Once the big bucks arrive, OOH market will dramatically change: Noomi Mehta

At the end of the two-day long NEONS OOH Conference by Exchange4media saw Noomi Mehta, Chairman of the Board of Selvel One and Chairman, The Indian Outdoor Advertising Association, delivered a valedictory address about the future of OOH, how agencies can support this creative way of advertising and way forward.

He mentioned that while media around the world is facing a lot of troubles both in viewership and losses, Out Of Home advertising is one such platform that is continuing to do well.

Mehta spoke about reasons why consolidation in the OOH media is not happening and how can that be taken care of. “So many handicaps have been mentioned in OOH. They talk of diffused ownership, too many small players. But this is natural. It's a local medium. It's been so in every country around the world. What makes it different is the consolidation progress. Why hasn't consolidation happened? It is because the big bucks haven't arrived as yet. When they do, the market will dramatically change and there will be consolidation.”

“We have the additional problem of generation. The generations have what we call the legacy element. A person who inherits a business automatically feels emotionally attached to it and that emotional attachment causes valuation expectations far in excess of reality. We talk of no credible third-party monitoring but this problem is easily solved. The only problem that is not solved is who's going to pay for it. If the client expects another freebie, it is not going to happen for a long time. Lack of third-party data and recognized viewership data has often been mentioned. The platform for measurement is ready. The app is ready. What is not ready is the agencies willingness to take to it. As soon as the agencies make up their mind that measurement is indeed wanted and they subscribe to it, we'll be on our road to well measured outdoor advertising assets,” he added.

He also explains how laws in the country can be a tricky business in terms of road permissions for OOH advertising, but the industry is making progress in the same.

Lastly, he explained how advertisers and agencies can work together to make the best use of OOH and digital together. “Digital OOH is one to many. But the advantage is it can have a layer by which the many can also talk to the one. So, you can get both mass and personalized medium in one single ad by using the combination of the smartphone and your digital ad. Make no mistake, digital outdoor is here to stay and so are we. Digital will grow and so will we. But it's not an us versus the agency situation. It is us and agencies. We are two sides of the same coin. We both dine at the same table. Together we can prepare a feast. We need the agencies to help prepare the measurement sauce, which spices up our media offering and makes OOH experience a delightful culinary journey. Otherwise, the table will remain bare and we will be left fighting for scraps.”