‘Maintaining healthy pricing discipline requires collective responsibility’

As CEO of Times OOH and Chairman of IOAA, I do believe reverse auctioning has created significant pressure on the OOH industry, especially in non-exclusive media segments. The impact is not uniform. Premium, captive environments such as airports or landmark transit assets continue to retain stronger pricing power because of their exclusivity and audience quality. 

However, in city media and roadside formats, reverse auctioning often leads to aggressive price competition, where the focus shifts almost entirely to the lowest bid. Over time, this impacts margins and reduces the ability of operators to protect the true value of their inventory. 

OOH is not a standardised commodity. Every location delivers a different audience profile, dwell time, and brand impact. Evaluating inventory primarily through price can overlook the contextual value the medium offers to advertisers. 

Impact on premium inventory valuation and pricing discipline 

Premium OOH assets are built through long-term investment in infrastructure, compliance, technology, and audience delivery. When buying decisions are driven primarily by lowest cost, it creates pressure on the industry’s ability to continue investing at the same pace. 

Going forward, maintaining healthy pricing discipline will require collective responsibility across the ecosystem — media owners, agencies, and advertisers alike — to recognise and protect the long-term value of quality inventory. 

Transparency in how inventory is quoted is important 

I respect the role of procurement in bringing transparency and accountability to media buying. Those are important principles for any industry. However, challenges arise when procurement frameworks evaluate highly differentiated inventory primarily on cost parameters alone. 

A media owner investing in measurement systems, technology, safety, and audience quality should ideally be evaluated differently from inventory that may not offer the same standards. When those distinctions are not fully accounted for, it creates pricing pressure across the category. 

Another important aspect is ensuring alignment between agencies and media owners on pricing. Rate cards reflect years of investment and market understanding, and maintaining transparency in how inventory is quoted is important for a sustainable ecosystem. 

Effect on innovation, infrastructure investment, and campaign quality

Sustained pricing pressure inevitably impacts reinvestment. At Times OOH, even during the pandemic recovery phase, we continued investing in technology, infrastructure, and asset quality because we believed the long-term future of the medium depended on it. 

But when pricing becomes the dominant consideration, the industry naturally shifts from innovation and upgrades toward basic maintenance. Over time, this can affect campaign quality, audience experience, and ultimately advertiser outcomes as well. 

India’s OOH industry is currently at an important growth stage, particularly with the rise of transit media and digital OOH. Preserving the industry’s ability to innovate will be critical for long-term growth. 

Moving towards standardised audience measurement    

Historically, OOH was often evaluated more through visibility and relationships than through standardised audience measurement. As a result, cost metrics became the easiest comparison tool for buyers. 

The challenge today is that pricing conversations often move faster than measurement conversations. In many cases, the absence of widely adopted audience and effectiveness metrics creates a gap that price alone ends up filling. 

At IOAA, initiatives around measurement standards, third-party validation, and tools like Roadstar are important steps toward helping the industry move toward more value-based evaluation frameworks.  

The future of value-based buying in the medium

I believe the future of OOH will increasingly move toward value-based buying, driven by stronger measurement systems, better audience data, and the growth of digital and programmatic OOH. 

But achieving that future will require collaboration across the ecosystem. Media owners must continue investing in quality and accountability, agencies must integrate value metrics more deeply into planning, and advertisers should increasingly evaluate OOH through effectiveness rather than cost alone. 

The Indian OOH industry has a strong opportunity ahead. Protecting the long-term value of the medium while improving transparency and measurement will be key to ensuring sustainable growth for all stakeholders.