‘OOH advertising works well for my brand’

The recently held Karnataka OOH Talks conference featured a panel discussion on “How OOH can be pivotal to brand campaigns in Karnataka” wherein three brand custodians -- Deepansh Bhargava, AVP - Marketing & Operations, Central Stores Pan India, Senthil Kumar, COO, YLG and Naqhi Khan, Brand & Marcom Head, Bharti Airtel, Karnataka Circle presented their views on OOH advertising. The session was moderated by Fabian Cowan, President, Posterscope India.

Naqhi who likened himself as a pro-OOH marketer asserted that OOH advertising delivers a more long-lasting impression on the minds of the target audience and for that reason OOH is integral to telecom brand communications. He cited the lack of a common currency for OOH audience measurement as a major constraint but pointed out that various brands are seen to be using their own tracking mechanisms to test the efficacy of OOH advertising.

In a similar vein, Deepansh said, “We have built our brand with the help of the outdoor medium. We have leveraged this medium since the inception of our brand. As far as Karnataka market is concerned, we have five stores and the biggest outdoor site in Bengaluru (100/100) has stayed with Central Store for the last two years”. He urged the specialist agencies to come up with innovative plans to tap the Mysuru market.

Senthil said that YLG has used OOH extensively to build its brand. In the initial phase, the brand directed 100% of its ad spends on OOH. Although the lack of audience measurement metrics is a challenge for the OOH industry, he stated a significant rise on customer walk-ins at their outlets when an OOH campaign is launched.

Responding to a question on DOOH posed by Fabian, Deepansh said that Central Stores has a significant number of digital LED boards that showcase fashion brands very effectively. The brand is scouting for players who can put up the best quality LED and obtain due permissions from the civic bodies to run the digital formats.
Naqhi highlighted the importance of having creatives that amplify OOH messaging.

Deepansh explained that the biggest challenge for OOH is that each city has its unique characteristics and different consumer behaviour that pose different challenges with regard to media planning.

Senthil said that this brand has focused attention on effective storytelling on the OOH canvas. He added that good quality OOH media in Tier I & II cities deliver bigger impact than the print medium. Khan too said that OOH plays a key role in brand messaging in the smaller cities.