‘Standardisation, trust key to unlocking value from pDOOOH’

At DDX Asia 2025 where industry leaders gathered to explore the future of digital display advertising and technology, Gulab Patil, Founder and CEO of Lemma, broke down the challenges stalling pDOOH growth in India and set forth the way forward.

Gulab opened the session by drawing a compelling analogy between language and the challenges facing pDOOH in India. Just as a common protocol enables seamless communication among people, pDOOH  can also be enabled by a standardised framework. He highlighted how pDOOH growth was hindered by the absence of a standardised framework— a missing common language that could unify the ecosystem.

He then explored challenges on both the demand and supply sides of the industry. Demand-side obstacles include agency turf wars, lack of common standards and limited access to transparent tech partners. On the supply side, pDOOH is seen as a competitor, with complex integration; and the industry prefers traditional selling over digital transformation. Standardisation gaps, limited understanding and the misconception with regard to automation and pDOOH, further slow down its growth.

Moving to the way forward, Gulab highlighted the untapped potential within India’s OOH industry. Currently accounting for just 5% of total ad spend, the sector could scale up to 30%. Greater transparency, leveraging data and fostering collaboration with tech partners will be essential in attracting higher ad spends. He emphasised that shifting industry perception is key to unlocking high-margin programmatic investment in India.

Gulab also explored the promise of pDOOH, positioning it as a risk-free opportunity for brands. By embracing programmatic DOOH, advertisers can gain better visibility, achieve fair valuation, enhance engagement and expand their demand pool. The integration of AI-driven real-time content localisation further enhances the impact of pDOOH campaigns, making them more dynamic and relevant to audiences, he pointed out.

A crucial step in pDOOH’s evolution, he stressed, is building buyer trust. Transparency remains paramount, ensuring advertisers have clarity on where and how their campaigns are being delivered. Simplifying operations, adopting an audience-first approach backed by data and making screen discovery more accessible are fundamental pillars in driving confidence and accelerating adoption.

As he concluded, Gulab left attendees with key takeaways— pDOOH is not a passing trend but a transformative force in the advertising industry. Its growth hinges on channel compatibility and as buyers increasingly integrate it into their media mix, it will serve as a critical tool in future-proofing OOH advertising. By embracing standardisation and technological advancements, India has the potential to unlock pDOOH’s full scale and secure its place in the evolving digital landscape.