‘Regulatory environment is more friendlier now’

Even as Indian OOH sees the making of a DOOH renaissance, there are questions galore on the viability of this format, and its wider brand acceptance. On one side, the dynamic format has significantly extended the boundaries of creativity, and yet there are aspects that are concerning for advertisers whose expectations from this medium had been set by the use of traditional OOH formats. 

Geetika Gulati, Director, Alakh Advertising & Publicity talks about the factors that go into investing and operating large format road facing DOOH media:

ROI from road facing DOOH media assets

“The ROI is much more because we are selling multiple slots on a single asset. We were one of the first to use digital assets in the market and because of its novelty, the demand was high – we were selling out almost 12 slots, out of an available 6. But brands have become a little apprehensive about sharing ad space as well the visibility because while digital assets are only operational for certain hours during the day, static billboards offer 24/7 visibility. 

PSUs and banks are not keen on sharing ad space and don’t venture into the DOOH space, but media houses, OTT platforms are comfortable with the slot system and are usually our returning customers as well.” 

“Perhaps one of the things that advertisers complain about is that the average visibility of a screen is about 40 seconds, and not the full 60. Hence, while 10 second slots are optimal, we are still trying to figure out a solution for the same.” 

Challenges in putting up the best quality digital display screens

“We are content with all the screens that we have installed, but of course there are teething troubles, as we are still learning to optimise this medium. Given that these screens are manufactured in China, the procurement time is also relatively large at the moment, and especially if we want to customise the screen as per our specifications.”

“As for security, we also need to be careful with the installations of our screens and the areas we choose, because while not common, there have been cases of screens being stolen and/or vandalised. To prevent this, we have installed our screens at a safe height in good neighbourhoods/areas.”

Advertising norms

“Initially, it used to take us about six months to get permission for even railways licenses and that too after pulling all the strings, but now the system is much better and the processing time is much faster. We get permission in about two months which is standard. But I think the advertisers are also aware of the challenges we face with digital displays and give us the leeway to understand and repair the technology.”

“Moving images are not allowed at traffic-facing locations, and I understand the reasons behind that, but I feel like we can allow them up to a certain extent – perhaps limit the movement and speed of the visuals itself.”