OAC 2013: Client seeks value for money

On day-two of the Outdoor Advertising Convention (OAC) 2013 on July 6th, a session discussed one of the major issues of the OOH industry, related to the responsibility the client needs to share and how they are playing their part. Moderated by Lloyd Mathias, Founder-Director of GreenBeen Ventures, the session was addressed by Rajesh VL-Executive VP Marketing ITC – Food Business and Amitesh Rao-Director-Brand & Media MTS India. In this, the most integral question has been – How Clients see Outdoor?

•    It is considered to be – Tactical / Reminder Medium
•    Top Up on Media Plan
•    Deal Driven
•    Not measurable
•    Low on the Creative Value Chain

Rajesh VL-Executive VP Marketing ITC – Food Business, opines- “The client seeks value for their money when it comes to any investment and outdoor is not an exception in this regard. As a brand, we have done lot of innovative campaigns partnering with our agencies and gained raw profit out of it.  Outdoor as a media is definitely a very dynamic one and the factors like transparency, measuring ROI and creating trust is the responsibility and the clients should act vice-versa. We can also have review meetings with the brand managers to solve the issues related to the industry situations.

Further in the session  Amitesh Rao-Director-Brand & Media MTS India, shares, “The nature of business and structure has changed a lot in the recent times. Every OOH market has its own challenges and opportunities which the brands need to understand and mostly it has been observed that the out-of-home has got major local influence which controls the situation.

Commoditization of outdoor as a major aspect was discussed including-

•    Is price/sq.ft in outdoor the sole criterion?
•    Is OOH procurement similar to buying office supplies?
•    Is measurement the sole responsibility of media agency & media owners
Value for money being a major factor for clients, they need to see outdoor as a core media to meet marketing objectives. The way forward would be moving from static to engage the media making it more dynamic, topical , relevant and such. The session concluded by stressing that the client has a critical role in improving the value chain.