'Clutter is the biggest problem'

Measuring the medium

I believe this medium can be measured but in terms of public awareness and brand equity building. However we can't quantify the measurement in numbers but definitely the recall value and the pull created to building premium brand positioning and awareness can be generated through OOH medium.

Percentage of spend on Outdoor medium
We spend around Rs 5-6 crores per annum of our advertising spend on OOH medium. We always take two kinds of formats which are conventional formats like hoarding, BQS, street furniture. Another is mobile format like railways, buses, cabs and etc.

According to me the biggest problem that should be rectified in this industry is the cluttered environment. In Chennai hoardings are banned but in rest of the country like Maharashtra and North India, there is huge clutter. There are 50-60 hoardings are one junction or prime location which reduces the mileage and visibility of any OOH advertisement. At junctions, there is lot of traffic and people tend to spend more time in driving rather than seeing the advertisement. I think the clutter should be reduced to increase the recall value.       
 
Preferred outdoor format

Outdoor format selection depends on a few things. Primarily we select formats according to operating area. The format that works in Tier I cities might not work or work differently in Tier II cites. Therefore classification of format happens according to the area. Another point that we consider is that we select OOH format which helps in differentiating from the market and category. We always try to use our hands in uncommon formats, which make us slightly different from the market and helps in getting extra mileage and visibility. Also, we never use any one kind of format, we always take 2-3 different and connect them. We always think from the business perspective.

Focus on Digital OOH

Yes we have used digital OOH medium for spot campaigns and long term campaigns. They really help us in getting better mileage.
 
Creative agencies - Their focus or the lack of it on OOH & their creativity

We never deal with agencies. We always work directly as it gives us better understanding about execution of campaigns. Also it becomes more transparent for us to deal with the medium.

Credit issues faced by media owners

As we work directly we have made our guidelines and polices very clear and transparent which states the size, revenue and payment details. We always make payment on fixed date, not after 6 months or so. I am very proud to say that our transactions have always been very clear. None of the media owner has raised question on payment.