'Need more quality than quantity'

Approach to out-of-home campaigns in Bangalore/Rest of Karnataka

We go for out of home campaigns twice a year.  It works well when we are on a promo along with other advertising vehicles as it supports and increases the visibility.

OOH budget for Karnataka/Bangalore

It all depends on pricing and availability. For example, compared to other cities, Bangalore has good OOH availability with decent pricing. In other cities we either have very heavy cost or non availability.  So in Bangalore, we may spend 20% to 30% of our annual ad spend.
 
Other key markets in the state

In Karnataka apart from Bangalore we look at Mangalore, Hubli and Mysore.
 
Preferred outdoor formats in this region - Bangalore versus rest of the state

We do not have too many outdoor formats. Billboards and branded trucks are the only used formats apart from road shows and exhibitions.
 
Exploring new formats/innovations in  Bangalore and other urban centres in the state

Like I said, in terms of outdoor formats other than hoardings, so far we have mainly gone for our own banded trucks and road shows.
 
Working around clutter and other challenges in Bangalore

As a matter of fact, we don't have much to choose from and we try to keep to single art work and single size to increase eye ball hits.


Factors that would drive higher OOH spends in Bangalore/Rest of Karnataka?

It is only price driven. As of now, if you look at the medium in general, the prices do not suit our business to use OOH more generously.  But new ideas like building branding or bus branding can be explored.

Message to media owners

I would say the following:

1)    Cut the clutter

2)    We need more quality than quantity

3)    Need bigger and more premium formats

4)    Also, with the city dotted with unauthorized billboards and haphazard growth, it's only a matter of time before the supply will be far greater than demand

5)    We also need to look at the fact that newspaper are cutting their rates and with new entrants in the news daily segments, it will further discourage OOH users unless we get sustainable prices.