It's raining billboard ads this monsoon season

Occupancy levels of hoardings this June-July have improved by 25-30 per cent y-o-y

A drive down the Western Express Highway, an arterial road that connects south Mumbai to suburbs, throws up an interesting find: There are barely any vacant billboards in a season that is otherwise considered lean for advertising.

Monsoon in India, while bringing cheer to farmers, is a season of low advertising spending as the inclement weather does not lend itself well to visibility or innovation outdoors.

But this year appears to be different. A feel-good factor coupled with launches in various categories, including mobile handsets, media & entertainment, automobiles, real estate etc, has ensured that ads continue to be visible in outdoor spaces during the rainy months.

According to Sanjeev Goyle, chief executive officer, rural & out-of-home, IPG Mediabrands, the media unit of the Interpublic Group, occupancy levels of hoardings across the country, especially the top six to seven metros, where billboard advertising is pronounced, have improved by at least 25-30 per cent this June-July, compared with the same period last year.

“Advertising depends on the sales pattern of products. If there is a dip in sales or it is an off-season for categories, advertising is automatically lower. This year, I do not see that as the launches have been steady throughout the rainy months so far,” Goyle says.

Suresh Balakrishna, CEO, South Asia & Middle East, Kinetic, the out-of-home advertising agency of the WPP group, endorses this trend. He says sites administered by his agency, implying the number of billboards taken up by his clients, have steadily increased in the last two months.

“Last year, we administered 1,400 sites in July. It is 1,900 for this month. The bump-up is about 36 per cent over the year-ago period. In June, the increase over last year was lower, but it was still there at about 10 per cent. We expect the 36 per cent increase that we saw in sites administered this July to improve even further in the coming months. The festive season kicks off towards the end of August and I expect a mad rush for hoardings then,” he says.

Ashish Bhasin, chairman & chief executive officer, South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, which has outdoor agencies such as Posterscope and Milestone Brandcom within the group, says the boom seen in outdoor advertising is a result of the general uptick in advertising.

“Advertising in India, according to a recent forecast by our media agency Carat, is expected to be in the region of around 11-12 per cent this year. Most media categories including television, print and digital are growing. So is outdoor, which acts as a support medium for many advertisers. Staying visible is critical and outdoor plays an important role in that context, given that people spend a lot of time travelling. It therefore is a crucial reminder medium for advertisers,” Bhasin says.

The projection by most media experts is that the outdoor advertising market, which is around Rs 2,500-3,000 crore in size, will grow at the rate of around 15-20 per cent this calendar year, higher than the 10-12 per cent it saw last year.

Alok Jalan, managing director, Laqshya Media, a leading domestic out-of-home player, which has sites across the country, says the festive season will see a number of categories wanting to advertise this year.

“Already, advertisers are extending their bookings of hoardings at premium locations for nearly a year to prevent rivals from taking those sites. That is creating a demand-supply gap,” Jalan says.  While outdoor advertising rates haven’t peaked yet, they will in the next few months, say experts.

Billboards Everywhere

What: Occupancy levels of hoardings have improved by at least 25-30 per cent

Where: In all key metros across the country

When: June-July 2016; not months for outdoor advertising

Why: Feel-good factor, better economic outlook

Which Categories: Mobile handsets, media & entertainment, automobiles, real estate

Future: More categories to join the list such as durables, electronics, FMCG, telecom, retail, e-commerce