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Home » OOH News » Clutter: Whose call is it?

Clutter: Whose call is it?

By VJ Media Bureau - November 22, 2013

The onus of removing clutter lay with the OOH industry. This is what emerged at the panel discussion during'UP Talks OOH', an event organized by VJ Media Works in Lucknow on November 15.

The much talked about problem of clutter in the OOH industry often becomes a blame game with the media owners and the Authority taking turns blaming each other. In order to bring everyone on the same platform and find a lasting resolution to the issue in the state of UP, a panel discussion on the same was organized as part of the'UP Talks OOH' event. The discussion was moderated by Pankaj Sharma, Founder, Valentia who has worked with several telecom brands and has had long years of experience dealing with the OOH industry. The panelists were invited from different parts of UP.


Rakesh Valmiki, Managing Partner, India Outdoor Advertising, Vivek Bhattacharya, Managing Partner, Synergy Advertising, Sunil Jain, Director, Saloni Advertising, Amit Khatri, President, Outdoor Advertising Association Of Agra, Deepak Agarwal, CMD, R D Outdoor Media Private Ltd and Dr. Pramod Kumar Singh, MD, SHAPERS GROUP were amongst the panelists for the discussion.

Pankaj Sharma initiated the discussion by first pointing out the role of OOH in brands' advertising plans while highlighting need to remove clutter, "According to a market research, OOH stands at second number after TV, in terms of advertisements. But while TV and radio follow the Broadcasting Act, there is no statutory body to set norms for OOH medium. We are the ones who created the clutter and we are the ones who are going to solve it.”

Vivek Bhattacharya said, sharing his views, "This is not about clutter, but about the advertisers' demand. If there is demand, then I would like to have the clutter, but if the demand means a negative growth for me then I will remove the clutter.” 

According to Rajesh Valmiki, the new entrants in OOH business were responsible for the clutter, "The clutter has been created by new upcoming media owners who erect their sites without any permission or following the law and order. There is a need for an association which can prepare laws for new entrants in this business, who should meet the association first and seek permission before erecting the site.  Also, self regulation is required for all of us.  This clutter is going to affect us; so it is on us to sort this to safeguard our own future.”

According to Sunil Jain, a long time player in the industry, clutter is a sign of growth in the industry. Pointing out a time when there was no outdoor format, he said that today's existing clutter was a sign of the existence of several outdoor formats. And according to him, the real problem was the lack of regulation and illegal sites coming up.
   
According to Dr. Pramod Kumar Singh, this issue could only be sorted out with unity among the industry players. "There should be a regulated body which performs the duty of watchdog for this industry. In reality, self-regulation is a myth,” he said on a realistic and pragmatic note. He also felt that improper media deployment was the cause for the clutter. "I fail to understand how, in a small place like Gorakhpur, 80% of the media has been set up in only one place. The town doesn't have a good spread of the media. Therefore there should be proper guidelines for deploying media across.”

Striking a more self critical and introspective note, Deepak Agarwal said, "Clutter is everywhere in today's world. Also when we talk about clutter, we always point to other media owners instead of ourselves. We never realize that the clutter has also been created by us.”

Finally, when it came to finding solutions to the problem, Amit Khatri felt that the entire process should be reversed. "We are trying to teach media owners, but we should teach the brands first. The clutter has taken a big shape due to the increase in demand, so the clients need to understand that their requirements are creating clutter. Also, we need the Authority to work on it. I feel we should first educate the client and ask the Municipality to take actions and then if nothing happens, then we should take our steps,” he pointed out.

In this context, Vivek commented, "Self-regulation is a must, therefore we should all prepare a notice for our sites and give it to the Authority, rather than point to other's property. We keep on blaming each other, which is a never ending story.”

Talking about the role of the association here, Rakesh Valmiki pointed out that an association like the Lucknow Association needed someone to take initiatives and focus on them. Pawan Bansal, COO, Jagran Engage also felt that the industry players should sit with the concerned Authority and together design laws for the benefit of all concerned.

As was the objective, the session turned out to be an interactive one with audience participation and media owners among them presenting their own suggestions to the problem. The discussion ended with everyone unanimously agreeing on the need for self regulation and developing a strong and unified association to take care of problems like clutter.  
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