The New Age consumer. She has arrived !

This myth of  the new age customer has bogged down brands, marketers since ages.

The key challenge faced by marketers today is identifying and addressing the needs of new age consumer.
Who is this new age consumer ?
Are her needs really different than previous age consumer ?
Does she really have two noses, 4 eyes etc ?
Why is she so unreachable ?
Why does she not interact with us, engage with us ?

Dear Marketers, time to bite the bullet.
She has been natural, she has evolved. She is mature, concerned, cautious. Some one who refused to change  is you Mr. Marketer.

You want to have new age results with old age tricks, for you She is still the "Target Audience" as if she is your shooting practice target.
Grow up, Sir, She did.
She is today a concerned citizen at 10, grows to be an aware consumer by 15, and is all knowledgeable all demanding by 18. See around, wake up, come out of your data banks, analysis, trends. All they tell you about is history. She is here ,happening ,now .

She sees FB buts shuts off an ad, she cannot relate to me too products, or services or websites. and no she does not want the cheapest product. She is not looking for sale always, she spends where she sees value.
She might not buy a fully loaded android phone with top class features under 15k, but will queue up for iphone5 or galaxynote 2 launch.

She buys a tide or surf or rin, not because they are advertised by fancy models but because she thinks its works for her . At the same time she still buys a 1 kg of nirma because she can relate to hema, rekha, jaya aur sushma. The symbol of her power.

So my dear marketer, please speak to her with respect, she loves it. Show her some passion, she adores it. Stop treating her like a bimbo, she hates it.
She is a mother, wife, sister, daughter, girlfriend, but more importantly a personality of her own, she is her own self. She has arrived in life, she chooses not to cook, she choses to go out for a drive, drink or party. No she doesn't like to be treated like an object of desire like deo or liquor ad. She doesn't want to challenge systems, social norms etc but neither she wants the metro KHAPS to judge her, torture her, question her or form opinions about her.

She loves being herself, let her be. celebrate her evolution with her.

Trust me, she is your sure shot win. she controls the money flows like never before, she manages husband, kids, in laws, out laws, TV channels, like never before. She takes care of two families at a time.
Dont just use her in TVC, engage with her in active life, weave your programs around her, be part of her time, her life, her story and she might still be loyal to you.

Time to grow up , time to evolve, time to start new conversations. Its no more just beauty products.

The Go Green Call for OOH industry

The Go Green Call for OOH industry

Disclaimer: all views expressed in this article are in my individual capacity as an OOH professional and not of the organization I work for.

Its time, We the Buzz creators of OOH should get ready to take a larger share of responsibility as we have the largest share of viewership (by sheer length of times the viewer spends with us).

It is the clarion call of the times and time for us to stand for one good reason.

We all know what all ills plague our industry enough has been talked and debated about it.

Now is the time when we can show ourselves as not only a good taxpaying legal industry but also as an industry that is responsible for its actions and hence wants to lead from the front.

I am listing here some very creative and cost effective solutions to make our industry, Green:

Use of painted signs for vacant/contact site messages: Reduce use of Flex/Thick flex.

Increase use of paper mesh, thin, bio- degradable flex: Each 4 x 20 flex weighs 25 kg, hence for each campaign with average of 100, 40 x 20s we use 2.5 ton non bio degradable flex. Can we look at solution for this? Onus would largely be on printers and material providers for this.

Create breathing, Oxygen giving structures, we all know that areas around big structures are rendered useless, can we plant some tress in front of those, which would grow in 5 years to hamper the visibility but can be pruned from time to time and keep the visibility of our sites intact, the easiest way is to say chuck it.

For roof tops, all roof top sites to act as solar charging units: Especially on top of Societies so that they can be use to the environment we operate in, also we can generate our own electricity, which is required for not more than 5 hours of the evening. Why to depend on BSES, generators etc. when we have space to generate our own electricity and government can give funding for the project.

Imagine : each roof top generating  its own need of power and also providing excess power to its surrounding, illuminating street lights and common facilities of societies, approx potential  500KW per billboard PM , rough estimate of efficiency  12 x 500 billboard locations = 60000 KW Per Annum of power saving and generation ; effective output 12000 MW.

Use of LED lights for illumination: costlier by 4 times compared to halogens/halofins .

Advantage :power consumption down by 70%, No wastages, longer shelf life and least environmental impact as no mercury of lead or any other residual chemical.

Now the economics of all this.

All sites to have green accreditation by some accepted body , approved by IOAAA, IOAAA to claim cumulative carbon credits for reduction in carbon foot print of Indian OOH industry, after getting all due environmental audits.

Agencies and clients to give preference to media owners with green creds. As they would be part of reducing carbon foot print campaign.

All such media to be advertised as green media and hence by default those who don’t comply become toxic.

Revenue from power saving, govt incentives and carbon credits are expected to recover the cost of this green drive by the end of 3^rd year of project..

So friends, I Hope the reading was great. But can we make this dream a reality, can we actually rise above petty disputes of PO’s , payments rates, regulations and see the big picture and role for us in Indian corporate world.

I know it cannot happen in isolation, It needs the support of largest media owners like JCD, Pioneer, Times OOH, Jagran Enagage, Selvel,  LAQSHYA  , largest agencies like, Mudra, Portland, Primesite, MOMS, Lintas, Milestone.

Can OAC, or exchange for media, Agency FAqs, allboutoutdoor can be platform to start this debate ?

