Why billboards are bindaas in Melbourne

When out driving the streets of sprawling suburban Melbourne (Australia’s largest city) you likely see a digital billboard advertising the latest film release Raayan followed by a new house and land package from Singh Homes and then news of the latest event by Chetan Bhagat. Feeling hungry, you may pull into the nearby Desi Dhaba for a snack or head down to Bharat Traders to fill the fridge.

Highway billboard advertising Singh Homes

What’s going on?

A cultural change is underway with many Indians choosing to make Victoria their home. They are choosing to live (almost 400,000 of Indian decent), study (India is Victoria’s largest source for international students, holiday (India is of the largest sources of international tourists and visitors) and invest (In 2022/23 India was Victoria’s ninth largest source of foreign direct investment, valued at A$150 million and accounted for 74% of all Indian FDI into Australia).

Bollywood glow in Melbourne

It always feels that billboards are best indicators of the social fabric of a city and Melbourne’s billboards are definitely dancing to the Bollywood beats. As the connections between India and Australia strengthens I expect that there will be more and more Indian brands seeking to target the growing Diaspora. Not only brands but services, influencers, activists and messages that can cause controversies across borders.

Billboard on top of a modern office building promoting the movie “Carry On Jatta 3,”

The power of billboards is that they are hard to miss and this means that physical presence of the messaging feels more trustworthy and real. In April 2024 Civic Outdoor proudly sponsored the Melbourne leg of Satinder Sartaj’s world tour at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. This electrifying event surpassed expectations for tickets sales and the overwhelming attendance and support from the Indian community. With more than 11,000 tickets sold, the highest ticket sales for any Indian event in Melbourne, the event organisers have credited the power of billboard promotion in Melbourne’s tightly held Indian geographic pockets to this success.

Outdoor advertising well positioned for future growth

Australia’s cities are growing fast (whilst not quite as fast as Malappuram, Hosur or Begusarai) and migration is a major source of the growth.

Infrastructure projects are being developed at a rapid pace to keep up with the expansion and this means there is a great opportunity for the outdoor advertising industry to grow and prosper for at least the next generation.

Infographic titled “Melbourne’s Indian Community,” highlighting statistics about the Indian population in Melbourne

More roads mean more development and we are very much still car-based cities. As a well-known Australian futurist and demographer says Melbournians think they live in Paris but really our city is more like Dallas. Billboards are the conduit to this growing population like no other medium.

We hope that Indian businesses will see Victoria as a place to invest in growing their brands and we welcome the opportunity of talking to more of them when they do.