Category: MEDIA

Strategies to target women via OOH

By Sunder Hemrajani

Over the next five years, working women will drive an increase in earned income globally from $12.5 trillion to $18.5 trillion. In India itself, the income of the working women has more than doubled in the last decade. This has resulted in the greater role in decision-making both at work and home. 16 per cent of India’s Ultra HNIs are women. They are also driving the growth of the smartphone market, especially in developing economies. In terms of top searched categories by women on Google in India are apparel & accessories followed by food & drink, baby care, hair care & skin care.

Why OOH?

Women are spending more time outdoors

As per Kinetic’s Moving World-India research, Indians in urban cities spend an average of 9-10 hrs active time outdoor. Approx 35 per cent of women are participating in labour force in urban India. Media habits of working women are more in line with working men. They spend 2-3 hrs a day on commuting, shopping & leisure. Thus, outdoor is a natural medium of choice.

‘Fiction shows will continue to be the core strategy to engage Indian women’

By Nikhil Madhok

Before we get into analyzing the audience profile for Hindi GECs and how they will evolve or rather how channels can adapt to the changing audience profile, let us look into the notable trends of the year 2013.

In 2013, we saw content that not only entertained but also informed and educated viewers about issues affecting the country and the public at large. This wasn’t the case a few years ago. Yes, we did have shows that raised relevant issues, but did we see significant strides being taken in addressing issues? I don’t think so. Satyamev Jayate (launched in 2012), I would say, was a show that started proactively addressing issues in the country. And from thereon we began to see the trend becoming popular in 2013.

How do I see the GEC space evolve six years down the line? Six years down the line I see channels doing more of shows that spread awareness about issues and also contributing in terms of providing solutions. Six years down the line, I see women becoming more financially independent, taking their own decisions and raising their voices against wrongdoings.

OOH is refreshingly different & it is considered trustworthy

While women are heavy consumers of media, advertising fatigue is more common in women than men. Research has indicated twothirds dislike TV commercials, half of the target group changes radio stations during commercial breaks and 35 per cent find internet banners annoying. Outdoor finds favour amongst women as it is considered reliable and trustworthy.

OOH communicates values which are key drivers of purchase among Indian women

In India, women rate quality, price and innovation as three key drivers of brand loyalty. This can be leveraged in OOH which supports innovation to a higher degree than other media formats.

It pays

The stereotype of Indian women making purchase decisions solely on family needs and wants is no longer valid. The urban Indian woman is moving beyond traditional FMCG, and spending more on personal indulgences across categories like automobiles, durables, financial services & fashion/lifestyle. Almost 40 per cent like visiting malls and organized formats.

Brand advertisers need to target women consumers at or near point of sale to capture a larger share of their wallet, which can be achieved well through OOH media.

How to target women using OOH advertising?

> At airports:

:: Proportion of women travelers is increasing year on year. One of the best platforms to reach large number of high profile SEC A/A+ women under one roof – In Delhi / Mumbai airports nearly 30-40 per cent of the travelers are women.

:: No other one medium captures so many HNI women in one place!

:: It offers experiential formats and high dwell time. 60 per cent women say experiential marketing is more likely to lead to actual purchase. High dwell time enables women to evaluate brands more in depth.

>> Billboards/Street furniture: As more women hit the roads for work as well as leisure, targeted campaigns at outdoor large formats are ideal to captivate their attention on the move. According to Discovery’s Curiosity.com, while women absorb more information from the brand messages, they need to see the ad several times before being convinced to try the product or service! Hence high-frequency media like bus shelters are ideal to run women relevant brand campaigns. OOH presents a more cost-effective and targeted solution to clients, as opposed to TV or Print, as these have a wider reach but suffer from high spillover and high cost. In contrast, a high degree of localization that is possible in Outdoors, ensures that women are being reached at all important touch-points for them like retail/entertainment destinations or corporate complexes.

>> At transit: Metros are witnessing increasing footfalls. Proportion of women is growing as women perceive it to be a convenient and safe medium of transport. Hence great platform for brands to connect with young urban TG. Dedicated women’s coaches allow for exclusive targeting, and are emerging mediums for generating brand trials and sampling.

>> Digital OOH: Digital OOH is a medium which can fully capitalize on women’s innate ability to multi-task and engage. In India, outdoor spaces like the Delhi & Mumbai airports are heralding a digital revolution, which can become playgrounds for brands to reach women innovatively. For instance, use of facial recognition techniques to identify the gender and profile of viewers can help brands nicely target their core consumer groups.

