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Starcom navigates OOH with a re-branding: Navia Asia
StarSight achieved a 300 per cent growth in business in 2005, and the re-branding will be put in to place in four Asian markets
Starcom MediaVest Group's specialist out-of-home media solutions unit StarSight India is now Navia Asia. The re-branding has been implemented with immediate effect, but will evolve and take shape in its entirety in a few weeks in the two markets that the unit currently operates in -- India and Philippines.
Inspired from the word 'navigation', Navia, shares its name with a river in Spain, a Vietnamese-American actress and Chilean football striker. The logo and graphics of Navia has been designed by Enhance India, Starcom MediaVest Group's retail branding unit. The various colours in the logo depicts consumer choices and the many sizes and challenges faced by brands today.
Sanjay Shah, CEO, Navia India, says, “In 2005, we achieved a growth of 300 per cent in terms of business and in 2006 it was 700 per cent. We have had a good run over the last three years, managing the OOH needs of clients of Starcom, as well as independent OOH clients. StarSight helped us establish ourselves rapidly; we believe the new name is a better reflection of our vision, will add new life to the operation and will be useful in accelerating our growth.”
“OOH is approximately a Rs 1,400-crore industry today, which is no joke! Its serious business, and is no longer allotted the 'leftovers' of a budget...investment in OOH is taken up separately by brands which require focused communication to establish the required kind of presence,” says Shah about the OOH market in India.
Navia’s operation extends from Kochi to Guwahati, from Bhubaneswar to Jammu, in addition to the important cities. The unit has won recognition in the past for its work for erstwhile clients Western Union, Hungama TV (eventually acquired by Disney) to name a few. Apart from ongoing clientele that Navia handles, it also takes up project assignments.
Each country unit of Navia operates independently as a specialist brand of the local Starcom MediaVest Group unit and reports to the local SMG management. In several markets in Asia, Starcom and Navia use a proprietary out-of-home planning tool dubbed Scope, that works on local street level maps to plan the usage of the medium.