Bell Media’s Astral Out-of-Home division has added to its static inventory in Toronto with the acquisition of 28 large-format murals owned by Strategic Outdoor. A purchase price was not disclosed.
The murals are situated in high-traffic areas throughout the city, including the entertainment district and Queen Street West, as well as in neighbourhoods including the Danforth, the Annex and Yorkville.
Jordana Fatsis, Astral’s vice-president of sales, said the boards are ideally situated to reach people coming into the city from the outlying areas. According to a recent mobility study conducted by Astral, 41% of adults aged 18-64 who live in the 905 area code regularly travel into the downtown core for work and recreation.
While Astral has been focused on building out its digital inventory in recent months – including the November launch of 40 digital transit shelters in Toronto – Fatsis said the murals are a high-impact complement to its other formats, which include transit shelters as well as static and digital billboards.
“Digital is something we are focusing on… but providing our clients with large impact in key urban environments fits with our sales strategy,” said Fatsis. In Montreal, for example, 18-foot high Mega Columns complement Astral’s other products.
“All of those products really allow us to build the reach and frequency of a campaign and provide [clients] with high impact in the downtown areas,” said Fatsis. “We needed a large format in the Toronto market, and the wall murals give us that.”
The deal gives Astral 32 murals throughout the city – including four hand-painted locations – with Fatsis calling them a “great canvas” for advertisers to create impactful ads.
While vinyl murals were one of the flashpoints for watchdog organizations such as IllegalSigns.ca that led to the 2010 implementation of a new Toronto sign bylaw, Fatsis said there is no question about the legality of the Strategic Outdoor assets. “If they weren’t [legal] we definitely wouldn’t be interested in that product line,” she said.