There will be a rise in the number of working women, especially in tier 2 towns. They will become more conscious and more focused on having a successful career. That does not mean they will stop looking after their families. I think moving forward, women in India will increasingly perform dual roles – of being good professionals and also managing dayto- day household activities. Keeping this in mind, general entertainment channels will have to tweak their content strategies.

So that’s the trend I think will become prominent in the next six years. Fiction shows will continue to be the core strategy to engage Indian women, but channels must reflect the image of the contemporary modern women in their programming. That, to me, is critical in order to remain relevant to this TG.

Real entertainment quotient will be provided by reality formats, which tend to attract a lot of male audience. Going forward, for Hindi GECs, I see the ratio of men to women viewership continue to be around 55:45 in favour of women. From a content consumption point of view, audiences will move from the bigger screen to the smaller screen far more conveniently and their experience of consuming content on the smaller screen will improve with technology enhancements.

The Internet of everything, the genius of everyone

By Puneet Johar

It seems not too long back, maybe a decade I or so that we read articles prophesying that content and commerce consumption were poised to change. Connected devices and handhelds would be the future of content consumption. The world was divided into the believers, cynics and people in between.

It did seem a bit far-fetched, especially when we were living in a world where digital content meant a SMS alert. There were people attempting to put content on handheld devices but it was clunky. We were looking towards giants like Nokia and Ericsson to change the way content is fundamentally consumed and make all the prophecies come true.

What was not obvious was that the virtuous circle of disruption in the southern region of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California that was becoming bigger with each passing day would influence and change our lives forever in the way we consume content and make every prophecy come true. And, then, stretch it further to unimagined proportions.

‘The ability to innovate will be a crucial determinant for TV brands’

By Rahul Johri

Mobile phones, the world wide web, apps, live chats – the Indian youth lives in a world filled with myriad choices of entertainment. When it comes to television, the audience has also evolved in terms of information and tastes. The new breed of TV viewers seeks content dealing with information and experiences that have a direct bearing on their lives and lifestyle. Evidently, no single channel can hope to be a one-stop shop for entertainment anymore. Only those channels that have a distinct proposition will thrive in this new order, and emerge as the most-preferred destinations for viewers.

Programming to viewers with diverse needs is a formidable task. Anticipating the trend of digitisation and demand of specialised content in the country, Discovery Networks expanded its footprint in India to eight specialised-content channels in five different languages. In addition, digitization brings in multiple benefits such as choice of multiple languages, interactive services – live pause and play, video gaming, tutorials etc offer viewers a choice to watch their favourite content at their own convenience.

In the world of smartphones, tablets and social media, while we attribute the richly deserved transformation to legends led by Steve Jobs, we cannot forget that the momentum that has been building for the past two decades led by the Silicon Valley is much larger than the force or thoughts of any one individual. Every prophecy that is now being made including the internet of everything could become a reality because fundamentally the genius of everyone connected has been unleashed.

If the prophecies today point to content being created and consumed everywhere where every object is a connected device then not believing it may just mean that we have lived the last two decades in denial. So I do believe it when people suggest that smartphones and tablets that we carry will be computing power that will connect and make every object a virtual or physical screen to interact with.

I do believe when people say that today’s devices and how we consume content could seem as archaic as the mobile phones from a decade back seem today. The legendary character Morpheus in The Matrix says, ‘Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?’ We are now in a world of nearly 7 billion dreams and all connected.

All these channels have created new and distinct viewer groups. Discovery Channel pioneered factual programming in the country and continues to introduce new formats like survival, adventure, exploration and journeys into the unknown, which has helped the channel strengthen its bond with the young viewers. Aiming to reach curious minds across territories, the channel has diversified in multiple languages. The channel’s India productions like Revealed: National Defence Academy, Revealed: Rashtrapati Bhawan and Everest: Indian Army Women Expedition has offered viewers rare glimpses of their own country.

Discovery Science is a cool and fun science channel for the enthusiasts. With ‘Question Everything’ to its core, the channel introduces novel ways of knowing and thinking about the natural and physical world we live in. Discovery Turbo is dedicated to young male audience who has passion for automobiles and mechanics.

A pioneer in lifestyle programming, TLC is a window to the world for the consumer who is aspirational and is on a quest for finer things in life, from travel to cuisine to everything that encompasses hi-life. Catering to audiences who have a refined choice in what they watch, Discovery Networks continues to bring refreshing genres and captivating formats. In an ever-changing television environment, the ability to innovate will be a crucial determinant of value for television brands.