The Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising industry is projected to grow by 15-16% in the coming year, contributing Rs 5,500 crore to overall advertising expenditures. Additionally, the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) is actively leveraging technology to drive industry benefits.
In a significant move towards sustainability, IOAA partnered with GroupM, WPP’s media investment arm, to form a dedicated task force. This initiative aims to introduce eco-friendly practices across the sector, with a goal to ensure that half of all advertising sites in India utilize recyclable materials by 2027.
Discussing the anticipated growth of the OOH industry, with an estimated value of Rs 5,500 crore and upwards, IOAA CEO Praveen Kumar Vadhera spoke with Storyboard18 about the industry’s expansion and the challenges faced by media owners.
On the impact of government policies, Vadhera noted, “The OOH policy has been put on hold in Mumbai. In other states, there haven’t been major policy changes. However, with the upcoming BMC elections, decisions regarding policy remain on pause.” IOAA plans to meet with BMC officials soon to address issues surrounding OOH policy.
In May 2024, collapse of an illegal oversized hoarding killed 17 persons and injured 74 people in Ghatkopar raising severe concerns over illegal hoarding sites in the country.
Multiple stakeholders raised severe concerns over illegal hoardings as a major challenge for the industry. Vadhera explained, “Illegal sites continue to harm the industry. While some may derive short-term revenue, the overall growth of the sector suffers.”
To tackle this issue, IOAA will conduct a survey of hoardings and make the data available to clients and agencies. Vadhera clarified, “Any site not listed in this data will place liability on the specific media owner and client if any wrongdoing occurs. Within few months, this data will be available on the IOAA website, covering the top 10 markets, which account for around 60% of total OOH spending.”
Blatant exploitation of OOH as a medium by notorious offshore gambling and betting firms has miffed not only the Real Money Gaming industry but also the government and regulatory bodies.
Regarding advertisements by illegal betting and gambling firms, Vadhera remarked, “We collaborate closely with gaming federations and legitimate Real Money Gaming companies. We are forming a committee to reduce such ads. While ASCI has made progress in curbing betting and gambling ads in print media, their prevalence in digital and OOH formats remains a concern.”
Vadhera added, “Within upcoming months, we aim to significantly restrict advertisements by notorious betting and gambling firms on OOH as a medium.”
Multiple media agencies including GroupM, Publicis, Madison and IPG are testing RoadStar- a measurement system addressing the lack of a standardized currency in the OOH industry. RoadStar uses the GPS technology and was initially launched by Relu AI in 2020.
RoadStar covers over 800 markets in India, from metro cities to taluka levels, and tracks more than 60,000 media sites. It uses data from over 35 million mobile users to identify high-traffic areas and optimise ad placements. The platform maps consumer movements through 3 million places of interest across 120 categories, providing detailed metrics such as Unique Reach, Gross Reach, Frequency, among others.
Discussing IOAA’s efforts to advance the OOH industry, Vadhera emphasized the importance of RoadStar, “We’re engaging with media agencies and clients nationwide. We will also meet members of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), to promote awareness about how RoadStar can bring measurability and value to advertisers, ensuring OOH is treated on par with other media,” he said.
Vadhera highlighted the progress of RoadStar, stating, “We’ve received positive feedback from stakeholders. It has been widely accepted as the standard currency by Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) after extensive due diligence on the tool by a technical committee. Most are on board, and the remaining should follow in the next couple of months.”
IOAA is also collaborating with the World Out-of-Home Organization on technology integration and aesthetic media advancements. Vadhera pointed out, “Currently, OOH AdEx is not measured accurately. By collecting data from media owners, we estimate the actual OOH AdEx should represent 10% of total AdEx, amounting to approximately ₹10,000 crore.”