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 Internet-
technology, 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 head-
on 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.

Comparison Between OOH India and OOH Global

Characteristics OOH India OOH Global
Status Not recognized as industry Recognized as industry
Size Around Rs 1,000 cr Over US $ 5 bn
Strategic
Importance Add-on media
importance
Holding Large number of Small number of
patterns small Players large Players
Regulation Still to happen Already exists
Innovation Just Begun Fair Ahead
Exist, but still
R&D 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 Bid
Times OOH Rs 15.30 crore
Jaya Advertising Rs 14.11 crore
Clear Channel Advertising Rs 12.15 crore
Pioneer Advertising Rs 11.88 crore
Bright Advertising 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.