Maryland Mall Unveils Africa’s Largest LED Advertisement Screen

Four months after the $25 million strategic positioning of Maryland Mall threw its doors open to shoppers; it has officially commissioned a light-emitting diode (LED) advertisement screen, the largest in Sub Saharan Africa and the 50^th in the world.

It took the developers, Purple Capital Partners Limited about 18 months to finish the mall which sits on a land size of 7,700sqm and funded by Stanbic IBTC and Axa Mansard and about three months to mount the intelligent billboard measuring 60 meters long and 9 meters high. The developers were confident that the size and its position would offer brands great value.

The brand owners believed that the inhabitants of Maryland and its environ will be ecstatic to see “The Dragon” light up the Maryland axis of the busy Ikorodu Road.

The LED screen is already a major attraction and has features such as a Twitter fountain scroller, Video playback capability and a Feedticker. These would make it a socially interactive board and one in which advertisers can utilise for full engagement of the public.

Delighted on the commissioning of the LED board, the 50th largest board in the world, Olaide Agboola, managing partner at Purple Capital Partners Limited told BusinessDay that the platform would be a major advertisement point for biggest brands in the country in the likes of Stanbic IBTC which he said has taken a slot on the screen already. “We have other strong brands and we are having discussion with others to come on board”

On the strategic positioning of the screen, Agboola said that research reveals that over 5500 vehicles pass through the axis in all directions every hour.  “In every sense of it, the exposure every brand will get is quite significant. This is clearly a major hub for any advertising activity”.

He explained that the screen is a technical screen as it can do live streaming, be engaged as a social media platform. But what we want to do commercially is to allow brands to display for seconds in a circle. This will go round from about 5 am to 1 am the following morning which is about 20 hour cycle.

According to Agboola, this means that the impressions brands will get are quite significant especially with traffic on the roads.

Explaining whether Purple Capital which is not an advertisement agency would contract the board to an  agency for management, Agboola rather said that the company hoped to continue to get technical support from Rotter Panel in Holland, the suppliers of the board while there would be local training and self marketing of the board by the company. “We want to make sure that every business can negotiate directly to get on the board”.

Speaking on the Mall and its architectural design, Agboola further said that Purple Capital, real estate and financial services company has taken entertainment and Cinema to the top level saying that the Mall is perhaps the first indigenous- designed mall.

Also speaking, Tosin Oshinowo, the architect for the building said the big screen was part of the plan from the beginning. She said the whole planning was for horizontal and vertical revenue opportunity.

It is an intelligent screen. At night the board can be brighter and during the day, it dims itself. It can also show motion and still images. It is also interactive. It can show football, she said.

During the commissioning of the Mall, Sola David-Borha, chief executive officer, Stanbic IBTC, commended Purple Capital for its discipline and  focus. “This successful delivery of the Maryland Mall project showcases the fact that domestic investment fuelled by the indefatigable spirit of Nigerian entrepreneurs is key to driving social harmony and national economic growth,”

Omotola Mobolurin, chairman, Purple Capital Partners Limited and chairman, Capital Bancorp Ltd, expressed his delight on the completion of the building on time.

“I am delighted about the safe arrival of this new retail, lifestyle and entertainment infrastructure, with the capacity to provide merchants and shoppers with amenities and services that befit the state’s mega-city status. It is particularly gratifying that the construction and financing for this retail development is being concluded on time and within projected funding estimates.”