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Home » Viewpoints » 'Agencies must go beyond planning and buying'

'Agencies must go beyond planning and buying'

By M4G Bureau - February 10, 2014

Tiju Easow, VP Marketing, Muthoot Fincorp, tells Outdoor Asia why the OOH media will always be important to the brand, and more...


Impact of economy on marketing and advertising budgets

We have been very focussed with regard to our marketing initiatives this year and have worked on the basic business requirements. We will continue to do so in the coming year too.

Role of OOH in the overall marketing plans

OOH is an important medium for us as it helps in reaching out to our target audience in a sharper and cost effective manner. Visibility at the local / ground level is important for us and outdoor as a media is one of the best ways to build ground level visibility. Typically we do outdoor as a part of our overall campaign plan and it complements the other media that we have taken. The feedback that we have received on our outdoor campaigns has been positive so far.

South being our important market, we have looked at various outdoor options in the four states of Kerala, TN, AP & Karnataka for our brand and tactical campaigns. Overall outdoor has enabled us to further enhance reach and visibility at the local level. Additionally we have used untraditional and comparatively smaller outdoor media effectively to build brand awareness and saliency across select markets.

Preferred formats


Depending on the campaign objective, we have looked at almost all formats, be it regular hoardings, bus shelters, pole kiosks or signal branding. As mentioned above, untraditional & smaller format media options have helped in building local level visibility and brand saliency in an effective manner.

Approach to OOH creative

Our outdoor creative's are designed keeping the media and target audience in mind. We try to keep our communication simple and direct so that it can be easily understood by our target audience.
 
Strong Markets

As we have a decent proportion of our branches in south, our OOH budget allocation is also likewise. Our spends in the southern states are higher than our spends in other markets.

Defining innovation

OOH as a medium provides opportunities for brands to stand out and be talked about. It is important for brands as well as the OOH agencies & media owners to constantly look out for clutter breaking options to reach out to the target audience and build a long lasting impression in the minds of the consumer.

We had recently branded ferries in AP. Though it is fairly simple idea, as this was the only mode of transport for over 60 villages within that area, it gave us good mileage within that area.

Challenges

For any campaign, it is necessary to stand out in the clutter and be talked about. Hence innovation, whether in terms of creative, media or customer engagement, is important. For a brand with national presence, innovations that can be scaled up and that too in a cost effective manner has been a challenge

Measurement (of impact)

It is imperative for a marketer to understand the effectiveness of the media chosen. OOH measurement has been a concern particularly as there is no formal mechanism in place even though the spends in this media are relatively high. The industry as a whole should collaborate, understand international practices (if any) and try to find a solution. In the past we have looked at qualitative feedback from our strong branch network.

Role of and expectations from OOH specialist agencies

Very few agencies have started going beyond planning and buying. It is necessary to understand the business and marketing requirements and suggest plans accordingly and not just work on given budgets for a particular campaign. Only then will OOH agencies be in a better position to add value to the overall communication exercise.

Message to media owners

OOH medium is still unorganised and hence there is a lot that needs to be done with regard to standardising practices, bringing in more transparency and developing measurement tools that can help in evaluating and planning for OOH campaigns.  

Factors that will drive spends

Innovative and cost effective options to reach out to the target audience combined with proper and authenticated measurement tools will surely encourage a marketer to explore this medium further.
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