Engage OOH firms in Bengaluru's infrastructure development: Anil Kannambille

Bengaluru's physical infrastructure is bursting at its seams, unable to cope with the growth demands and population pressure. The Garden City of yore is also faced with the perils of unplanned urbanisation, scarring its landscape. Today, as the civic authority and all other stakeholders deliberate upon ways to improve the city's physical infrastructure, there is a clear case for engaging the OOH industry in the effort. Stating the key role that OOH firms can play in Bengaluru's beautification drive, Anil Kannambille, Director, Accord Advertising, one of the city's foremost OOH players, told Outdoor Asia that his firm has taken various initiatives to participate in infrastructure development initiatives like restoration of parks and green space around flyovers.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high decibel'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' campaign (Clean India Campaign), Kannambille said his firm has advocated that OOH firms can work with the civic body in Bengaluru to develop public conveniences. These utilities could be developed by the OOH firms in lieu of advertising rights. He expressed hope that the authorities will pro-actively engage the OOH industry in the PPP mode for such developmental initiatives.

He took the example of several skywalks coming up in the city to underline the role that OOH industry can play in infrastructure development. These skywalks will not only ease the movement of pedestrians on the arterial roads, but the properties have also become highly sought after media assets.

On Accord's role in the infrastructure space, Kannambille said, "We are open to adopting gardens, building public toilets, foot overbridges, and the like, on a BOT basis with ad rights, not just in Bengaluru but also other parts of Karnataka.”

He added that the firm has also proposed installation of tree guards to protect the city's greenery.

Commenting on Bengaluru's OOH landscape, he said that the rapid increase in the number of hoardings is hurting the industry as a whole. "As an industry we should have to improve the visibility of sites, as well as their aesthetics. This would entail improving the quality of the structure, decorating the asset, or for that matter, innovating the structure itself,” he said.

Kannambille also pointed out that he has not seen any new brand category presence in the outdoor space in recent times. "In fact, FMCG brands are shying away from using the OOH media in Bengaluru because the costs have escalated,” he said, "adding that we need to seriously think of innovating the media itself to bring more brands into the OOH fold”.

Kannambille said he sees a future in digital OOH media. However, the challenge lies in creating a secure environment for operating such assets.
For the record, Accord Advertising is a pan-India OOH advertising solutions firm with offices and outdoor media properties in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.