Imagine, Innovate & Grow

Digital technologies leverage parameters that were originally considered immeasurable or too subjective to measure, this leveraging itself has redefined the digital OOH landscape across the globe. Incorporating the concepts of hashtags, fb-likes and counting'views' etc. has got audience in the habit of showing their'approval power'. Digital technologies will only be as revolutionary as the'consumer appreciation' allows them to be. The digital OOH space is the only media space where the technology competition is high, we have seen everything from QR codes to NFC and augmented reality to live streaming, so while the possibilities are infinite, its the successful campaigns that will decide the future.

The key is in formulating the experience for the consumer by applying digital sense, technological sense and lots of common sense, which is highly under-rated by most players but most important in our scheme of things. For example, our Digital OOH network at TimesOOH has over 700 screens, and it is knowing where to use the screen horizontally, where to use them vertically, when to include audio, when to keep it mute, when to install at eye level, when to suspend them above eye-level, what content to play on which style of network and many such considerations that enhance consumer engagement.

Using hardware technology, animation technology, content mix, interactive technology, camera technology, video streaming technology all in tandem towards creating one'goose bump' moment for the viewer is the only way. Expedia launched in India with a campaign that incorporated digital OOH alongside on-ground promotions. So I always emphasise that there are not many ways, there are many technologies and the only way to use them the right way… is the'successful campaign way'. We have executed successful campaigns for the biggest brands in all verticals, Apple, Samsung, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Incredible India (all state tourisms) and more.

Managing 100% occupancy on our digital networks for almost half a decade occurs by using CMS technologies intelligently. Incorporating the digital network at the airports to enhance on-ground promotions is a mantra that advertisers are always pleased with. Cueing the video walls with social media and engaging the consumers to update selfies, write posts and interact in real time creates huge goodwill for brands.

5K sized content and stunning videography on mammoth videowalls has given luxury brands the edge they seek while targeting HNI consumers. There are moments and events special to the entire nation, be it a world-cup or the elections, live tickers and audience polls designed to cash-in on the momentum of such user generated content, can change the popularity of a brand overnight. Leveraging digital OOH innovations are the best way to make the younger generation consider your brand'cool' and today'cool' has become a monetize-able entity.

There is another world of technologies designed to not'talk' to the consumer but'observe' them instead, which is also salient to the future of digital OOH. It entails aggregating the response of viewers through a host of unobtrusive camera/motion sensor technologies that give us insight and data of the highest accuracy. It is a thrilling experience to be the pioneers that harness and bring these to India.

Digital OOH with its highly interactive and highly flexible DNA is accelerating the OOH growth for all the players who know how to use it wisely. Knowledge management and intellectual supremacy are qualities that come from daily self-improvement exercise. The digital DNA is made of genes that come from not only technology but also collaboration; it thrives on the'we all together are smarter than any one of us alone' philosophy. And developing this digital DNA of a standard that can command achievement can only come from working in sync with all other human sciences skills and marketing fundamentals.

There is no other mass media that is'mass' in its true sense as OOH is. TV is watched either alone or in small groups, radio is heard while driving, maybe with a companion or two, but in OOH when you watch something amazing and creative and react to it, a million others are with you in it right there. It is this ability to orchestrate emotions in tandem that makes OOH media so powerful.

We have a flexible loop length at the various networks, which adds value to the advertiser. I remember a couple of years back I was in Times Square and I saw couples fighting to stand in one location, looking up waving and kissing each other, basically posing for an aerial camera that streamed their moment live onto one of the largest digital video walls right there. The euphoria and crowd drawn by one digital OOH idea was much more that what you see celebrities command. Our learning from this as media owners was evident; technology will be a hit only when you can make it mean something to the consumer.  And today at TimesOOH we have managed to succeed doing that repeatedly.

Business growth comes from doing things the right way, which is why we are the first company in digitalOOH with ISO 14001:2015 and BS OHSAS 18001:2007, which were achieved on 28th and 29th March 2016, after intense  & gruelling external audit by Internationally renowned Auditors from'TUV NORD, Hanover Germany' for our Delhi Airport JV.

I would end this column with a quote by Mark Twain, and he said this a long time before the onset of any digital OOH on the planet but it holds relevant even today "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” The future of business growth lays in ones ability to imagine new ways to innovate and grow.