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Q: One of the early indicators of a slowing adspend economy is the blank hoardings in Mumbai. And we are seeing that now. So would you say that not-so-achche din aane waale hain?
A: Your observation suffers from confirmation bias. There is a tendency amongst human beings to process information by looking for information that is consistent with their existing beliefs. This biased approach to decision making is largely unintentional, and it results in a person ignoring information that is inconsistent with their beliefs.
Now I would ask you how many blank hoardings have you seen, in how many cities and which location etc. My interactions with hoarding-owners gives me a different picture. Of course dil would always maange more (as human beings prefer more the merrier) but business is good in general in outdoor.
I don’t have statistics but good sites are generally occupied. But it’s not representative of the overall inventory occupation status in the country. Another sign of outdoor companies doing well is the investments that are made in developing new sites and improving the existing sites. No one invests in a medium that has declining achche din. So all is well, sir. I am sure the business would do better if the industry gets united to develop a third party database to enable buyers to evaluate the medium’s efficacy and justify investment.