Analysis

Changes in the professionMost of the media owners feel that the outdoor industry is an unorganized sector where the vendors do not get timely purchase orders, their payments are stuck for months and there is no regulatory body to look into these things. There is no unity in the industry and each agency and vendor works on his own terms. Moreover the competition in this industry has increased manifold and so has the number of clients- more and more people are choosing the outdoor media to advertise. New technology and innovations have taken the industry by storm and plans are there to digitize the outdoor industry. The media owners also feel that the regulations and interventions by government authorities have increased a lot adding to the trouble of vendors. Current trendsThe industry today is governed by innovations and new concepts- vendors believe that the youth of today has very high acceptance levels. Also the clients today are very target group specific. They are also very interested in packaged deals, which help them in getting cheap deals and, maximum coverage with respect to their TG. Moreover, the industry is equally driven by direct clients as well as agencies which give them business round the year. The vendors come to know of all these trends over a period of time, by interacting with clients and other people in the industry. Packaged offersAll media owners give packaged offers to the clients as it is a win-win situation for both the parties. In some cases the clients ask for these packages, else the vendors suggest them the best possible deals. Giving packaged deals is a value for money for both the parties as the sites can be availed at cheaper rates.

However, in the case of a few selective clients they are not bothered about the price that they get for a particular site, as long as the site is of their choice. Player at the topAll media owners interviewed had one common, favorite agency- Milestone. Everyone seemed to be very happy with this agency. Mudra max and Bates were also among the popular ones. Some other agencies that were named by the vendors are- Portland, RI Initiative, and Kinetic. The basis for naming the above mentioned agencies was the quantum of business that they provide to the vendors, their payment terms and transparency in their work.

Information provided by the clientsMedia owners said that the brief that they get from the client comprises of: Budget Target group Type of outdoor media required (billboard, bus shelter, unipole etc.) Number of media Benefits of a certain type of media The package offers that the vendors can offer Rates of the sites Duration of the campaign

Advertising budget for outdoor mediaMost vendors believe that outdoor comes last in the list of the different forms of media used for advertising. This is mainly because of the large investment that is required to advertise through this medium. Out of their total annual advertising budget, a client would spend 10-20% on outdoor media. Print media, television and radio are the more popular forms of media for advertising. This bifurcation is based on the clients budget and their TG.

Agency dynamics- how to rate an agency? All media owners rate the agencies that they work with almost on the same parameters Timely purchase orders Payment cycle Revenue Personal relations with the POC Quantum of business Pricing

Who drives the industry- the agency or POC? The vendors say that this industry is driven by relations- no matter whether an agency is giving you business or not you need to maintain good relations with it, it is important that people remember your face and that helps in getting good business. Views on the IOAA directiveMost of the media owners feel that the industry needs a regulatory body that can give out directives for the industry as a whole; hence they support the IOAA and its regulations. Vendors feel that the rule of minimum 10 days for a campaign is a good move which will help them from the losses that they incur due to empty sites. On the other hand, a few of the vendors interviewed are quite wary about the IOAA and its directives. They fell that it is not a statutory body that can impose rules on them and it might as well come out with rules with regard to the payment terms. Types of media and their categorization (if any)Most of the media owners interviewed are big players and have varied types of media with them, which includes- hoardings, bus shelters, kiosks, unipoles, neon

signs and mobile vans. Some vendors have a basis of categorization of their media with respect to Size of the site Location Visibility Height Closeness to the road

However a small number of interviewees feel that only small vendors do this kind of categorization of their sites and they do not believe in the same. Points of influence in the industryAll most all media owners say that they do not get influenced by the agencys brand name. They are just bothered about their payments and nothing else apart from that. On the other hand, a few selected vendors said that an agency with a large number of clients in its kitty can influence them in some way. Apart from brand name the other points of influence in the industry are- quantum of business, payment cycle. Hike in the ratesAll media owners stood united in justifying the hike in the rates of the sites in recent times and said it is uncontrollable. They said that the BMC has increased the license fees by 200% which has put a lot of burden on them. Moreover, earlier if a site was empty then the vendor could pay only 50% of the rent for the respective month- which is not the case now. Vendors say that the government has increased the tax rates but the clients budget is the same, landlords have also hiked the rentals; hence they have no option but to increase the rates. MNCs and FDI coming into India and its impact on OOHMany MNCs are coming into India nowadays and this is making the outdoor industry happier by the day. These companies come in with a lot of money and so

as to register themselves in the minds of the public, hence they advertise heavily. This influx of foreign money in the Indian markets has made the outdoor industry people very happy. However some vendors feel that these MNCs have a very restricted budget for advertising in foreign markets. They dream of capturing these markets with just 510% of their total budget, which is not possible. So these vendors feel that the incoming of such MNCs will hardly make a difference to the outdoor industry.