Friday, March 29, 2024

Advertisement
Home » Viewpoints » 'Exploring new media is a must'

'Exploring new media is a must'

By M4G Bureau - October 22, 2013

R Viswanathan, Sr General Manager, (Marketing), and C. Sarath Mohan, Asst. Area Manager—Branding, Jaypee Cement, on why constant exploration of formats is critical when large formats are unavailable in the OOH space.


Industry - Cements

Formats

Given the scenario in TN during the last 3-4 years when hoardings have been banned, we are trying to engage in alternate media within OOH. At present Jaypee  is  present  in  transit  media  through  bus branding, bus shelters and traffic signal displays. We are also trying to develop barricade branding besides police kiosks. Initially we faced a lot of challenges with outdoor media, after the ban on billboards, but the transit media branding gave us a good response and we spent quite a significant amount on that.
 
Since it is a mobile media, the reach is high and the impact is much better than from a static one. Thus we can also say that Jaypee was the first cement brand to delve into such media options and then the rest followed. We have also taken gone for wall graphics and wall wraps in and around the city.

In the rural areas of Chennai, we are mainly into wall painting which is majorly taking away 40-50% of the budget of Jaypee. It is also cheaper than hoardings. We are also planning to tap the rural markets with the help of mobile vans, which may roll for three months and can help in bringing awareness on the product. In the metros we have also gone in for ATM branding. Today it is very much challenging to market your product and brand in the metros. It is also a challenge for the media owners to create new and effective options for the brands.

Approach to OOH campaign

After the ban, there was a huge gap in the state's OOH; other media were not popular then and there was hardly any choice left for us as a brand. So for mass reach we went in for wall painting especially in the National Highways and slowly the brand moved into  Traffic  Signage  displays.  We  also  deployed directional board branding, which was more like public utility vehicles for increasing awareness. But we do not have any budget constraints. At present we are trying to retain the sites which we taken up earlier and have created new sites as well.

Outdoor  helps  in  targeting  specific  geographical periphery.  We  have  taken  recently  some  traffic signal poles also, which is a new media format for Chennai.

An OOH campaign  must have a very clear and long visibility and should run for at least a minimum period of 3 months. Only then the impact may be measurable. We directly handle the sites through the media owners. We have also developed impactful media options over a period of time and with our structure network team, we ensure we reach the desired awareness among the TG.

Key markets

Chennai, Pondicherry and Vellore

Spend on Outdoor

We spend 30-40% of our advertising budget on outdoor as constant communication is required.

Expectation from the outdoor industry

Because of the metro construction work going on right now, it seems difficult to get any constructive solution but once that is completed innovations may be given a greater thought. We will have better scope of displays as well.

Comparing OOH in ROTN with other states


Excluding Chennai, there still lie quite a number of  unauthorised  billboards.  Though  the  traffic signals are available, due to huge competition in every sector, reviving a major site becomes a major challenge here.

 
Advertisement

You May Also Like

Advertisement
Advertisement
Have You Say
Advertisement