Effective eyeball measurement is the way to go for digital OOH

Digital media is ready to take on the markets. Digital Signage Asia brought many media brands together under one roof to discuss the possibilities of digital media in India. Laqshya Media is very gung-ho about its digital launch.

Laqshya Digital, Laqshya Media’s digital outdoor arm, will be launched in January 2008. Its main targets will be offices, malls and multiplexes. Laqshya has tied up with DLF and has complete rights to all DLF office properties. “Within offices, our target spot would be the lobby where, on an average, a person spends at least two to five minutes waiting for the elevator,” Chetan Madaya, CEO, Laqshya Digital, told agencyfaqs! Other equally strategic spots within office premises would be inside the elevator, at the entrance of the office, at pillars and in lunch rooms.

Malls and multiplexes, too, have been signed up by Laqshya. PVR Cinemas, Fame Adlabs and Movietime are among the multiplexes and major malls it has signed up with in Mumbai (Nirmal Lifestyles) and Delhi (Spice, Crossriver, Shipra). Laqshya Digital owns exclusive rights within these malls and multiplexes for all the digital content displayed.

Madaya spoke of a very near future scenario in which advertising would be much more futuristic. At this point, the consumer will not be within the confines of the four walls of his home, but outdoors. So, the media needs to aim at grasping his attention while he is on the move. This can be made possible through effective use of point casting media (where information is available to a particular consumer exclusive to his needs and wants).

Another point that Madaya highlighted was the audience measurement that was carried out in the OOH segment. “The reach that the digital medium achieves is what measures the competence of the medium. But how do we measure the reach is the question?” he said.

Laqshya Media has employed a very yielding technology. The company that provides Laqshya with the essentials is TruMedia. The technology, called iCapture, is an imaging system that delivers accurate viewing measurements for out of home advertising. The technique helps measure the audience, what they were watching, how many of them were watching and for how long they were watching. The demographics can be broken down to number of men and women.

Madaya feels the need to address the audience measurement system in an assertive manner. “Instead of digital OOH being rated on the basis of the number of screens that are employed on a specific place, audience must be measured on the number of eyeballs and footfalls,” he said.