Ooh

Outdoor advertising is no more restricted to billboards. As the Indian consumer is bombarded with 1,00,000 advertisements a day on more than 250 channels, outdoor advertising has shown promise to break the clutter of advertising on traditional mediums. Out-of-home has revolutionized the way outdoor communications is being looked upon by marketers and today, it has transcended the traditional outdoor media options, extending to communicate with the customers at various touch points. The paper illustrates the new Outdoor media options starting from the cornerstone of Outdoor the billboards, street- furniture (bus- stops, walls etc.), transit media such as buses, railways and mobile-vans to new alternate media such as mall kiosks, building boards etc. clearly illustrating the media options that planners have and can choose from in OOH depending upon the target audience they have. OOH as estimated by PWC is expected to become Rs 2,000 cr industry by 2010. Though the part of media-spend in OOH is only 6% for now the industry has shown promising growth. The industry structure as for now is fragmented and less organized. The paper presents the importance and need for research for the growth of OOH media. Clutter in advertising, the need to be present at every touch-point, the relevance of OOH in local advertising and rural advertising have suddenly brought OOH to the attention of all brand marketers. Innovativeness, flexibility, impact and coverage that OOH can achieve are the feathers in cap of OOH media over other non-traditional medium. Before OOH becomes a well recognized industry challenges such as lack of syndicated study or ROI models in OOH, other non-traditional media competing for attention of planners, government regulations in India need to be properly addressed.

The bottom line is that OOH in India is seeing an increasing growth rate with new organized players such as Times OOH, Clear Channel Advertising, Pioneer Advertising etc coming into picture. Buying and selling of outdoor sites and options offered to advertisers with newest in technology has earned revenue for these players. But comparative to Global OOH India still has a long way to go. The paper brings forth the changing face of Outdoor Advertising to Out-Of-Home Media in India. Introduction Traditionally Outdoor Advertising has been synonymous to billboards and use of certain street furniture for advertising. Mumbai has hoardings all around the city, in all sizes and shapes, and at locations where they are bound to get noticed. Earlier, hoardings, bus shelters, etc, were part of Outdoor Advertising, but today, they have become a part of the larger OOH Advertising. Things have changed. Over the past few years, the outdoor advertising industry has evolved into a rejuvenated media force to be reckoned with what’s poised to compete aggressively in the 21st century media fray. While many traditional media segments have struggled to remain competitive in a period of economic strife, the outdoor industry has remained relatively unscathed and solvent due in large part to the strength of local sales

as both national and regional brands have shifted a significant portion of advertising spend to grassroots promotions. With the media explosion reverberating all around and increasing competition amongst the brand marketers to be eye-catching, media- planners are looking at the possibilities of Outdoor Advertising now known as Out-Of- Home or OOH. The OOH media is growing constantly and is expected to cross Rs 2,000 cr. in the next five years. Outdoor today is an important element and strategic to a media plan. The top brands using outdoor are a veritable blue chip list of advertisers: AT&T, American Express, IBM, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, to name just a few brands that know about wise investments, brands that have plenty of choices to market their products. The interest has been steady and growing and with good reason. Outdoor offers outstanding value for the money and a myriad of ways to ratchet up exposure. Whether matched with other media to extend reach or used extensively on its own to saturate a market, outdoor can't be beat. Its ubiquitous presence insures that when a consumer is ready to purchase, the brand is top of mind. From Billboards to Out - Of - Home Today it seems, consumers are in a hurry and outdoor provides quick and concise information to help individuals make rapid purchase decisions. Outdoor surrounds consumers with ubiquitous presence offering media choices that suit every target audience, geography and strategic plan. Outdoor is a comprehensive mix of effective media delivery mechanisms that reach people in their cars or on subways, in airports and malls or in any number of growing outdoor media settings. Outdoor is roadside, outside and inside, above and below ground and on the move. OOH Media Vehicles OOH Media broadly describes a variety of advertising vehicles, which reach consumers where they shop and travel. Billboards Billboard formats can reach today's highly mobile consumer audience with high-impact, strategic positioning and market-to-market coverage. But that's not all. Billboards can deliver on clean eye-popping exposure 24/7, clutter free messages in a uniquely customized environment and desirable suburban coverage filling gaps left by other media. One of the new innovations in the area of billboards is the I-Board, which is built on Internettechnology, and can use any telecom backbone facility available to display a sequence of rapidly changing advertisements by a host of different advertisers. The offerings to the advertisers are changing and growing in number.

