# OAC 2026: “Fragmentation is a fact; collaboration is a choice.”

India’s OOH industry has never had greater potential. Yet, according to Shekhar Narayanaswami, CEO, Times Innovative Media Ltd. and Chairman, IOAA, unlocking that potential will require more than just expanding inventory or embracing technology. It will demand a fundamental shift in mindset, from fragmented growth to collective progress. 

Addressing delegates during his session, ‘Making OOH Industry Body Work in a Fragmented Environment: The Challenges and Way Forward’, at the 20th edition of the Out-of-Home Advertising Convention (OAC), Shekhar painted a realistic picture of where the industry stands today and where it must head next. 

Quoting Victor Hugo’s famous words, “No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come,” Shekhar said India’s economic trajectory presents a defining opportunity for OOH, provided the industry learns to work together. 

India’s moment has arrived 

Shekhar began by placing the OOH industry within the larger context of India’s economic rise. 

Having crossed the $4 trillion GDP milestone, India is now the world’s fourth-largest economy and is expected to become the third largest within the next few years. The advertising industry, he noted, is projected to reach $26 billion by 2030, growing at an annual rate of nearly 10–11%. 

The OOH sector, too, is showing encouraging momentum. 

India today is the fifth-largest OOH market globally by inventory, with nearly eight to ten lakh outdoor advertising assets, while also boasting the second-largest OOH audience in the world. “India’s time has come. We are sitting on the cusp of explosive growth,” Shekhar said. 

A giant market that remains under-indexed 

Despite this impressive scale, however, the industry’s global standing tells a different story.  While India’s inventory and audience numbers compare with the world’s largest OOH markets, revenue generation remains disproportionately low. 

Shekhar pointed out that although India accounts for nearly 20% of the world’s population and has one of the largest outdoor audiences globally, it contributes only around 1% of global OOH spending. 

On a per capita basis, India’s OOH expenditure stands at just 38 cents, significantly below the global average. “We have the second-largest OOH audience in the world, but we are severely under-indexed compared to global markets,” Shekhar observed. The issue, he explained, is not the absence of opportunity but the absence of standardisation. 

The real challenge is fragmentation 

According to Shekhar, fragmentation remains the industry’s biggest roadblock. India’s OOH ecosystem continues to function as multiple regional markets, each with its own regulations, pricing models, measurement systems and operational practices. As a result, advertisers struggle to compare markets, agencies find it difficult to build confidence around planning, and media owners often lose pricing power. 

“We don’t operate as one industry. We operate as multiple regional silos,” Shekhar remarked 

He added, “Every player does their own maths. Every city writes its own rules.” This fragmentation, he argued, comes at a significant cost. Media owners lose value. Agencies lose trust. Advertisers lose confidence. 

Ultimately, the industry loses a larger share of advertising budgets. 

From inventory-led selling to audience-led planning 

Another major shift, Shekhar said, must come in the way outdoor media is bought and sold. While many global markets have already transitioned towards audience-based planning, India continues to rely heavily on inventory-led transactions. 

Without a common measurement framework, advertisers cannot evaluate campaigns consistently across markets. “Our buying is still very conventional. It is price-led planning rather than audience-led planning,” Shekhar explained. 

As advertisers increasingly demand accountability and measurable outcomes, the industry can no longer depend solely on location and visibility. 

Audience metrics, transparency and standardisation will become essential. 

Making OOH buying simple 

Rather than focusing only on the industry’s shortcomings, Shekhar proposed what he believes should become its common goal.  Make OOH buying easy. 

He asked delegates to imagine a future where buying a billboard could become as seamless as purchasing a product online. 

To make that possible, he introduced four essentials that he described as the industry’s own ABCD: 

• Real-time Availability 

• One-click Booking 

• Transparent Cost 

• Trusted Delivery 

Together, these four pillars can simplify planning, improve advertiser confidence and make OOH significantly easier to buy at scale. 

“If buying OOH becomes simple and transparent, the industry will naturally grow much faster,” Shekhar said. 

Technology will redefine the industry’s future 

Technology, according to Shekhar, will inevitably reshape the way outdoor advertising functions. 

With algorithm-driven planning becoming increasingly common across media, the traditional ways of buying and selling outdoor inventory will no longer be sufficient. 

“Seventy-nine percent of media planning and buying will be algorithm-driven by 2027. The old way of doing business will be challenged,” Shekhar said. 

Rather than resisting this evolution, he urged stakeholders to prepare for it by investing in technology, common standards and collaborative systems. 

He also highlighted how mature OOH markets have already embraced unified audience currencies through platforms such as Geopath in the United States, ROOT in the United Kingdom and MOVE in Australia. 

India, he said, must build a similar ecosystem if it wants to compete globally. 

Collaboration begins with one industry voice 

As Chairman of IOAA, Shekhar emphasised that no single stakeholder can transform the industry alone. 

Advertisers, agencies, media owners, regulators, measurement bodies and industry associations all need to contribute towards creating common standards and a unified marketplace. 

He stressed that industry associations must first establish governance, standards and measurement before advocating for broader policy reforms. 

“Action must come before advocacy. We need to fix our own house first,” Shekhar said. 

He also outlined several ongoing initiatives by IOAA, including certified market sizing, strengthening audience measurement, expanding regional chapters, improving member engagement, enhancing governance frameworks and increasing collaboration with organisations such as AAAI and ISA. 

Building an industry, not just individual businesses 

During the session, Shekhar borrowed inspiration from John F. Kennedy’s famous quote, encouraging delegates to rethink their relationship with the industry body. 

Instead of asking only what the association can do for individual businesses, stakeholders must also consider what they can contribute towards building a stronger industry. 

“A stronger industry body means a stronger industry. A stronger industry means a stronger you,” Shekhar said. 

He urged delegates to move away from transactional thinking and embrace a collective approach that prioritises long-term industry growth over short-term competitive advantage. 

Every contribution matters 

To conclude his address, Shekhar narrated the story of the squirrel from the Ramayana, which helped build the Ram Setu by carrying tiny grains of sand while others transported massive boulders. 

The story, he explained, perfectly captures the role every stakeholder can play in strengthening India’s OOH ecosystem. 

“No contribution is too small when the purpose is big,” Shekhar said. 

He left delegates with what became the defining message of the session: 

“Fragmentation is a fact. Collaboration is a choice.” 

As India’s economy gathers momentum and the OOH industry enters its next phase of growth, Shekhar’s message was clear, the future will not belong to organisations that grow in isolation, but to an industry that chooses to grow together through shared standards, common measurement and a unified voice.