Hoardings in Chennai today. An Outdoor Media expert
gives us the big picture.
Why is it that compared to other cities,
Chennai has such an abundance of hoardings?
Chennai
is the biggest city in the South. This is one reason. 3 years back,
not many sites were there, but today a number of hoardings have
cropped up, both legal and illegal ones. Also, there is no restriction
in size. In Chennai you can see the biggest hoarding in the country.
The 175 feet 'Margo' hoarding near Gemini flyover (earlier
'Fa'), is the biggest so far.
For outdoor advertising, what are the options
for advertisers in Chennai?
Illuminated
bus-shelters are the latest option. It was introduced in Chennai
almost 3 to 4 months ago. Most big brands have gone for this option.
For example, L&T, Bisleri and RPG. The other
options are lamp-post kiosks (now these are also being illuminated),
traffic consoles and window displays in Theatres. Today, big brands
like Pepsi, Goldflake etc do not mind moving to small set-ups
like the corner pan shops. They have their ads painted on the shop's
signboard. Neons are the other option. Examples are MRF, Ramco,
The Hindu etc. Outdoors in Chennai is really evolving very fast.
There are a lot of new trends which are emerging strongly.
What are the criteria for selection of hoardings
for advertisers in Chennai?
Budget, area, target people (segment), 'how good
is it?', visibility etc.
CATEGORY
LOCATIONS
TARIFF
A (Prime locations.
Mostly illuminated)
Anna
Salai (Mount Road), Gemini, Anna Nagar, Adyar, Nungambakkam
High Road
Rs
25/- to Rs 50/- per square foot
B
Kilpauk,
Egmore
Rs
15/- to Rs 20/- per square foot
C
North
Madras, Tambaram, Avadi
Rs
7/- to Rs 8/- per square foot
Minimum booking is for 1 month and if it is
a very good contract, it is 6 months.
Painting charges - Rs 5.00/ per square foot.
Vinyl can cost anywhere between Rs 55/- to
Rs 130/- per square foot.
Service tax - 5 %
Types of hoardings
Painting
Vinyl (front lit or back lit)
Cut outs or putting a dummy product on the
board (eg Titan watches).
For Outdoors, what is the average budget
apportioned from the total ad spend of clients in Chennai? With so
many regional satellite TV Channels in the city, is ad spend diverted
away from hoardings?
Outdoors
are slowly becoming very popular with the onset of new trends. Earlier
there were only painted hoarding, now lots of advertisers are going
in for vinyl. In Mumbai, vinyls are the most popular. Paintings
are just not done. Its catching up slowly here. Also, there is this
flexibility of getting more on outdoors. Approximately 15 to 20%
of the total ad spend is now going into hoardings.
What do you think is the total spend on hoardings
in Chennai?
Its difficult to give a figure for this as there
are various categories and more yet to come. But the total spend
itself has grown by 50% in the last 5 years.
Can you give us examples of hoardings in Chennai
that have been instrumental in bolstering a particular brand/campaign
in a significant way.
The Hindu campaign was well noticed mainly
because of the creative that has gone into it.
Compared to trends overseas, how do hoardings
in Chennai rate?
Right now, we are catching up with technology.
It will take some more time to fully catch-up with trends abroad.
Chennai
is the biggest city in the South. This is one reason. 3 years back,
not many sites were there, but today a number of hoardings have
cropped up, both legal and illegal ones. Also, there is no restriction
in size. In Chennai you can see the biggest hoarding in the country.
The 175 feet 'Margo' hoarding near Gemini flyover (earlier
'Fa'), is the biggest so far.
Illuminated
bus-shelters are the latest option. It was introduced in Chennai
almost 3 to 4 months ago. Most big brands have gone for this option.
For example, L&T, Bisleri and RPG. The other
options are lamp-post kiosks (now these are also being illuminated),
traffic consoles and window displays in Theatres. Today, big brands
like Pepsi, Goldflake etc do not mind moving to small set-ups
like the corner pan shops. They have their ads painted on the shop's
signboard. Neons are the other option. Examples are MRF, Ramco,
The Hindu etc. Outdoors in Chennai is really evolving very fast.
There are a lot of new trends which are emerging strongly.
Outdoors
are slowly becoming very popular with the onset of new trends. Earlier
there were only painted hoarding, now lots of advertisers are going
in for vinyl. In Mumbai, vinyls are the most popular. Paintings
are just not done. Its catching up slowly here. Also, there is this
flexibility of getting more on outdoors. Approximately 15 to 20%
of the total ad spend is now going into hoardings.
