November is Global Entrepreneurship Month and The South African Breweries is giving local entrepreneurs an electronic billboard to light up and promote their businesses, at no cost to the entrepreneur!
One of the elements that helps take a business from ideation to growth is advertising and sometimes a right-time-and-place opportunity – like having your business advertised in a prime outdoor location with high traffic volume. SAB has launched an electronic ‘living’ billboard that uses 3 360 light bulbs to advertise small and medium sized businesses free of charge. The billboard has been erected on one of SA’s high volume traffic routes, Jan Smuts Avenue heading towards Johanesburg. It has been live since 10 November and will continue displaying businesses through to early December 2017. The aim of the billboard is to provide SMMEs with advertising at a scale which they would ordinarily not have the opportunity to do on their own.
SAB is calling on entrepreneurs to take advantage of this new and free advertising opportunity by submitting their registered business name, service provided and contact number via SMS to 33011. Once submitted businesses are vetted and if approved and selected the business will be advertised in the loop of businesses displayed on the billboard. The electronic billboard rotates through the thousands of entries received, giving each one the very real chance at business opportunities from the 1.3-million people who will pass this billboard every month.
That’s opportunity. And this is just the beginning of how The South African Breweries (SAB) looks to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and job creation in South Africa.
Recognising the hurdles that entrepreneurs face involves both access to – and covering the costs involved – when listing on a billboard like this. Committed to being a part of the solution, this electronic SAB billboard is one component of the organisation’s pledge to creating 10 000 sustainable job opportunities by 2022.
The holistic SAB Entrepreneurship Programme encompasses four entrepreneurship programmes, namely: SAB KickStart, SAB Foundation, SAB Accelerator and SAB Thrive. SAB also provides support for emerging farmers and provides business development support to SMMEs at various stages of the entrepreneurship lifecycle. “SAB has been actively involved in encouraging entrepreneurship in South Africa and supporting small to medium businesses, particularly youth owned businesses, for more than 20 years. Through our interaction with entrepreneurs and a multitude of experts in the area of entrepreneurship, we have a good handle on the many challenges faced by entrepreneurs and how to help overcome these.
One of these challenges is the ability to raise awareness of their business and being able to market it adequately when, more often than not, they are financially constrained. The SAB Entrepreneurship billboard offers these businesses advertising at a scale they would not ordinarily have the resources to achieve by themselves at their current level of operation,” says Andrea Quaye, Vice President Marketing, SAB and AB InBev Africa.
This project’s billboard measures 3 metres by 12 metres and uses pre-loaded messaging to display business details on an uninterrupted, LIVE loop that runs from 10 November through to early December 2017 – at no cost to the entrants.
This is a very real opportunity which ordinarily many entrepreneurs are unable to afford at inception stages of their business. The opportunity provides a window, to these businesses, to be seen by a substantial audience presenting the turnkey of possibility that comes from real leads.
“SAB is investing heavily, both from a financial and a human resource point of view, to offer a comprehensive and holistic package of entrepreneurship support to develop small businesses from ideation to growth, transforming the supply chain, as well as investing in the potential of entrepreneurs in the broader community.
The billboard clearly demonstrates our commitment to backing entrepreneurs in South Africa 100%, whether they are part of our Entrepreneurship programmes or not. We are offering the platform to any registered SMME who believes it could benefit their business,” says Quaye.
The entrepreneurial spirit is galvanised when the right pairings transform opportunity into possibility. And because we at SAB believe in the power of one idea – that one idea that gives life to a business and drives it towards greatness – we see these 3 360 light bulbs as the start of some very real connections between those who read the details written there – and those who have listed them.
SAB, we believe in the power of ideas. That’s why we back entrepreneurs 100%.
To have your business’ details up in lights, please SMS your business name, service provided and business contact number to 33011. SMS costs R1,00. Terms and conditions apply.
*The campaign ends on 10 December 2017
To view and apply to one of SAB’s entrepreneurship programmes go to: www.sabentrepreneurship.co.za
To apply , select one of the four programme options. You will be redirected to a registration page to begin the application process. Programme applications are open until 30 November 2017.
