7 months ago
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Advertising company Visual Vibe has struck a screen-sharing agreement with events company NGAP Limited, giving both joint-venture partners greater presence in the outdoor advertising space.
Visual Vibe recently upgraded its screens at Half-Way Tree and Manor Park in Kingston, and is next looking to upgrade and replace the Emancipation Park screen in New Kingston, according to CEO Tyrone Wilson.
The deal between Visual Vibe and NGAP came at a time when the former company was on the lookout for partners to expand its business since a rocky takeover by what is now Kintyre Holdings JA Limited, and NGAP was having a hard time attracting clients to its one digital advertising board in Portmore and static boards at other locations in St Catherine.
Incorporated in June 2015, NGAP Limited’s sole director is Wayne Morrison, who holds 10,000 of the 12,000 issued shares, or 83 per cent of the business, while Andre Gray holds the other 2,000 shares, according to Companies Office of Jamaica records.
Morrison says the company is involved in events execution, such as birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, weddings and corporate engagements. In addition, the company will plug “any gap in a marketing and public relations effort”, he said, hence the name NGAP.
NGAP was initially a 50:50 partnership with another events company that Morrison declined to name. They parted ways in 2022, with NGAP keeping a half of the equipment, including trussing, sound, lighting, stage and TV systems. Some of that gear were immediately put into the venture into outdoor advertising, Morrison told the Financial Gleaner.
NGAP is entering the Visual Vibe partnership with a total of five screens. One is presently installed and working in the vicinity of Portmore Pines, St Catherine, and four are slated for deployment across Jamaica.
Morrison said purchasing the screens, securing the Portmore location, and the construction for the board itself cost NGAP about $4.5 million, which was financed from its retained earnings. Another four boards are on order and two should be delivered in March, with yet another two boards, to bring the total to five, coming shortly after March.
“Once they get here, I would say within another probably two months, they will be up and running,” he said.
The five additional screens will effectively mean a 40 per cent expansion in Visual Vibe’s screen network.
The joint venture presents a win-win for both companies, according to Morrison, while noting that competing with heavy hitters like Caledonia and iPrint had been “a huge headache” for NGAP.
The venture represents an easier path to expansion for Visual Vibe, according to Wilson.
“This business is all about scale; the more locations you have, the more the advertisers work with you directly, rather than go to a smaller entity with just a few locations. So, it’s part of our strategy to work with companies like NGAP who want to be a part of a larger network,” Wilson explained
NGAP now has access to the 13 boards that are in the Visual Vibe line-up, in return for access to the five boards from his company.
“What this does now is, one, I get clients, and two, Visual Vibe, who would have been looking to expand that as well, are getting boards that they can also offer to their clients,” said Morrison. “Of course, it works vice versa. I can also go to some of my clients and actually pitch that I have Visual Vibe boards as well. It works both ways,” Morrison said.
He added that under the agreement there were safeguards covering his company’s revenue streams.
“Based off the agreement, I should have access to the system that they’re using, which would tell me how many ads have been run on the board for the month. So, it’s not a word-of-mouth thing,” Morrison added.
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