First of all, it is no more outdoor advertising - it is out-of-home (OOH) with the addition of alternative innovative media like halogen projection balloons, dynamic interactive displays on the floor etc. And it promises good returns on investment.
According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers' report, the Indian OOH market is currently Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in size and will grow to Rs 2,150 crore (Rs 21.50 billion) by 2010, growing at 17 per cent per annum.
Sanjay Pareek, president, Percept Out-of-Home, says: "The pie of OOH vis-à-vis total media is rising. It is 5-7 per cent of the total media spending and is growing at over 15 per cent."
He adds that if the trend continues, it will be the fastest growing segment after the Internet. Telecom, real estate and financial services are the biggest spender in OOH, followed by the media, automobiles and consumer durables.
The relevance of OOH in local and rural advertising has suddenly brought it to the attention of all brand marketers.
One more force behind the surge in OOH is the FMCG segment, which is using outdoor media to target rural audience (micro markets). A significant portion of advertising money is spent on promotions at the grassroots level.
"Hindustan Unilever has been the key player in rural outdoor for some time. Also, telecom players are moving in to cash in on the riches of the rural market, as growth in the urban market is saturating," says Pareek.
One advantage of this medium is point-of-purchase. The emergence of super markets, hypermarkets and specialty stores, though still very small in number, is another good thing which has happened to the medium.
These provide spaces to engage customers and talk to them for the last time before they make the final purchase. Internationally, both P&G and Unilever are using this media effectively.
Sanjeev Hajela, president, Primesite, the outdoor entity of the Mudra Group, says his company has seen around 30 per cent growth in the last financial year (2006-07). However, outdoor advertising in India is still lagging in comparison to global trends.
"In West Asia, the share of spend on OOH is larger because the market is very good for OOH. Similarly, in most European markets, the share is higher because most countries have a single owner of medium and this helps in easier execution of promotions," informs Hajela.
