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The increase in the number of marketing managers using OOH as the main media and not a 'reminder' media is an exciting indicator of things to come. Also, the innovations that are taking place in the OOH media are happening at a far greater pace compared to any other media.
Lastly, various formats in OOH are also gaining prominence, giving huge opportunities to innovate and get closer to the audience. For example, with transit points like airports, OOH media is now able to offer more avenues to reach out to a niche, more premium audience. Similarly, as railway stations, bus terminals get spruced up, OOH's potential can only grow.
On the flip side is the fact that with newer media gaining importance, fragmentation in the industry will rise. At present, there are over 4,500 media owners across India. Moreover, the lack of a metric for audience measurement will continue to be an issue in 2011 though the IOAA has initiated the Indian Outdoor Survey in association with MRUC.
Also, the fact that government and local bodies are not responding to the changing scenario is scary. I believe they need to show more empathy towards our needs and involve media owners in the decision-making process rather than making ad hoc policies.
Corruption in all facets of this business - and a lack of transparency - is fast becoming a hallmark that can spell doom. Blatant exploitation by clients of the fact that this business has so many open ends often equates larger players in the industry with smallest ones and reduces all their efforts to naught.