OOH Media ties up with Blue Foods for digital screens

Out-of-Home Media (OOH Media), one of the major players in digital OOH screens in India, has tied up with Blue Foods, a large multicuisine lifestyle restaurant chain, to expand its screen network.

OOH Media has installed more than 100 screens across the Blue Foods restaurant network, which has outlets in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune and Kolkata. This includes restaurants such as Bombay Blue, Noodle Bar, Gelato, Spaghetti Kitchen, Copper Chimney, Yatra, Cream Centre and Spoon – The Food Court. The locations see total footfalls of more than a million customers daily.

Commenting on the tieup, Niloufer Dundh, chief sales officer, OOH Media, says, “Recently, we commissioned a research study, OOH Metrics, in association with The Nielsen Co. The study highlighted the frequency of restaurant visits across the country: Mumbai topped the list with eight visits every month, followed by Chennai with five visits, and Delhi and its NCR, Bengaluru and Pune on par with four visits each.”

OOH Media enters into long term contracts while putting up its screens. In a conversation with afaqs!, Dundh says, “This tieup is like a marriage. As the Blue Food chain grows, we will continue to be present at its various locations. We will make our money by running advertisements on the screens.”

Normally, OOH Media runs a 12 minute loop on its screens, out of which eight minutes are dedicated to ads and four minutes to content. The content includes music videos, movie promos and contests for restaurant visitors. Dundh says, “The content will be tailormade for the location of the restaurant.”

The restaurant chain will be paid a monthly rent by OOH Media, but Dundh refused to share the financial details of the deal.

Dina Mukherjee, head, marketing and communication, Blue Foods, says in an official communiqué, “We have a reliable and efficient ally in OOH Media, which is a pioneer in this space. The association was a result of exploring options to make the static screens an interactive medium to provide entertainment to our customers.”

Mukherjee adds, “OOH Media suggested a viable solution that was entertaining for our customers and mutually beneficial to both companies. We are confident that OOH Media's deployment, management experience and quality of service will ensure that the screens are a huge attraction for our customers.”

For the record, OOH Media has more than 5,000 screens in diverse locations such as corporate parks, malls, multiplexes, residential complexes, gyms, salons, bookstores and restaurants in 22 cities in India. The company was launched in May 2007 with 1,800 screens and claims to have the largest network of screens in the country.