One of the country’s leading educational institutions, the Namibian College of Opening Learning (Namcol), last week unveiled a state-of-the-art double-sided digital billboard at its Windhoek offices.
This marked a significant milestone in the local advertising landscape.
The cutting-edge billboard aims to showcase not only Namcol’s products and services, but also those of other institutions, providing a unique platform for business leaders to promote their offerings while also driving traffic to their websites.
Unveiling the billboard, Heroldt Murangi, the outgoing CEO of Namcol, emphasised the importance of aggressive advertising and marketing to ensure the institution’s products and services reach their intended audience effectively.
“Only through aggressive advertising and marketing will our products and services be known to the people we are supposed to serve,” Murangi said at the launch last Friday.
The career educationalist highlighted the institution’s commitment to becoming a self-sustainable organisation, offering quality products and services through their business development unit. “Finance is hard to come by in our current economy, so institutions have to be innovative to generate funds and continue operating,” he said.
The illuminated double-sided light-emitting diode (LED) billboard, strategically positioned in Windhoek, is expected to capture the attention of approximately 450 000 viewers per month.
With an estimated cost of N$15 000 per month to advertise on the board, businesses and institutions can now leverage this modern advertising medium to enhance their visibility and reach a vast audience.
Embracing the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is crucial for Namibia’s economic growth.
Murangi outlined some significant benefits, “Access to ICT and the development of ICT-related skills in the younger population are key national imperatives in enabling participation in an increasingly global economy.”
He further explained the benefits of ICT development, saying it will increase the competitiveness of business and commerce in the global marketplace, establish an environment conducive to the development of Namibian-based ICT access and service providers, and create opportunities for employment and economic diversification.
To foster innovation and collaboration, Murangi advised executives and CEOs to develop a culture of innovation at workplaces, schools and universities across Namibia.
He stressed the importance of adopting a system-thinking stance and seeking outside perspectives, stating, “As Namibians, we have a tendency to operate in silos and look down at others, rather than adopting a systems-thinking stance. We believe in inviting outside perspectives as a means of fixing our internal problems”.
Namcol believes that through this innovation, businesses and institutions can showcase their offerings to a vast audience, enhancing their competitive edge and driving economic growth.