MAM
Metro Brands Ltd appoints Mohit Dhanjal as COO
Mumbai: Metro Brands Ltd, an Indian footwear retailer, has announced the appointment of Mohit Dhanjal as chief operating officer (COO), effective on 1 August 2024. Dhanjal brings a wealth of retail experience and a proven track record of leading strategic growth in the industry.
In his new role, Mohit Dhanjal will be driving operational excellence and process improvements to support the company’s growth initiatives. He will have a profound impact on shaping the strategic direction of the company and overseeing day-to-day operations.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mohit Dhanjal to our executive team,” said Metro Brands Ltd CEO Nissan Joseph. “Mohit’s extensive experience in Fashion and Lifestyle Retail, coupled with his visionary approach to cater the new-age customer, makes him a great fit to lead MBL’s operational strategy. We are confident that he will play a key role in accelerating our innovation and enhancing our competitive edge.”
Mohit joins Metro Brands Ltd from Reliance Retail, where he served as chief revenue officer for Tira Beauty & led the group’s foray into multi-brand beauty retailing in the prestige & luxury space in India. With over 30 years of experience in the retail sector, Dhanjal has held various leadership positions at Sephora (Arvind Fashions Ltd), Raymond Ltd, and Hindustan Unilever, where he demonstrated strong abilities to build and scale high-performing teams and deliver cutting-edge solutions.
“I am excited to join Metro Brands Ltd at such a pivotal time in its growth journey,” said Dhanjal. “I look forward to working with the multi-talented team here to help accelerate Metro’s strategic priorities and deliver exceptional value to our customers.”
MAM
GUEST COLUMN: How data and adtech are driving OOH growth in India
Data and technology are reshaping OOH and boosting advertiser confidence.
MUMBAI: Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising is evolving from a traditional, location-driven medium into a data-informed channel that blends physical presence with digital intelligence. For Nipun Arora, co-founder of Osmo, this transformation is redefining how advertisers plan, execute, and measure campaigns in India. In this piece, Arora explores how traffic, mobility, and AI-powered data are enhancing site and audience insights, why DOOH is accelerating precision planning, and how authenticity, creativity, and repeat exposure are driving renewed advertiser confidence in OOH.
For years, Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising operated with minimal reliance on data. Site selection was largely driven by visibility, location, and a planner’s understanding of traffic patterns.
That is now changing rapidly.
The first shift came with traffic data, offering basic estimates of vehicular movement. This evolved into mobility data powered by GPS signals, enabling deeper insights into audience movement and behavior. Point-of-interest data further refined this by helping advertisers understand who is likely to be present around a location.
Today, artificial intelligence and computer vision are unlocking an entirely new layer of site and audience intelligence. Together, these data streams are transforming OOH from a real estate-led medium into a data-backed one.
The rise of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) is accelerating this shift. Campaigns can now be planned, scheduled, and optimized with increasing precision bringing OOH closer to an adtech model. That said, as a physical medium, OOH still operates within real-world constraints, making this transition gradual rather than absolute.
At the same time, advertisers are returning to OOH with renewed interest.
One of the biggest drivers is authenticity. Unlike digital platforms, OOH offers real-world visibility free from bots, fraudulent impressions, or ad blockers. What you see is what exists.
There’s also growing digital fatigue. Consumers are overwhelmed by constant online advertising, often choosing to skip or ignore it. OOH, by contrast, engages audiences naturally within their environment, without interruption.
Mobility further strengthens its impact. As people move through cities daily, OOH benefits from repeated exposure building recall over time in a way few channels can match.
Add to this the power of creativity. Large formats and contextual executions don’t just capture attention, they often extend beyond the physical space, finding life on social media.
Finally, the increasing availability of data at the planning stage is boosting advertiser confidence. Better insights mean better decisions and more accountability.
As cities grow and movement increases, OOH is uniquely positioned at the intersection of physical presence and data intelligence. Its evolution from billboards to big data isn’t just a technological shift, it’s a redefinition of the medium itself.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
