Google has unveiled a quirky OOH campaign in collaboration with Talented and the newly launched The New Thing. 

The campaign, seen across Delhi and Mumbai, features amusing questions asked by users on the search engine.

The campaign 'Yeh kisne dhoonda?' took some of the trending topics and turned them into searches by people like ‘rasode mein kaun tha’ or ‘what is the meaning of PHAT or LMAO’.

While we are still waiting for an official statement by the team on this campaign, here's how the agency is celebrating the work on LinkedIn -  

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/probableena_if-there-is-one-ubiquitous-piece-of-technology-activity-7107764347128479745-MDwc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Other social media users also shared it on their feed -

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rahulsing-rajput_extrainningswithads-advertising-marketing-activity-7107565796595310592-mMcy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7107776124868317184?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kulle-praveen-06623919_yeh-kisne-dhoonda-google-new-campaign-activity-7107968448386797568-v_30?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/neilsdsouza_google-search-outdoor-activity-7107566067429851136-63jx?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Picture this: A board is seen on the bus stop that reads, ‘Games are more exciting at home. Drive Safely’. The ‘excit’ of ‘exciting’ is written in a contrasting colour for a deeper brand recall and impression. But can a passerby understand why an internet company suggests people to not use the internet? Well, that's the trick. 

Excitel, an internet service provider, launched a ‘Drive Safely’ out-of-home (OOH) campaign where they placed billboards in 300 locations throughout Delhi in order to change how commuters behave on the road. The message was to encourage people to leave calls, conversations, and games at home in order to make road trips safe and pleasurable.

But why did the brand do so?

Varun Pasricha, Chief Operating Officer, Excitel, shared, “India is one of the worst countries, when it comes to road safety. We have the highest rate of motor accidents. The drivers generally have a phone hanging on a clamp with the windshield and are doing a video call or watching videos.”

Hence, the brand, via this OOH campaign is suggesting to not consume internet while on the road as it's coming from their mobile service provider. Once inside, they could use the wifi. 

The brand wanted to invest in an OOH strategy because according to the executive, “When you have limited resources you develop a muscle to spend those resources right. So, we never had unending millions of dollars from investors to blow. Every investment that we did, had to either create an impact or create a ROI which we could measure tangibly. In OOH, we've tasted success. And we are very intent on replicating it.”

Right now, Excitel’s marketing mix consists 50 percent digital and about 30 to 40 percent OOH or BTL. Ten percent is spent opportunistically during cricket matches and the remaining 10 percent is kept for events.

This ‘Drive Safely’ OOH campaign cost about Rs 4-5 crores, but this figure is spread over a period of time and doesn’t represent one bullet investment in one go. 

Perhaps, it's not an advertisement with a call to action. It's not an advertisement which has a performance return built into it. However, according to Pasricha, this is something which helps in building awareness and unaided recall. 

He said, “Eventually, when you think about a category, it resonates. When you're able to saturate a person's mindset with seven, eight, ten impressions, then over a period of time it will not lead a person to probably consuming Internet connection right then and there but chances are that few months later when they’re genuinely making a purchase decision, they will probably give a little more weight to Excitel than they would have.” 

“We've never wanted to be the cheapest but a value product. So maybe we charge 15 percent more than the cheapest plan offered by others, but then we give the value, which is five to six times more,” added Pasricha

This campaign suffices the objective because people associate with brands that stand for a cause or something more than just the functional attribute. Excitel was very clear that they need to create a space for itself, said Pasricha. 

“That's why we had zero interest in saying, 400 Mbps internet at 400 rupees because there are 20 other ISPs which could say that. But to take a road safety position, I don't think any ISP would have thought about it straight away.”

In the coming fiscal, the internet brand wants to be the first amongst the top two players people think about in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Lucknow. So, when one thinks about broadband connection at home, Excitel wants to be one of the places where a consumer calls up and leaves their number themselves.

Mumbai is the hotbed for OOH advertising and has the highest number of out-of-home advertising structures, claim industry players. The country’s commercial capital also reportedly gets the largest share of an OOH advertiser’s budget.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) or Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has been at the forefront in providing support to the sector to ensure its smooth functioning. To learn more about the civic body’s initiatives and plans, exchange4media spoke to Sanjog Kabare, Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Special Projects, who oversees the functioning of the OOH industry in the city.

Excerpts from the exclusive conversation:

How is BMC helping the OOH industry in Mumbai?

As far as OOH is concerned, there has been a different corporate policy in place since 2008, which was to be revised in 2018. So, we sent a modified version to the government and came up with a policy. It was not completely revised but a few modifications were made in the original one. 

Some key changes included reducing the distance between two hoardings from 100 metres to 70 metres. We have now given the go-ahead for hoardings on tall structures like skywalks and bridges that were earlier barred because of some accidents. However, the players need to procure a structural establishment certificate for the hoardings. The government has also allowed hoardings in residential areas. 

The Chief Minister was of the opinion to convert the boards into digital structures, and that was one of the points in the beautification project. We have reduced the fees for DOOH and now it is at par with illuminated hoardings. Since the capital investment in DOOH has been much higher, we want to help the industry in all ways possible.

Talk to us about the revenue received by BMC from the OOH sector. What percentage of it comes from DOOH?

We charge around Rs 1.75 lakh per month for a 40x40sqft structure. Generally, we earn about Rs 200 crore per year from the OOH business. The role of BMC is to facilitate the industry’s growth but it has to evolve itself. 

We are not seeing DOOH as an additional source of revenue because the fees are made at par. Digital outdoor business is not going to give us more revenue but it can give an aesthetic appearance to the city. It may help the advertisers to have more options as it has the durability of 6-10 seconds. We can have more advertisements as well as advertisers coming in. 

