The Indian OOH industry is exciting yet challenging at the same time. I feel somehow been to so many countries and spoken to so many people, Indian outdoor industry is far more competitive to global. There are huge challenges as clients in India are so demanding. The demands are far more superior as compared globally. The one particular challenge we all face is lack of research. One has to invest in research on your own. With this challenge lies an opportunity.

  
   
 
Digital- Future of outdoor!!
Date 29-Sept-2009
haresh.nayak@posterscope.com
Haresh Nayak, Country Head, Posterscope India has straddled many roles in the advertising business. An MBA from Mumbai University – NMIMS, he started his career with Prime Outdoor (A division of Prime Time IP Media services Ltd.) where he worked for 3 years and was part of the launch of the company. He was actively involved in the research and tool development. Prior to joining Posterscope India, he was working with Aaren Initiative as Business Director & National Buying Head. Under his dynamic and visionary leadership, Posterscope (part of Aegis Media Group) launched the Indian subsidiary Posterscope India.

In this conversation with allaboutoutdoor, Haresh talks about Posterscope’s works in India, the OOH industry in India, and more.

Excerpts from the interview are as follows:

1. Posterscope has completed one year recently. How has the journey been so far?

The journey has been rocking. When we started we knew first year will be the year of investment and we will focus on infrastructure (people, systems, tools & processes). We wanted to create world class service offerings to our client and we had a spectacular start to it, despite the slowdown in the market by adding 38 clients in one year i.e. average 3 clients per month. Overall I’ll say that it has been a delightful year for us as we were able to set our infrastructure and get clients on board.

2. How do you compare Posterscope India vis-à-vis Posterscope globally?

Posterscope globally is one of the leading agencies dominating market share across 22 countries. Posterscope is renowned internationally for its tools, planning abilities and thought leadership in the outdoor industry. In India, we’re working on the same principals as followed worldwide. Keeping the company philosophy common, we customize the means to reach the desired goals and objective.

3. Are you facing any particular challenges in the Indian OOH scenario?

The Indian OOH industry is exciting yet challenging at the same time. I feel somehow been to so many countries and spoken to so many people, Indian outdoor industry is far more competitive to global. There are huge challenges as clients in India are so demanding. The demands are far more superior as compared globally. The one particular challenge we all face is lack of research. One has to invest in research on your own. With this challenge lies an opportunity.

4. Recently, Posterscope added another dimension in OOH Communication, Hyperspace. Please tell us more about it.

Hyperspace is currently present in eight countries globally. Hyperspace was established in 2002 in the UK to help amplify out of home (OOH) communications using innovative, cutting-edge solutions. It aims to revolutionize the Indian OOH scenario. In a world where consumers are bombarded by more commercial communications than ever, every advertiser wants to stand out and maximize the relevance of their message. In India, Hyperspace will focus on creating impact within OOH domain and its services include OOH Creative Ideas & Innovations, Digital OOH, Retail and Malls & Multiplex. Within two months, Hyperspace has more than 10 clients in its kitty including Essar Steel, Go Air, Samsonite, Philips, Big Bazaar, etc.



5. Please share details about Posterscope’s special tools

The Out-of-Home medium is striving to offer clients a clearer understanding of how effective their advertising is, and Posterscope is at the forefront of this quest. Posterscope worldwide has 14 tools in PRISM suite and in India we have 8 tools. We have introduced Prism Map, a mapping tool, to map OOH media options from hoarding to street furniture sites in the top 32 cities where every site is classified, rated, recorded visually and monitored periodically. The other key tools are Prism Share, Prism Creative, Prism MAC, Prism Scene, Prism Plan, Prism Monitor & Prism Score.

6. You have added some big clients to your roster. Who are your major clients at present?

Yes, Posterscope India had a spectacular start, despite the slowdown in the market, adding 38 clients like Future Group, UB Group, Mont Blanc, Essar, World Gold Council, Shopper’s Stop, Tanishq, Philips, Amul, Rayban, Godrej Interio, Google, Go Air, Tourism Australia, Blue Star, Lee Cooper, Ginger, Adidas, ING Vysya, Big Bazaar, Levi’s amongst others.

7. Please tell us about some innovations done by Posterscope?

We have done huge amount of innovations. We started with a 8 ftX 5 ft ezone washing machine mounted on a billboard to 80 ft trolley for Big Bazaar to a huge water purifier for Philips on mobile van.



8. The outdoor advertising scene in India in recent times has seen the entry of several large players, including international players. With the competition heating up, how has Posterscope geared itself to beat the competition?

The question of ‘beating’ the competition doesn’t arise. In fact, the industry needs big players because that would help in drawing the attention of the government to introduce conducive measures for facilitating the growth. So, we welcome the entry of new players as more competition would be better for the industry. We feel there is a lot of room at the top for efficient players. We are focusing on our basic rights. We are trying to focus on improving infrastructure, empowering the team in terms of training and ensuring that we invest in terms of tools.

9. Which category, according to you, shows more interest in the OOH sector?

Outdoor industry attracts all categories. It is only how the category uses outdoor. Even a local ice cream shop can also use outdoor creatively. However, telecom, retail and FMCG are dominant.

10. Is outdoor strong only in the metros?

I don’t believe outdoor is strong only in metros. However, we can say that the number of media options available in metros are large as compared to two tier and three tier towns. Today, outdoor has reached even smallest towns. Categories like retail and telecom will become even stronger in smaller cities in coming days.

11. What do you think needs to be done to foster the outdoor industry?

I think one of the most important things is accountability, research and measurement which will boost the outdoor industry. If we see in Europe, because of the post research outdoor has grown.

12. How has technology contributed to the industry?

I believe technology has much bigger role in future outdoor advertising. We have taken a lead in digital out of home industry. Though it expands the overall OOH market, it still remains to achieve critical mass. As a medium there is a possibility of interacting with the TG on real-time which needs to be exploited. In large formats we have been hearing a lot of opportunity with blue casting but we haven’t seen much happening on that front. Once the basic issues with OOH (metrics, site evaluation tools etc) are taken care of, I guess we can move a notch up and seriously start using technology as an enhancer for the business. We look digital as future of outdoor. 5-10 years, digital will be very big in India.

13. What can we expect from Posterscope in the coming months?

We have laid down the plan. Coming months are months of growth. We are very confident that with the experienced local team that we have and with Posterscope Worldwide's expertise, Posterscope India will be a leading player in the Indian OOH market in the months and years to come.
Interviewed by : Aarti Chhabra