99Acres.com looks to rebuild OOH presence

Most of the online service providers find the OOH medium to be the best platform for communication strategy since their target audience is always on the go for personal or professional reasons. As such, real estate business goes well with the OOH medium as most of house hunting and site visits happen in the outdoors. Says Sumeet, "OOH medium plays a significant role for local marketing campaigns. This medium very well supports the 360 degree campaigns which include other medium communication platforms and also it performs effectively for call to action motive campaigns. However, it lacks the potential as a stand-alone medium”.

There's more to the copy

Limited site space, short duration to interact with the audience, competition and the general clutter in the outdoor space are a few points that 99 acres.com considers while creating the OOH copy. The brand engages different creative agencies for different works so that each one can do their work in a unique way.

Sumeet says, "From the creative point of view, we always try to catch the eyeballs. The creative must capture the attention of frequently moving crowd on the roads. Also, we put efforts to make the creative clutter-breaking since other competitor brands are available on the OOH space as well. We endeavour to standout without getting encumbered”.

Everywhere but not anywhere

Well, for a real estate brand, each location is essential but it is important to go with a plan. Therefore, the brand has categorized different sets of locations to target their prospect clients. As Sumeet explains:

•    The brand selects sites near few construction projects because audience visits such places so it is essential to be visible.
•    Next preferred locations for the brand are upcoming residential colonies like Noida, Noida Extension, Noida Expressway and Gurgaon.
•    Also, the brand considers arterial roads, hotspot hubs like commercial places and their entries and exits, malls, theatre and retail markets crucial from the branding perspective since people in large numbers visit such locations.

Execution is the challenge

Even if the planning goes well, the execution part can be a challenge. Sumeet explains that it becomes difficult to get all identified sites at the same time to roll out a campaign at one go. "Another big issue is the impact of bad weather on the prints -- sites gets ragged and re-prints cost a huge amount”.

Constant checks

To ensure the monitoring of campaign sites, brands deploy their own staff other than the monitoring support offered by the media owner and agency. "We do get timely reports from our OOH specialist agency. However we have our internal team and huge sales team employees who are out constantly for meetings so they also keep updating with the sites conditions,” says Sumeet.

Where other dot-com brands have made constant appearances on outdoor, 99Acres.com has a calibrated approach to the medium. Sumeet confirms that OOH will be an integral part of the brand's communications plan.