Mudra announces OOH joint venture with Clear Channel Outdoor

As part of a joint venture (JV) with Clear Channel Outdoor, the Mudra Group has announced its third OOH (out of home) specialist venture, Clear Channel Mudra. The deal was finalised three months ago. While leveraging Clear Channel's global knowledge and Mudra's experience in the Indian market, the venture will offer clients complete OOH solutions, including strategy, creative solutions, planning, buying, monitoring and reporting.

Commenting on the venture, Pratap Bose, chief executive officer, Mudra Max, tells afaqs!, "I think we understand the medium better than anybody else but there is always room for improvement. There is a huge gap in the consulting area, in creating development work and in the actual planning in the market, which Clear Channel's access to best global practices will help us resolve."

Discussing the reason behind the JV with Mudra, he says, "Clear Channel is one of the largest OOH media owners in the world, whose strength is in the best international practices, innovation and technology. However, to provide complete services to a client who is looking for a presence in rural areas, we needed to tie up with an agency with a strong foothold in the hinterland. Secondly, Mudra has a great team to partner with and as far as OOH in India is concerned, Bose's contribution to the industry as a whole is unmatched."

Already, the Mudra group has its hands full with two OOH arms – Primesite and StreetSmart. While Primesite was launched with a view to have a strong network of local advertisers, StreetSmart was started in June this year to explore new technologies and ideas in ambient and other new platforms.

The new venture aims draw upon Clear Channel's global presence and access to the latest innovations and technologies to enable Indian clients plan and execute international campaigns conveniently. Similarly, international clients targeting India with their campaigns will benefit from Mudra's reach, experience and expertise in the remotest parts of the country.

Another reason for the venture is handling of competitive and conflicting businesses within the Mudra group. Bose chose not to reveal the new agency's clients yet.

For the record, Clear Channel Outdoor operates in 50 countries, with experience of 3,500 municipal contracts across the globe, partnerships with 270 airports and more than one million OOH properties worldwide. Mudra has its reach across 1,75,000 villages, 4,000 towns across 13 states; direct to consumer activities in 75,000 villages and direct contact with 37,000 schools.