Can IOAAA be the force behind this ?
Can brands like, HUL, Nokia, Nestle, Reliance, Airtel, Coke, Pepsi. Through thier weight behind such initiatives.

I don’t know, but I know for sure, is that this is our time to rise and change the world perceives us.

why i believe what i believe - The power of Outdoor advertising

First sign of human intellegence and creativity ????? any one ??? to my mind those were cave paintings.

First Outdoor campaign that i remember ?? visible for miles, of train travel on my regular journeys from Agra to Delhi.

"RISHTEY HI RISHTEY , MILEN PROF ARORA 28 RAEGERPURA KAROLBAGH" such power , consistent use of outdoor for miles of railway tracks.

from those days of brick and lime paints, to vodafone zoozoos, nokia gleaming LED boards at airports times might have changed , technology sure has changed. media landscape has changed drastically. but what has not changed is the expanse of outdoors.
In fact it has evolved to a bigger , nicer, nicher medium. which can speak to whom so ever you want to.

Clients ask me about the efficacy of outdoors vs tv vs print !

My comman sensical submission is, what does HT do to promote "no TV day", what does Times of India do to give larger then life imagery to aman ki asha , what does sony, color, star, zee do to promote their new shows.

They use outdoors extensively. 

They create WOW, Lure Advertisers using OOH and the advertisers emphasize on print and TV for efficacy and delivrance. WTF ???

All clients across categories are asking for data measurement,before they put thier monies on OOH.

My questions are :

Is it not obvious that more people are Out of Home then they were 10 years back.
Hasn't the travel time increased drastically for all of us ?
Don't we all go to malls, movies every alternate weekend ?
when was the last time we or any of our friends, whom we suppose as consumer was home for the TV show, and enjoyed reading in morning newspaper at leisure ??. I don't remember that for years.
We all get stuck in jams, we all hear about urban voes, we all hear about expanding tier 2 cities, but we need data to take decisions on comman sensical approach.
When was the last time , you used to data to choose your life partner ?
When was the last time you use you analytic skills to measure any of your passions, music, photography travelling etc.

To my mind :

OOH offers us a unique mix of media and creativity
It needs and method and madness
Its needs planning and passion
Most importantly it needs comman sensical, consumer centric approach to adress real time issues ( brand, sales, consumers) in real world active places.
OOH can contribute in starting conversations about the brand when people are active.
A good TV ad can start a FB conversation, a good OOH engagement as an extension will start the real life magic,

I wish we could get over the myth of likes, TRPs, GRP, IRS. and use a typical "LALA" mindset.
"Jo dekhage, woh bikega "

All these points , some depressing give me a beleif that OOH will be the powerful medium for communication and conversations. As it has been since the start of civilization.

On a lighter side : we are as old as world's oldest profession., if thats not going anywhere, so are we.

Life is Out of Home ! and its calling !!!!! where are you my creative friends !!!

We all leave our offices around 8 in the morning.
Most of us drive 45 minutes to an hour for work, may be more. We all reach back in our homes, around 9 PM.
Who reads the newspapers today ? Who has time to watch TV ? who among my dear friends, makes sure that he/she reaches home on time, to view TV serial, IPL, MOvie ?. Until its weekend.

Either people are Out of home, or online. on face book, checking mails, speaking to friends but active.

So the question is , when we all know, people  are spending time Out of home, Consumers are buying Out of home, brands want to engage with consumers out of home . Why the advertising fraternity still wants TV and Print.


People its time to move Out of home, its time to go digital, its time to go mobile .!!!!!


To my mind, the problem, is that there is not enough creative people to think beyond formats, sorry guys but lets accept the fact. Creative guys cannot think beyond, story board, TVC, 30 second and half page. Engagement, either onground, or  digital or out of home still is off their brains and radars.

Out of Home advertising opportunities and touch points are not being considered as story extenders and amplifiers but another adaptation.

Hello ! Hello ! Good morning people. its a different world !

Try and engage with the consumers when they are active, spending time with family and friends, on roads, in malls, in movie halls, in office complexes, create something interesting , create engaging stories, create new worlds, create sharing and caring based communities.

Did it ever ring any one that community and communication are comman sounding words. and yet the wizards of advertising, the wannabes piyush's and prasoons miss the basic connect.

Guys ! its time to un learn ! its time to empty your cups, its time to move out of your comfort zones ! High time ! Move Out of Home !

The Bangalore difference from an eye of delhite

Have been in the city of Bangalore for past few days, and have been traveling, walking across the city. In car, in auto in metro . This place is so positively different than delhi ! The climate is cool, when Delhi is burning at 45,here I am , switching off my fan in the morning. I don't take out rather feel like taking out my car for short or long distances, prefer to walk a lot, or take a rick.

Was just wondering , is it the same fat lethargic me or is it the city . I think it's the city. Inspite of its un controlled growth, mindless IT corridor expansion, population expansion. This city still has a soul of its own. There is no demographic bias, none that I observed. Language is not a problem , people are genuinely nice and helpful.
The most shocking difference for a Delhi thoroughbred is , the way this city treats its women. Girls enjoying equal level of freedom, education and liberty to do their will, to drive around freely or would friends, been out with friends, have been in malls, been on busy markets and roads, been in offices. Nobody gives the dirty all piercing Delhi stare , no ogling, groping. And it's a delight to see beautiful faces, genuine laughter without fear in all their natural beauty.

Wish we could export this culture and climate in Delhi . Life would be so much better.