OOH advertising players expect a full recovery this festive season

With the recovery of categories like FMCG and travel, Out-Of-Home (OOH) advertising in India is likely to make a full recovery this Diwali.

According to PwC's Global Entertainment & Media Outlook, in 2022 the OOH industry segment will reach a new high of $ 38.5 billion in 2022.

As per the same report, the Indian OOH market is making one of the strongest rebounds globally, and in 2021 the total OOH revenue was up to Rs 3,076 crore. It further predicts that the momentum of this rebound will carry over into 2022, and by year-end, the market will stand at Rs 4,084 crore.

According to leading OOH players in India, the festive season that recently began with Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam, is indicating that the year will end on a positive note. 

Aman Nanda

Aman Nanda, Chief Strategy Officer, Times OOH, said that the enthusiasm this season can be seen on both sides, that is, consumers and brands. “The festive season for this year has just begun as we have culminated Ganpati and Onam which are big festivals in the West and South respectively wherein we have some more festivals in the coming months such as Durga Puja, which is big in West Bengal, and the biggest festival - Diwali, which is celebrated across India.” 

“Multiple reports have indicated that consumers plan to shop more this festive season in comparison to last year. This instils confidence in brands to make big shoutouts in the market with an impactful presence,” he added. 

According to Nanda, the initial enquiries for the festive season have been increasing. He added that airport advertising has also increased by a large margin since the travel and tourism industry has recovered. 

 “Since a huge set of the audience has migrated to different metro cities or abroad due to work, they generally fly back to their houses during festival times, hence airports become the first gateway for brands to meet-and-greet with consumers. Thus, brands are looking for innovative and grand options to advertise at airports to catch the attention of high spenders and decision-makers,” Nanda said.

“Our airports offer world-class digital display media that provide numerous benefits, like short-term but big burst campaigns, with effective content or imagery display that is much more engaging in nature, hence brands are finding DOOH (Digital OOH) quite relevant for their festive campaigns,” he added.

Dipankar Sanyal

Dipankar Sanyal, CEO, Platinum Outdoor and MRP, said they are seeing an uplift of 15% to 20% in spends over 2021. “Since all Covid-related restrictions on the movement of people have gone, we are seeing high mobility on all regular touchpoints like malls and multiplexes, commercial spaces, offices, pubs and restaurants, and most importantly, travel. We are also seeing investment from media owners at residential areas through DOOH which is also giving us an additional reach. So, the high mobility and media investments are adding to the advertiser’s confidence in the media, and hence the spends,” he said. 

Parimal Modi

As per Parimal Modi, CFO, Khushi Advertising, although September is a bit slower than expectations, they are hopeful of a bullish October. “The festive response has definitely met expectations, we have seen occupancy increase by 80% and by Diwali it will be 100%,” he said. 

Which sectors are spending big on OOH? 

According to Nanda, they are receiving briefs from various categories like automobile, e-commerce, tourism, real estate, FMCG and consumer durables. 

“All the key categories have started their festive push, especially real estate, automobiles, retail and tech companies,” said Sanyal. 

Projections for 2022 end

According to Sanyal of Platinum Outdoor and MRP, 2022 will see a 20% increase over 2021 year-end levels.

Nanda of Times OOH also stated that 2022 will end on a much more positive note. “2022 is certainly going on a more positive note as the Covid-19 active caseload has come below 50-thousand with no other wave coming up. Hence, we are expecting the recovery momentum to continue. At Times OOH, we have reached 85% to 90% approximately of pre-Covid levels whereas traditional business is already close to pre-Covid levels,” he explained. 

“While revenues do look ecstatic, 2022 will be remembered as a transformational year that drove growth along with technology and digitisation - as we are seeing brands being open and experimentative about the Digital OOH medium and programmatic DOOH. The positive end of 2022 will drive a new wave in 2023 pushing towards a new growth chapter,” he added. 

“The 2022 year-end will be very good for us. All the possibilities of recessions that we were hearing about have not happened. All the sectors are performing well and we are expecting some good business from jewellery players, real estate, FMCG and lifestyle businesses,” said Modi of Khushi advertising.

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