Driving on the OOH lane

•  What role does the OOH medium play for the automobile category? Could you share an example?


Airports being a premium location, we were looking at creating an iconic site, which is completely out of the box, and could attract maximum attention from the domestic and international flyers.







•  What is your average spend on Out of Home (OOH) advertising as a percentage of the total marketing budget? Has there been a change in the OOH budget recently? If so what drove the change?


OOH spend would be nearly 10% of the total advertising spend for the company. As you have rightly mentioned, OOH as a medium, is a fairly new inclusion for our communication campaigns. This was driven by the need to establish a connect between the new logo of the company and tyres as a category.


•  In this highly cluttered automobile market, how has OOH helped you in creating maximum impact and establishing reach? Could you explain with some examples and numbers?


While scouting for OOH sites, we did come across some high impact sites; ultimately, we zeroed in on the two airport locations due to their premium factor and the fact that it would have helped us target our audience who travelled frequently, especially to and from Delhi (T3) and Mumbai airports. Also, for example, the capacity of T3 terminal in Delhi to handle 34 million passengers annually, was an attractive enough proposition for Apollo Tyres.

•  In terms of regions/markets, which one according to you has the maximum potential as far as impact from the OOH medium is concerned? Which state/region gets maximum OOH budgets?


It all depends on the target audience for a particular brand/company. When Apollo opted for OOH as a communication medium, the company was looking at targeting the SEC A & B population; hence, Delhi and Mumbai were chosen. However, if a company wants to focus on smaller towns and cities, the OOH site will also be chosen accordingly.


•  What were your main challenges in terms of rolling out an innovative campaign? Are these challenges specific to a state or region?


While we used almost the same concept for both locations, the Delhi Airport was the most challenging in terms of execution and with respect to the following factors:


Structural Challenges: We were looking at deploying a 20 feet tyre which could weigh over 400 kg. Adding to the complexities, the structure was to be located on top of the building with substantial wind pressure. It was a challenge to execute it. A team of civil and structural engineers was assigned to develop a structure that could sustain the weight of 400 Kilograms along with wind pressure. The major issue was with containing the weight and dimensions of the tyre within allowed structural extensions at the bottom yet maintaining the look and feel.


Design Challenges: The idea was to make it look like the tyre was jumping out of the billboard. While a 2 dimensional design was created first, it had to be converted to a 3 dimensional one. The scale was so huge that the tyre was fabricated twice to achieve correctness of the design.


Material Challenges: Although the Neon, LED tickers and Apollo Logo Letter were standard, a 20 feet tyre had been conceptualised for the first time in India and there was no past example to follow. Various material and production technologies were considered and debated upon so that the tyre could be restricted within 125 KG. Finally after all deliberations, we went in for wooden dies which were fabricated in 3 pieces. Further, to maintain the allowed weight, we used Fibre PVC materials for fabrication of the tyre.  Also to withstand the wind pressure, MS Louvers sheet was used as the background for the hoarding.


•  Could you share with us the thought process behind arriving at the creative for any of your OOH campaigns? What are the parameters you look at?


There were twin objectives that we had when we started looking at the OOH sites; first, to create brand perception and higher resonance among the target audience, and what better than the iconic airport sites. Secondly, it was to establish the connect between the company's logo with tyres, as the word'apollo' is synonymous with healthcare and educational institutes as well in India.


We also wanted these sites to stand out from the clutter of other OOH sites; hence, we used a combination of neon and LED lights, along with a huge tyre structure. Neon and LED lights were used at these locations for the first time; and, a 20-feet replica of a tyre that we used at T3 terminal, had never been used at all.


•  ROI Measurement is a highly discussed issue in the OOH medium and there seems to be no final resolution to this. What has been your own experience? Have you taken any initiatives in this regard?


Like a few other mediums, it is difficult to measure the ROI for OOH spends. Having said that, our frequent customer surveys do point towards the role played by OOH communication in increased awareness about the brand.