New OOH focused B2B website, Network2media, launched

A new B2B website that will focus on the out of home (OOH) industry, Network2media.com, was launched last week. The news and features website was launched by Time Square Media Services.

The economic meltdown affected key OOH markets that actually contribute at least 80 per cent of the ad expenditure in the fourth quarter, resulting in heavily reduced spending. However, advertising expenditure on OOH media is expected to grow again by 4 per cent this year to Rs 1,500 crore.

But more than this, the character of OOH advertising is changing rapidly, with greater use of technology and exciting new formats, especially with the presence of multinational OOH players.

Network2media aims to offer a specialised media platform for OOH in India. The website will cover daily news pertaining to the OOH industry, and also have interviews and guest columns from Indian as well as international OOH professionals. It will also look at technological developments in the OOH industry, including digital signage and ambient media.

Kalyan Kar is the website’s editor-in-chief and director. Kar has been a business journalist for the past three decades. He spent 22 years with the Bennett, Coleman & Co., working with The Economic Times and The Times of India. He also worked for the ABP Group for five years. In his last assignment, he was editor of exchange4media.com.

Backing them as a key member of the strategic think-tank for the organisation is Arup Dutt. Dutt’s last assignment was as executive vice-president of Jindal Group’s Parivartan, an OOH agency. He is a seasoned media professional, with more than 22 years of experience in mainstream media, spanning print, video news magazine, terrestrial and satellite television, Internet, events, book publishing and OOH. He has been associated with media brands such as The Telegraph, exchange4media, Zee TV, Asian Age and Nimbus.