The Washington Inquirer EditorFor almost 30 years Alma has been the leading outdoor advertising company in Georgia, revolutionizing the country’s outdoor advertising industry with innovative campaigns.
The company provides comprehensive solutions for outdoor advertising campaigns to help businesses reach a wider audience, enhance brand awareness, and build credibility with customers.
Alma has exclusive rights to advertise at the Tbilisi and Batumi international airports, as well as on public transport, such as metro stations, buses, and bus stops.
Giorgi Trapaidze, the CEO of the company, said Alma has created “quite a large” and “quite good” outdoor advertising culture in Georgia, thanks to its innovative campaigns that have contributed to the transformation of the industry.
With a proven track record of success, Alma has earned a reputation for excellence and expertise in the field and won another Golden Brand award this year.
Q. Alma has received the Golden Brand award for excellent service in outdoor advertising. Please share your success story from the past year that led to this achievement.
A. Winning the Golden Brand award is an important and prestigious achievement for our company. This recognition motivates us to continue to develop and strive for innovation and quality. Winning this award is the culmination of many years of hard work by our dedicated team.
We believe our success stems from the fact that, despite our leading role in the outdoor advertising industry in Georgia, we are committed to continuously growing, developing and setting new standards in our field.
We value the results of the past years and the impact that our brand has on society. It is worth noting that our customers play a fundamental role in shaping our company’s vision and service style. For us, a reliable partnership with them is crucial, as their opinion is a top priority.
To strengthen our relationship with our customers, we established an intermediary link in 2023, the Customer Relationship Management department. Meanwhile, our marketing department actively engages in social responsibility initiatives and creates fresh and creative ways to showcase our location, which is a new approach for us.
Q. What about developments on the technical side of Alma’s service?
A. We have made significant improvements to the technical side of our service, particularly in monitoring, reporting, and calculating metrics for outdoor advertising marketing units. We refer to these changes as the principle of self-verification.
We have renovated over 500 structures and more than 200 bus stops in Tbilisi and surrounding regions.
One of our most exciting new offerings of 2023 is the ability to place 3D advertising reels on monitors, which is a highly effective, innovative and creative product.
Q. Lightboxes have become one of the most popular means of advertising outdoors. What caused the surge in demand?
A. Alma has introduced an innovative advertising product called Lightboxes that are placed on lighting poles. This advertising device was introduced in 2022 and has become a special placement because of its unique feature – the effect of repetition.
Lightboxes can cover a wide area at once, making them ideal for outdoor advertising. Many big brands use this style of advertising, and they have often reported that one of the outstanding and special effects in outdoor advertising is obtained from lightbox campaigns.
By placing advertising on the lightbox and integrating digital campaigns, a larger advertising message is created, and this synergy enhances marketing effectiveness and the message in the mind of consumers.
Q. Please provide us with updated information on Alma’s advertising locations.
A. Alma’s portfolio includes around 1,000 billboards, 1100 bus stop shelters, advertising spaces on more than 1,000 buses, and over 2000 advertising panels in Tbilisi’s metro’s 21 stations, as well as 40 large size monitors, totaling more than 42,000 square meters.
Q. The company also has an exclusive right to advertise at Tbilisi and Batumi international airports. What are the developments there?
A. Yes, Alma has a presence at both Tbilisi and Batumi airports. Recently, we launched a new product that we had been preparing since 2023. New screen lightboxes have been installed at Tbilisi airport, which allows our customers to advertise synchronously. We believe these are one of the outstanding placements in the departure and arrival areas.
We have a variety of advertising locations including panels in the departure area such as the check-in hall and duty-free zone.
Meanwhile, at the arrivals terminal, you will notice Alma advertising panels at the gates and passport control areas. Additionally, we have placements available at the baggage area and parking lot.
It is also important to note that the advertising panels at the airport have been renovated recently.
Q. As far as I know, no other company in the outdoor advertising market offers this scale of service to businesses. Do you think this is more of a positive influence for Alma or vice versa?
A. I agree with you that our company has the largest share of the market and can be considered a leader in this sector. In response to you question, whether this affects us positively or vice versa, the only answer we have is that while having a large market share is essential for us as a business, it also comes with significant responsibilities. We understand this responsibility deeply and take it seriously.
Q. What is the role of Alma in developing the Georgian advertising market in general?
A. Considering our recent achievements, such as an increased market share and the success of our campaigns with numerous partners, we can confidently say that outdoor advertising has become a much more popular and important advertising channel than it was ten years ago. This development has been beneficial for our customers.
Our company has not only contributed to the development of the advertising market but also made a significant contribution to the infrastructure of Tbilisi. To be precise, we have installed up to 800 bus waiting stations in the city and up to 300 waiting stations in other cities across Georgia.
The updated advertising structures have significantly improved the appearance of metro stations.
The construction of 15 pedestrian bridges in the capital should be specially emphasized, of which one has already been opened.
Taking all this into account, we can say that we have created quite a large and quite good outdoor advertising culture in Georgia!
Q. Please tell us the number of companies to which Alma provides advertising service, and has this number grown over the past year?
A. In 2022 we had over 600 clients. Last year this number was over 800 companies.
