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Months of discussions and deliberations have resulted in the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) coming out with a standard operating procedure (SOP), in a bid to regulate the Indian outdoor advertising market.
Terming it a landmark agreement in the long history of the outdoor advertising sector, both the associations, which have been at loggerheads, said the new norms will go a long way in building advertiser confidence while buying outdoor sites for advertising campaigns. Advertising in the Out-of-Home (OOH) segment is forecast to grow 11.10 per cent this year, touching ₹3,234 crore. In 2016, OOH advertising grew 9.20 per cent to ₹2,910 crore, from ₹2,665 crore the previous year.
Conventional outdoor advertising, against the projected 12.5 per cent growth, grew 9.5 per cent, including digital OOH and malls, according to an earlier Pitch Madison Advertising Report. The lower growth rate was attributed to regulatory litigations and the effect of demonetisation.
The urgent need to have an SOP came to the fore with media agencies, corporates and advertisers citing exploitation in certain transactions. Nakul Chopra, President, AAAI, said several vexing issues were sorted out in an amicable manner with the introduction of the SOP, and will ensure growth of the OOH industry.
Noomi Mehta, President, IOAA, added that both outdoor and agency owners will hopefully “carry out their responsibilities, in order to benefit from the advantages that the SOP spells out for both parties.”
Digital OOHThough OOH is one of the oldest mediums of advertising, it has become more flexible over the past few years, given the increased adoption of digital outdoor advertising. Digital OOH advertising is a key component for industry growth, even as traditional OOH remains steady. Given the emerging trend to maintain an integrated marketing strategy, advertisers tend to include a diverse array of mediums.
OOH media can deliver a brand’s message continually across consumers of various demographics during their daily out-of-home activities. Currently, outdoor media is highly fragmented and a large number of smaller players tend to own sites or are concessionaires of site owners. This has led to improper utilisation of the medium and also stunted the industry’s growth.
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