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After all, print ads happen to be carrying more information at any time than an outdoor creative. So why not just replicate it on a hoarding? A very legitimate thought unless we realize the limitations and scopes of the two media. It needs no explanation that a magazine or newspaper is something solicited by the readers who are ready to spare time poring over page after page of the journal. Hence a creatively appealing print ad can afford to be adequately informative and descriptive. Contrarily, outdoor media is an unsolicited advertising, which tries to catch the attention of passersby, zipping by in their vehicles. Hoarding communication should be an essence of the print ad, but not the naive adaptation. So that the rushing commuter devoid of the luxury to spare more than a glance, if at all, on a 20×10 ft unipole, must get the gist with a good impression about the product.

It is as far from the truth or reality as assuming that every selfie clicker is a professional photographer. This reminds one of Leonardo da Vinci, the 15th century genius and arguably the greatest painter, who said, “Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.” Simplicity, whether, in designs, architecture or literature, is easier said than achieved without great experience and practice. There are many fly by night operators all across industries and outdoor media is not new to it. In a trade where big industrial houses have come and failed miserably, last thing you would like to do is offer your precious hard-earned dollars to just anyone. Whenever you are planning to do an outdoor campaign, talk to experts in the field, those offering lowest rates are not always the brightest!

We have seen right from the biggest brands to new age billion-dollar startup babies fall for this as if the outdoor advertising is a kind of welcome board meant for self-gratification of the worst kind. In fact, this mistake happens due to a lack of proper understanding of the location, sites, and purpose of the media. Sometimes even one hoarding at the right place can bring the windfall sale and popularity for the brand. Whereas painting a whole street may not give the desired results. Product, demand factor, potential audience, and apposite site are some of the parameters that true professionals in the field of outdoor advertising account for before deciding on the outdoor media distribution to a given brand.

Again a myth, or for naysayers, I shall call it partially correct. Outdoor is a hyper-local medium and should be exploited as per the desired output of the campaign. A lot of times we see that a campaign is restricted to Mumbai only, or if the plan is for Delhi, clients are taught that South-Central Delhi is enough! People living in all parts of Delhi are consumers of any product/ service. Limiting any campaign to specific regions for no reasons whatsoever is actually closing your eyes to new and most of the times relevant target audience.

The best utilization of one’s outdoor budget is to do the balancing between cost, quantity, and quality. The thoughtful media deployment comes with experience and resources. It is multi-layered astute planning which requires keen expertise along with ownership of the media. That leads to the success of campaigning which inevitably calls upon converting an onlooker into a customer of the product. Like a good architect who has the skill to utilize the space optimally, the good outdoor advertising agency knows how to derive maximum mileage in a given budget. Those living in Delhi would know that money actually resides in North/ West Delhi which can never be covered with ring road/ outer ring road assuming everyone comes on these two roads.

Of late a new “Save my ass” attitude has been seen in a lot of marketing managers who look after outdoor advertising. Some campaigns are being promoted only on Delhi Metro through its train panels, stations, etc. While the metro is an upcoming media opportunity, it only caters to around 10-12% of Delhi/ NCR’s population. Eventually, the population using Metro also has to travel outdoor to go to their homes! Just using the logic that “we have the numbers” one cannot defy a common sense of 10-12% of Delhi vs Complete Delhi. If planned and executed well, campaigns can be done across Delhi at the same cost as the metro.

A lot of cases are seen wherein the clients do get their creative right for outdoor, but do not optimize it further by not using innovative mediums to amplify the message. Some routine innovations like cut-outs, LED lighting, etc are not at all expensive but play a significant role in creating the right kind of impact, sometimes even doubling it. As a prudent media owner, it is suggested that clients keep 10% of their budgets for innovation on the medium.

Having attempted to counter the myths vis-à-vis mistakes, often committed in outdoor advertising, it is worth adding that outdoor media holds great potential as the growth driver of businesses. The only condition is that it should be handled skillfully. Outdoor advertising is a serious business and it must be remembered that ‘chaltaa hai attitude se brand nahi chaltaa hai’.