Lynn de Souza, chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group made the opening address. She contested the 6% ad-ex theory and stated, "OOH occupied more than 6% of time and resources at her agency." Her statement was based on the research from Magna Global Forecast that the OOH industry would grow to Rs 3,500-crore at a year-on-year growth of 17%.
de Souza stated the OOH industry needs to organise itself better. This was contested by Noomi Mehta, chairman and managing director of Selvel One Group. He stated: "OOH companies must be treated as partners and companies should be given a fair and proper price."
During the second session Sonal Dabral and Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar made a presentation in which they showcased through campaign clips, the sheer visible availability and usefulness of OOH which go well beyond the current scope of giving us static messages. Both hoped that OOH will become more interactive and creative in India.
Ronita Mitra, the head of Corporate Brand Group at ICICI spoke about the OOH strategies by the bank, where it set up an OOH campaign in 300 Indian cities to complement their TVC theme.
Following which, Ashish Pherwani, Ernst & Young India, shared a mini survey that the agency had conducted. The concerns he raised were: the difficulty of audience measurement, pricing slabs and creation of new sites even as city hubs are shifting.
He hoped that the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) – could gain teeth and safeguard the interests of companies in the OOH space. He felt this would be required for the purpose of lobbying with the government to create a uniform regulation to safeguard the interests of its constituents.
The IOAA could play a key role in preventing ad hoc decisions taken by local and state government bodies.
In addition to the presentations, the Award ceremony of the OAC will be held on 18 June. The OAC Awards had a 16 member jury in addition to a special jury to judge for the zonal media owner, media owner and printer of the year. There were displays produced by Printech of the short-listed entries near the registration desk.
The deadline for sending entries for the third edition of PrintWeek India Awards is 25 June 2011.
Click here to download:
Entry Form for PrintWeek India Awards 2011
OOH industry looks to consolidate
The seventh edition of Outdoor Advertising Convention (OAC) 2011 began today at the Hotel Renaissance in Mumbai. More than 500 delegates (agency heads, media owners, corporate brand owners) atttended the conference and the exhibition show.
