OAC 2013: Sam Balsara: Know your strength & weaknesses

The first day's evening session of OAC 2013 saw an engaging presentation by Sam Balsara, CMD- MADISON WORLD discussing how specialist agencies can get rid of traders trade mark.  He mentioned the most important factors which would help the situation to come under control which according to him are: "knowing your strengths & weaknesses which would eventually facilitate the industry” and according to him this could be done through the following:

• Building knowledge base - If OOH is considered to be the chosen media, the fours questions need to be answered thoroughly - When, Where, How & Why
• Keep the brand as focus & not the media available-understand the business compulsions of the client
• Understanding the consumer & his media habits- today the consumer is much more demanding there is over communication with availability of multiple media, with the result that the focus is diminishing
• OOH going beyond the traditional billboards- Use of multi-formats & a combination of more interactive media will engage the target audience.
• Exposure, Engagement & Experience will ultimately help in moving the industry
• Focusing on innovation to break the clutter- reasonable change has come in the Indian ooh industry in this regard in recent times.

Balsara said using media data tools and working collectively for the betterment of the entire outdoor industry would gradually help in shaping up more constructive work making it a win -win situation for all the concerned partners. He concluded the session by focussing on some fundamental aspects such as integrity, transparency and professionalism that would ultimately help the specialist agencies get rid of the traders-trade mark.