Indiantelevision.com Team

(26 October 2007 9:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Starcom MediaVest Group's (SMG) is taking its bullish run in Malaysia for out-of-home (OOH) business by launching a specialist OOH division for the country.

"Our year-on-year billings have increased by 180 per cent over the last couple of years which is a phenomenal growth rate especially when compared to the segmental growth. Because of this high-growth, it is crucial we set up a unit to give specialized OOH solutions to our clients," said Starcom Mediavest Group Malaysia CEO Yap Chee Weng.

According to SMG, Navia Malaysia has already captured a market share of 17 per cent at launch. Its suite of services include media planning, site survey, negotiations, creative development and production, site monitoring and maintenance as well as campaign evaluation in all key cities across Malaysia.

Estimates suggest that OOH in Malaysia has a contribution of 5 per cent to total advertising, with key category spenders being telecommunications, banks, automotive companies, mobile phone providers and FMCG. The medium has recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 6 per cent in the last two years.

Leading Navia Malaysia as its general manager is Philip Hew who has more than 10 years of OOH experience.

Navia Malaysia will deploy its proprietary OOH tool, Scope which is customized specifically for the market to manage the evaluation, inspection and buying process of OOH media.

Scope comprises Navia Outdoor Evaluation System, Navia Inspection Report and Navia Mapping System. Hew says that thanks to Scope, OOH solutions recommended by Navia are 10 - 25 per cent more productive and efficient.

Navia has already been offering specialist OOH solutions in India and the Philippines for more than 3 years. It launched its Indonesian operations earlier this year.