. Those restrictions apply in many countries and we must respect them.

Are you interested in attracting investors or technological improvement?

Of course. It is a growing business and the sector is very dynamic. You must be ready to attract interest, investment, new ideas, and new technologies to grow the business. If you do not do so, you are dead. Someone else will come in with new technology and new ideas and you will be out. If you are a leading brand like Coca-Cola or IBM, you do not wait for your competitors to overtake you, you always try to lead. So, we are interested in anything that will bring new ideas to grow the business. DDP is growing so if there is anybody who has an interest, they can come to see us and we will take it from there.

What is the demand versus the supply? Who has the lead in the business, is it the clients or the advertising companies?

The clients have the lead. Luckily, our government in Ghana is promoting a lot of industry. We call it “One District, One Factory”. We have 100 or more industries in Ghana. All these industries or factories producing various products must advertise and that will be a big boom for our sector. We hope that vision of the government will come into fruition so we will have more business for advertising.

What are your current projects? Do you have any success stories?

Our new vision deals with the N1, or Ghana’s Network 1, which is the road that goes from Aflao to Abidjan. We want to migrate signs on the N1 from Accra to the north and the south so that wherever you travel, from Lagos into Accra to Abidjan, you will see DDP signs. That is our major plan that we are working on now.

What is your vision for the medium term, two to three years’ time? Where do you want the company to be if everything goes according to plan?

We are already on top, but we want to take the signs to the next level. We will introduce minimal new signs, but improve the structure of those that are already on the ground. Some of these signs have been there for 10 or 20 years, because we have been around for over 40 years. We now need to upgrade those signs to improve their visibility and give our clients a better product. We have operated for a long time and there is the need for us to change and improve those signs to make them more beautiful and more visible. It is good for us, the country, and everybody.

What is Africa Rising?

As the president of the Advertising Association of Ghana, I hope to sell Africa Rising as a product of Ghana. Africa Rising is a product of the IAA, the International Advertising Association. For the past three years, we have had the Africa Rising event in Ghana. In May of this year, we are inviting all good minds in advertising, marketing, and communications to come together in Accra to discuss Africa Rising in the world market and advertising.

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