Insights
“Kolkata remains a stable, value-driven OOH market”
Tarun Kumar Ghosh, Chairman & Managing Director, Advise Group, shares insights on Kolkata’s changing OOH landscape, the gradual rise of DOOH, shifting advertiser behaviour, and the operational realities shaping the region’s outdoor ecosystem.
Kolkata’s OOH market continues to remain stable, value-driven, and deeply rooted in local advertiser participation, even as the city gradually moves towards premiumisation and digital adoption.
In an interaction with Media4Growth, Tarun Kumar Ghosh, Chairman & Managing Director, Advise Group, shared insights on the changing dynamics of Kolkata’s outdoor advertising ecosystem, the rise of selective DOOH adoption, and the operational realities shaping the region’s media landscape.
According to Tarun, unlike metros such as Mumbai and Delhi, Kolkata’s OOH market has evolved at a more measured pace, with categories like real estate, retail, and FMCG continuing to dominate spends. At the same time, sectors including BFSI, healthcare, education, and automobiles are becoming increasingly active across outdoor media.
He also highlighted how advertiser behaviour has shifted post-pandemic, with brands now prioritising premium, high-impact locations over large-scale inventory buying.
“There’s now a clearer preference for quality sites over sheer volume,” Tarun noted.
On the DOOH front, Tarun described Kolkata as being in a “high-growth but maturing phase,” with stronger adoption across malls, airports, metro stations, and premium transit environments. However, he also pointed out that infrastructure limitations, inconsistent measurement systems, and high setup costs continue to restrict wider-scale adoption.
Discussing the operational side of the business, Tarun emphasised that media owners today are balancing compliance, pricing strategy, occupancy management, and evolving municipal regulations simultaneously.
Despite ongoing challenges, he believes Kolkata’s OOH industry is steadily progressing towards a more organised and modern ecosystem backed by stronger infrastructure, improved measurement frameworks, and growing advertiser confidence.