Street Furniture Street furniture advertising is can be very flexible and innovative. Many street furniture displays are located near shopping and commerce centers, these outdoor products provide a last reminder for consumers, just moments before a potential purchase decision is made. It makes street furniture advertising ideal for brand recognition near a point-of-purchase. It can also generate high awareness and can effectively target population segments or be used to reach a broad-based marketplace. Formats range from simple to interactive, locations vary from dense urban centers to suburban roadways. Consumers’ on - the - go Transit products such as displays that reach people traveling - by plane, train or automobile, bus or cab, and on foot offer extremely targeted outdoor messaging solutions. They are visible at all hours, with particular strength during rush hour. Take your pick of the product pack - mix and match. Combining transit products can make a tremendous impact improving: reach, frequency and overall impact in one cohesive media package. Alternative Outdoor Media - The New Twist A whole new field of advertising formats has emerged in OOH media to impact consumers headon during the course of daily activities. Originally developed to bridge gaps in urban centers, the alternative outdoor products have today grown into a sophisticated and viable business. The beauty of these ad forms is the targeting they provide, and their synergy within micro markets. Alternative outdoor media can cover a market far and wide or provide synergies with locations strategically placed around a town. Next

Today, the Out-of-Home (OOH) market accounts for approximately 6.0% of the total ad spends in India. As shown below, the OOH ad spends in India compare favorably to the worldwide ad spend on OOH.

Source: Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, October 2004 by ZenithOptimedia In year 2010 the Out-Of-Home is expected to grow to 17,500 million with a compounded average growth rate of 14%.

Projected Growth of Out-Of Home Advertising Industry The Indian outdoor advertising industry has been thoroughly invaded by small players who largely possess, control and directly market these media sites. Currently, the Indian OOH industry is characterized by fragmentation and lack of technology. Very few organized players such as Times OOH, Clear Channel, Selvel, Vantage, Pioneer, Portland and Lakshya have shown faith in this form of advertising.

Selvel Vantage Advertising Private Limited, Selvel Private Limited, Pioneer Advertising Private Limited, Clear Channel India and the Selvel Vantage Group are some other companies offering outdoor advertising. Despite facing competition from new entrants these companies face risk of business from unorganized sector which form a substantial segment of the OOH advertising sector. For the OOH industry to grow some level of research and development is necessary to help advertisers quantify the ROI on the ad-spend. Currently not much is happening on the research front though almost all the players in the OOH industry are not denying the importance of research. Factors Driving the Growth of OOH Media OOH has suddenly started gaining attention. The reasons for such a phenomenon can be as follows: Increasing ad-spends The growth in Indian economy has led to better employment prospects and thus people have more disposable incomes. The result of this has been more consumption and more purchase. It requires the brand marketers to reach out to the audience through every possible means. With the increasing media spends the share over OOH media has also increased. Clutter on traditional media

Media penetration has increased phenomenally over the past few years. Increasing penetration has led to increasing demand from a clutter free advertising. OOH provides ample opportunity to advertise for clutter free advertising. Increasing working population More and more people are on the move today. In metros, on an average, people spend 3-6 hours of the day traveling, which makes them potential audience to OOH media. Aptness in Rural Marketing In rural areas the impact of OOH is high. Rural areas do not have high literacy; therefore print is not the best medium for advertisers. Significant power shortage doesn’t let TVCs to be effective either. To the growing interests of FMCG giants in rural marketing, OOH offers excellent Return on Investment (ROI). Local Advertising OOH being a localized and cheap medium by nature also attracts a lot of local advertising. It turns out to be cost-effective and relatively cheaper medium than other broadcast based regional or national media which is affordable for local advertisers. Language problems can also be easily overcome by this localized medium. Advantages of OOH Innovativeness A big reason for the popularity of OOH Media is the innovations that have happened in OOH advertising over the past decade. Today, OOH media is not just about plain hoardings trying to catch attention but being innovative in terms of commercials used, display made and the way the hoardings and panels execute. People still remember the memorable outdoor campaign for Araldite adhesive, which stuck a real, life-size car to a billboard. Below that came the punchline: ‘It also sticks handles to teapots’. Among the more recent examples of outstanding use of outdoor is the campaign for the launch of the BMW Mini. In an age in which everyone lives by the ‘big is better’ philosophy, it was no easy task to emphasize how small this car is. But BMW Mini tried anyway and the innovative campaign showed outstanding results. Flexibility "OOH as a medium has the greatest flexibility in terms of being able to transform ideas and imaginations into reality." Brent Kennedy, Head of DDB Creative, Japan With digital technology being used, the OOH medium is offering significant flexibility to the advertisers to change the messages as required in timely fashion. You can illuminate the OOH media as per requirements and as per time.

