<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>OAC 2006:</B></FONT> Time for Indian outdoor advertising to read the signs

People still remember the memorable outdoor campaign for Araldite adhesive, which stuck a real, life-size car to a billboard. Below that came the punchline: ‘It also sticks handles to teapots’. Among the more recent examples of outstanding use of outdoor is the campaign for the launch of the BMW Mini. In an age in which everyone lives by the ‘big is better’ philosophy, it was no easy task to emphasise how small this car is. But BMW Mini tried anyway and the innovative campaign showed outstanding results. One of the innovations had a photo of the car stuck next to a giant-size dustbin in a mall, with a line that went: ‘Makes everything else seem a little too big’.

Sadly, none of these campaigns are from India. The outdoor industry in India is growing at a dismal 5-7 per cent year-on-year (YoY), when, in fact, it possesses the potential to grow at 30-40 per cent YoY. “To make things worse, outdoor is regarded as a mere add-on to a television campaign in India,” said Rahul Welde, general manager, media services, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), at the Outdoor Advertising Convention (OAC) held recently in Mumbai.

According to Welde, the only way to accelerate growth is to break through the clutter using unconventional means. This can be achieved by focusing on the following building blocks: research and measurement, and creativity and innovation.

In fact, Welde said, around the world it has been proven that research and measurement increases investment in outdoor as a vehicle. Countries such as Australia and Canada saw a tremendous growth in the outdoor business after a proper measurement system was put into place in 2000 and 1965, respectively.

“With the growing media choices, competition for the advertising rupee has increased manifold,” Welde said. “This means that measurement in the outdoor industry is even more critical today.” He added that such a system would cost less than 1 per cent of the industry’s present revenue pie.

However, he cautioned that only measurement and research weren’t sufficient to see outdoor touching its peak in India. Since outdoor is static in nature and, therefore, the least engaging medium, it was important to make sure that the medium was engaging enough. One should not get stuck with only ’40 x 20’ billboards.

Welde went on to cite some other examples from abroad of outdoor being used innovatively. FedEx, which wanted to convey its venture into stationery items, used a hoarding that had silver coloured ‘rings’ around its top (almost like the spiral binding on calendars and books). A brand for a non-stick cooking spray used posters with the brand message. Nothing exceptional about that, except that the posters were deliberately placed partially on the pavement and partially on the wall to portray how ‘non-stick’ they truly were.

Welde went on to cite an example closer home. “HLL used a live model sitting on a hoarding for Knorr Soupy Snax, which gathered a lot of attention.”

He indicated that live streaming on hoardings and blue casting would soon become widely used vehicles for outdoor advertising. For instance, if you are passing by a shop and your cell phone’s bluetooth device is switched on, you will get a message from the shop/branded outlet about its latest scheme/ products. The idea is to get as many people in the vicinity of the shop as possible to walk in.

Welde concluded by saying that the time was ripe for the outdoor industry to get going in India. “Some of the fastest growing sectors in India today, such as telecom, real estate and financial services, can all make good use of outdoor.”

In addition, the booming retail sector will provide plenty of opportunities to innovate and create exciting outdoor advertising. After all, more malls mean more people out of their homes.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!