Out-of-home thinks out of the box

A band of start-ups is using technology to change the rules of outdoor advertising, opening up the market for brands in Tier II and III towns

Read the Pitch Madison Advertising Report for 2016 and one number that stands out is the rising clout of outdoor advertising. The market grew by 14 per cent in 2015 to Rs 2,665 crore and in 2016, is expected to grow at 13 per cent. "Higher adoption of digital and technology and greater use of transit media will be seen in 2016, when the total outdoor advertising market is expected to cross Rs 3,000 crore," the report said. As more and more advertisers (especially online and mass market brands) seek to build their offline presence, a group of start-ups are using technology and data management strategies to maximise the bang for their buck.

The start-ups are identifying high-value catchment areas and aggregating outdoor spaces (billboards, movable vehicles, bus stand displays and others) in small and mid-sized towns across the country. They apply a range of tech tools, interestingly all built and honed by e-commerce companies, to sharpen the impact of outdoor advertising. And the result is the emergence of agencies that help companies such as Amazon, Flipkart, Quikr and even warring taxi aggregators Ola and Uber drive deeper into the Indian hinterland by offering them the best locations at the best prices.

8Hoarding, a start-up, calls itself an advertising aggregator. It started off in 2014 and has positioned itself as a one-stop-solution for all outdoor advertising needs. The company, founded by IIM-Calcutta alumnus' Neeraj Sharda and Sudhanshu Goyal says that it uses a set of algorithms to chart out a full-fledged outdoor campaign for its users. The firm has 60,000 outdoor hoardings on offer. For each spot, the company says, it has a detailed research docket that guarantees advertisers varying degrees of visibility.

"Now, one doesn't need to do a recce to find out the best location and the position to place an advertisement. Big data, data analytics and mining, backed by geo coding have taken over," Goyal said. Companies like his are disrupting the physical advertising space, especially in small towns where outdoor spaces are largely unorganised and run more like mom-and-pop operations.

The aggregators use maps from local municipalities, from Google and other sources to find out the hot-spots in a city. These are then marked up to identify the places that bring maximum views on billboards. It then uses census data to understand the spread of population in a particular city or locality. The aggregators further classify potential audiences in terms of demographic, income and other criteria. This helps companies deliver a targeted message in areas where that was not possible earlier.

According to consultancy firm KPMG India, by applying the science of data, precise audience targeting can be achieved for out-of-home advertising campaigns resulting in improved returns on investment on the marketing budget. "In the future, technology may play a key role in driving outdoor advertising business and may be the aggregators will carve out a space of their own in this field", Mohit Wadhwa of Shape India Outdoor said.

By laying out a map of billboards based on points of interest, population density, traffic, income-based community profiles and several other parameters, these companies hope to address the problem of measuring the efficacy of such advertising. The aim is to help advertisers plug the leaks in the budget. In the past large advertising agencies and outdoor hoarding companies in the metros used eye trackers and cameras to measure the traffic at certain billboard spots but combining this with the new range of technologies helps create a sharper picture of the audience reached.

"People have been experimenting with various technologies to improvise the advertising space and actually measure the various parameters," Jehil Thakker, head of media and entertainment at KPMG India said. While traditional survey tools are in vogue, the advent of technology disruptors and aggregators is likely to bring in a change in the near future, he believes.

"The hoardings space is very unorganised and hence enough data is not available. When one needs to invest in an advertisement, one has to know what exactly he is investing in. Technology can help," Goyal added. While aggregators set up shop a few years back, the real impact of their operations is being felt now. Experts also believe that the mushrooming of players in this segment will soon lead to consolidation. "We would see reasonable consolidation in next three years as only quality players will sustain", Pramod Bhandula, executive chairman of JCDecaux India said.

If the last decade was ruled by e-commerce, this decade undoubtedly belongs to aggregators. Be it car rentals, grocery delivery or apparel purchase, aggregators are innovating and overhauling existing businesses. And now outdoor advertising seems to be the next one on the block.