Coverage Unavoidable - outdoor advertising is visible from all corners. It can be seen on city buses, bus stops, hoardings, billboards, gymnasiums, parks, railway stations, malls and all other public places. It can cover anybody’s imagination. Impact OOH displays are intended to get people's attention while they drive or walk. It can catch attention during rush hours when people are stuck in traffic and are unable to do anything. OOH advertising is an effective way to remind the audience of the product being advertised at the time just before purchase. This works as an impact medium for national advertisers as it reinforces the impact of a particular brand. Challenges to the Growth of OOH The OOH industry appears to be a promising industry in India but if comparisons are drawn between OOH in India and OOH Globally it clearly shows that Indian industry is still in a nascent stage and lot has to be done before OOH becomes an important and investment effective medium in the Indian context.

Characteristics Status Size Importance Holding patterns Regulation Innovation R&D

Comparison Between OOH India and OOH Global OOH India OOH Global Not recognized as industry Recognized as industry Around Rs 1,000 cr Over US $ 5 bn Strategic Add-on media importance Large number of Small number of small Players large Players Still to happen Already exists Just Begun Fair Ahead Exist, but still Does not exist evolving

Source: Advertising Express, July 2006, Lifestyle Marketing, Media-Options: Breaking Conventional Practices.

Research and Development When we talk about Mass Media Advertising, Outdoor is the only Mass Advertising Media, where there is no syndicated research or data on the Media consumption habits of Target Audience. Lack of data puts Media Planners and Advertisers in difficult position when they have do decide on Outdoor Advertising Budget or they have to do scientific media planning. There have been some attempts on individual companies and agencies part to do some research. But there is not even a single continuous and syndicated study on which one can rely upon. The American Media Research Company (Arbitron) has done a study on outdoor Media Consumer and their role in Media Mix to construct the Profile of Pedestrian and Vehicle

Drivers/Passengers, who are exposed to Outdoor Advertising Messages. But in Indian context no such studies exists.

Other Competing Non-Traditional Media "With the growing media choices, competition for the advertising rupee has increased manifold." Rahul Welde, General Manager-Media Services, HLL Ltd. Though Media Planners recognize the potential of OOH the lack of syndicated study and no-reports on ROI of such mediums makes recognizing the best media a challenge for them. All non-traditional media is experimental in nature thus investment and ad-spends in the OOH can be fluctuating. Role of Support Media No matter how much the OOH industry grows, the fact remains that as the economy is booming and people are consuming and purchasing more the brand marketers need to be present on every touch point and so OOH can only be used strategically as a support media to other mass media only. Government Regulations The billboards and hoardings have been seen as a nuisance by the authorities. The Delhi government is considering banning the media, and in Bombay, the number of hoardings is strictly restricted. "India is much disorganized, and then there is both an interfering government and small time contractors. Both have destroyed the media to a large extent," says P.S. Pillai, media controller, TBWA Anthem. This has kept the growth of OOH low and media planners away from the medium. Next The Indian Story An Advertising Age report in 2005 estimated the bid for prestigious Two Times Square as much as $ 350,000 (Rs 1.75 crore) per month. Obviously this comparison is unfair to the Indian context but, India’s most expensive location at the Patel Bridge in Mumbai used to rake in Rs 22.5 ($ 45000) per month at an average of Rs 7.5 lakhs for 10 days cycle only for morning site.

Now comparisons apart, in a recent auction the morning/evening combo property has a new owner with three year tenure. The bid amount of Rs 15.3 has conferred the ownership by Times OOH. The bids by other players were; Agencies Times OOH Jaya Advertising Clear Channel Advertising Pioneer Advertising Bright Advertising

Bid Rs 15.30 crore Rs 14.11 crore Rs 12.15 crore Rs 11.88 crore Rs 11.18 crore

Bidding by Key OOH Players for the Prestigious Patel Bridge OOH location Source: : Outdoor Advertising, Volume 2, Issue 1, Aug- Sep 06, The Long Run

Today the average rental of any OOH location has gone up by 25-40% depending upon the site and part of the year it is bought in. All good properties have registered a growth of 40- 100% in last couple of years. In the long run, these numbers are going to go up. Conclusion As mentioned earlier with Indian consumer facing a million advertisements every day on television and less time in the busy run of the day to read the newspaper, this is the perfect time for the OOH media to grow. Some of the fastest growing sectors in India today, such as telecom, real estate and financial services, can all make good use of outdoor. In addition, the booming retail sector will provide plenty of opportunities to innovate and create exciting outdoor advertising. After all, more malls mean more people out of their homes. All that is needed to sustain is recognition of OOH as an industry, regulation and some amount of research to validate the ROI on ad spend by marketers on OOH media. With the above things in place OOH as a medium will witness rapid growth and expansion.