Outdoor ASIA - July 2018

August 2018^61

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

improvement in the economic situation. The New Delhi
Airport contributed significantly to the turnaround of
the company fortunes. There were several important
lessons learnt. Some of them are as follows:

l At airports, you don’t sell sites but the premium
audience to the brands

The research commissioned by the company showed
that over 90% travellers were from SEC A/A+ strata.
The demographic and psychographic profile presented
a huge opportunity for the brands targeting this high
consuming segment. The customised category pitches
to clients put the business on the high growth curve.

l Airports offer a huge opportunity to move up the
value equation, i.e., from offering ‘basic awareness’,
move to ‘interactivity’ and ‘experience’

Most conventional media offer the brands a platform
to build awareness. OOH can offer much more. The
company was able to leverage airports as launch
platforms for brand launches and activities. A global
auto brand set up a lounge in Delhi Airport to launch
its brand in India. The initiative generated 2,000 leads
in the first 4 months. The potential customer could
see the model displayed and all the features were
explained. The leads led to the test drive (experience)
and conversions to sales. Similarly, an SUV launch by
an Indian major at the Mumbai airport led to 400 leads.
The launch of a new project by a real estate major at
Delhi Airport led to a sale of 30 apartments. The ROI
equation was not difficult to establish.

l Innovation is the key to maximise value for the
client

The secure environment can enable technology-led
innovation. Tech companies are the big spenders in
the OOH today. They also seek opportunity to innovate
to maximise the value from the rising advertising
expenditure in OOH. Technology driven companies like
Apple & Samsung made long term commitments at the
airports. In the year 2012-13, innovations contributed
over 15% to the company revenue.

l   Encourage experimentation: Do not fear failure

Our first initiative in Digital OOH in 2007 ended in a

failure. The company installed digital units at Mumbai

Airport and DND Flyway didn’t do well. Our inability to

monetise assets led to losses on these assets. However,

the company learnt its lessons and made significant

investments in Digital OOH, in hardware, software and

building sales capability at the new Delhi Airport. The

payback was quick.

OOH Industry: Into the future

The revenue of the transit segment has grown sharply

over the last 7 years thanks largely to the four privatised

airport (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad) and the

growth of Metro Rail. Today, this segment contributes

over 30% to the OOH industry. DOOH has now reached

a significant scale in this segment. The entry of new

concessionaires at the AAI airports augurs well for

the industry. Another significant development in the

industry has been the development of proprietary

planning and measurement tools. Adoption of these

tools and the separation of planning (agency), execution

(media owner) and measurement/verification (3rd

party) would bring about greater transparency and add

to the credibility of the industry with its clients. It’s time

the industry realised that there is a direct correlation

between integrity and growth. l