‘There has to be an industry acceptable syndicated measurement system’

Could you first share a bit about your approach to the out of home advertising medium as a whole in terms of the formats and audience engagement? How has it served the marketing objectives in the past?

Out of Home works well when you want an immediate impact or immediate roll-out of your message In terms of formats – we look at a mix of billboards, BQS and any street furniture that have the capability of communicating the message aesthetically – like in any plan we look at the impact of the message & the frequency (OTS).

The duration of exposure to the OOH inventory is usually 5-20 seconds in majority of instances – hence it is absolutely comparable to brand exposure on TV or digital. It is imperative to get your message delivered in this timeframe.

We have used OOH for launch of new brands/variants or promoting our brands during specific periods (cold creams during winters, fragrances during festive).

As we transition from a challenging period of lockdowns and restrictions towards a post pandemic stage,  what role do you see OOH playing as a marketing and advertising medium? Do you also plan to explore newer options in the OOH space?

The lockdown has impacted many businesses and most businesses are looking at a recovery (and no Phase 3) – business will probably take baby steps to come back to their pre-pandemic levels in as short time as possible. Till then they might look at maximising reach in their communication – hence looking at TV, Digital, Print. Local businesses might consider OOH. Some businesses that were not heavily impacted during the pandemic would be the advertisers who will consider OOH. We have tested some of the newer options that are currently available in OOH – digital screens in specific – however as an offering this has to evolve and be advertiser friendly on formats and data.

What do you think would increase spends on OOH as a medium?

Until the time the medium is capable of calculating the ROI for the spend, how will any advertiser keep increasing spends on the medium? There has to be an industry acceptable syndicated measurement system. I genuinely urge the OOH media owners and the agencies to join hands on delivering this measurement system – I am happy to help formulate this along with the industry seniors & my counterparts in other organisations.

Read the full interview in the October 2021 edition of Outdoor Asia magazine