What are you doing to raise awareness in order to decrease violations?

According to our rules, the licences of owners have to be renewed every two years and they need to provide documentation like a structural stability certificate, traffic police NOC and insurance policy. There are certain guidelines also in place for the renewal process a structure. In case of repeated violations, we have the power to cancel the licence. 

We have one inspector in every ward that looks after the licensing of the structures. We have established a proper system and are currently trying to update our database as well. We are trying to appoint a data analysis agency like KPMG or EY that can help us with that. A proposal is already in the pipeline.

What are BMC’s plans for the sector in 2024?

BMC spaces are not being fully utilized for OOH, so we are planning to draft policies to allocate more space for structures, wherever possible. Some social spaces are also in the pipeline to be given out for commercial purposes. 

Xperia Group has launched Xperia Alive Media, which will be serving unique experiential media advertising across touch points in OOH advertising and reach target audiences with music.

‘Gift a music’ is one of the new mediums introduced by the organisation to serve different categories of the brand.

“Tech integrations with sounds at the right touchpoints engages GenZ easily and therefore XPERIA ALIVE has a wide bouquet of music tech integration solutions to offer different brands,” said Saibal Gupta, Managing Partner & CEO of Xperia Group.

The initiative is being launched in collaboration with singer and story-teller Supratiek Shyamal Ghosh - SG, who is known for the band Aurko and its organisation ALIVE MEDIA & ALIVE STUDIO.

Ghosh started his career with Selvel and has been associated with the OOH industry for the last three decades.

“Too Hot?” says Hollywood hottie Pamela Anderson on a billboard that no one arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport can miss – courtesy of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India – drawing attention to the role of animal agriculture in the global climate catastrophe marked by high temperatures, droughts, and floods, among other disasters and advising them that going vegan is the answer. In recent months, Delhi has experienced unusually high temperatures, nearing 50°C.

"The facts are in: the production of meat and dairy, including curd and cheese, accounts for about 60% of all food-related greenhouse gas emissions, making it a major contributor to climate change. Scientists agree with the Hollywood star (who once appeared on Big Boss) that going vegan is the single most effective thing anyone can do to help save the planet – and world leaders should be leading the change. Anderson and PETA India hope G20 member countries will commit to fighting climate change with diet change by urging their residents to eat responsibly by eating vegan," read a press release.

"Researchers at the University of Oxford found that not consuming meat and dairy can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73% and that a global switch to vegan eating could save up to 8 million human lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds, and lead to healthcare-related savings. Researchers have estimated that it could also avoid climate-related damages of US$1.5 trillion.

Eating vegan spares animals immense suffering, including in the dairy industry, in which calves are torn away from their beloved mother cows so that the milk meant for them can be sold to humans, and such cruelty is the norm – even in India, land of ahimsa.

Globally, an estimated 92.2 billion land animals alone are slaughtered every year, and most of them are raised in severe confinement. Chickens exploited for their eggs are kept in cages so small they can’t spread their wings, male piglets and others are castrated without painkillers, and fish are yanked out of the water and crushed, suffocated, or cut open and gutted, all while they’re fully conscious," the release added.

Welspun has launched a fresh and innovative national 3D campaign for its new Quick Dry Towels. The collection has the tagline - Jaldi Sukhe, Jaldi Sukhaye - and is aimed at today's aspiring Indians seeking value and quality. The national campaign has been launched across various out-of-home media outlets in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Cochin and other metro cities.

The creative 3D by OAP highlights the quick and efficient drying process by positioning a fan behind the towels to attract the attention of the 'on-the-go' consumer. Welspun, known for its inventive thinking, highlights numerous crucial components through its 3D visualizations. Instead of the traditional drying procedure of being placed either indoors or outdoors, the creative showcases the blue backdrop rays emerging from the fan to create an efficient drying process. The branding 'quick dry' is applied on the fan, aesthetically illustrating the underlying technology. Heat waves connected on both sides of the fan are additional features to demonstrate how quickly the towel material dries.

Manjari Upadhye, CEO, Welspun Domestic Business said, “Quick Dry is a unique feature that Welspun towels offer, and it was important that the outdoor creative brought alive that benefit in a simple and attention-catching way. OAP has brought this alive well, and we believe this campaign would make the brand memorable in the consumers’ minds”

Finally, James Varghese, COO-BTL, OAP, India’s leading out of Home Media Specialist stated, "The idea behind the campaign was to push our creative boundaries and bring out choice and value. The innovative phrase 'Jaldi Sukhe..Jaldi Sukhaye' caters to today's consumers searching for quick cures even in home décor, and we want to carve out a position in that competitive field."

Myntra has unveiled its outdoor campaign #SpotItGetIt in collaboration with Ideas Farm to celebrate FWD.

This strategic initiative builds upon the recent film starring Myntra's brand ambassadors, Khushi Kapoor and Vedang Raina.

Jetesh Menon, Creative Head, Ideas Farm, said, "We wanted the OOH to be unconventional, just like the film. To put the spotlight solely on the fashion available on the platform, we added a playful twist. The outdoor campaign therefore has an irreverent tone to get the audience's attention. It coaxes them to get the trends available on the app and evokes a sense of curiosity with the copy and visual treatment."

Priyanka Dey, Business & Strategy Head at Ideas Farm, emphasized, "Our collaboration with Myntra for the #SpotItGetIt campaign transcends conventional marketing. It's about crafting an experience, igniting conversations, and inspiring fashion enthusiasts to embrace the styles they adore."