Unconventional solutions without restriction is the need of the hour

A panel discussion on'What stops media owners from stepping on the growth pedal?' was recently debated upon at Kerala Talks OOH 2015 in Kochi. Moderated by Rajiv Raghunath, Consulting Editor, VJ Media Works, the panellists included Abdul Jaleel - Jay & Jay, Sayed Akbar - General Secretary, KAIA and Ummer Rafeeq - Unity Communication.

The panel threw light on how the future of Kerala and Indian OOH industry is all set to change. Conventional media may have to give way to more technologically oriented solutions and public utilitarian projects. Discussing about the limitation faced by the media owners from gaining industry growth, Abdul Jaleel said "Kerala is a state with immense possibility. But the industry should have concessive view on payment from agencies or brands. Late payment is a hectic problem that the industry faces today. Media owners have to unite to solve this issue for the development of industry”.

Speaking on the same lines, Sayed Akbar added, "Kerala has the strongest association in India, and yet we are facing a crucial issue regarding the growth of industry. A major point I would like to discuss here is that a lot of players operate in between the agencies and vendors. They are known as traders in industry. Even if the agency/brand is paying enough budget for a campaign, as a vendor we are not receiving the budget which they have paid to the trader.”

"OOH is an industry where the agency/brands can decide the time of payment and the amount too. No other industry has this sort of a problem. Duration of campaigns is also an issue, where most campaigns are done for few days. If the industry adopts per day payment scheme, it would be more convenient for media owners as well as agencies or brands,” Ummer Rafeeq said.

Talking about the duration of campaigns, Abdul Jaleel said that though metropolitan cities may get enough payment from advertisers, they cut off the budget amount in Kerala. "Ta one time, a 21-day campaign took the hoardings for 30 days. But we did not receive the amount for that. So the duration of campaigns is also an issue,” he added.

Discussing about how the Kerala OOH industry can attract national advertising brands to the state, Ummer Rafeeq said, "Professionalism is a key element to bring the national brands to our industry. The authorities will be driven by the revenue that this industry can contribute, thereby allowing more unconventional and innovative solutions without much restrictions.”