A search engine for outdoor sites

Correct information about outdoor sites is a major concern for advertisers, especially those whose target groups are in small towns. Outdoormedia.co.in, a website by Mantrin Advertising, a Chandigarh based agency, is a platform where vendors from all over the country can post their sites and where any advertiser interested in their offerings can access relevant data.

The website offers two options. Either the vendor can give his contact details along with the media and the buyer can contact him directly, or the buyer can ask Outdoormedia.co.in to coordinate his needs with the vendor. In the latter case, the company will be answerable to the client right from the outset of a campaign till its end. It will be responsible for the monitoring of the campaign as well. Mantrin Advertising will earn a commission when it gets involved in any such deal.

This is not the first time a directory of outdoor sites has been created. For instance, Timesoohmedia.com provides search options for outdoor sites owned by Times OOH according to city, format and product. Outdoormedia.co.in will focus more on strengthening its database by listing the local agencies in a particular area as the big players are usually already well known.

Lalit K Sharma, chief executive officer, Mantrin Advertising, says, “The website will work as a directory of outdoor advertising agencies. The aim of this project is to minimise the chain of middlemen, as is the usual practice in this trade. Sometimes, the original owner of a site doesn’t get even 15 per cent of the marketed price. There is a lot more in process that will be implemented in due course.”

Outdoormedia.co.in claims to have a database of more than 800 outdoor agencies spread across the country.

For the record, Mantrin Advertising is a marketing communication agency. It started operations seven years ago and has clients such as Milkfood, Dell, Zee Interactive and Siemens.