MAM
Bright lights up festive season as outdoor ads shine with double-digit glow
MUMBAI: This festive season, the outdoors are looking anything but dull. As streets dazzle with lights and shopfronts sparkle with offers, Bright Outdoor Media (BOM) is gearing up for a season of high visibility literally. The company expects strong double-digit growth in ad spends this Diwali, fuelled by a cocktail of economic optimism, brand buzz, and an unmistakable festive pulse on the streets.
Leading the charge, the real estate sector has taken centre stage, wrapping city skylines in giant hoardings and LED glows announcing new projects. From FMCG and e-commerce to automobiles, consumer electronics, jewellery, and fashion, nearly every sector is upping its outdoor presence to capture festive shoppers’ attention. The result: India’s cities are once again turning into open-air galleries of marketing ambition.
But it isn’t just traditional categories making noise. Fintech, BFSI, health and wellness, D2C, and quick commerce players are also stepping into the OOH frame, using the medium to push festive payment offers, cashback deals, and brand discovery. With outdoor spaces offering both scale and immediacy, even digital-first brands are realising that nothing beats the visibility of a billboard at a bustling junction.
“We are witnessing robust demand across brand categories this festive season, with advertisers focusing on visibility, innovation and impact,” said Bright Outdoor Media CMD Yogesh Lakhani. “Large-format visibility, digital billboards and integrated campaigns are driving the momentum, and we expect strong double-digit growth compared to last year.”
At the heart of this surge is the rise of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH). Bright Outdoor, already among India’s largest operators of big-size LED billboards, is riding the wave of dynamic and data-driven displays. These screens allow advertisers to adapt messaging in real time from countdown offers to live sports updates making the outdoors feel as alive as the internet.
However, Bright isn’t dimming its faith in traditional billboards just yet. Static formats, the company says, remain the cornerstone of mass visibility vital for brands seeking long-term impact or presence beyond metros. Lakhani explains, “Digital and interactive formats will continue to gain preference, but large-format billboards will always be critical for brand recall and reach. The future is hybrid where technology meets tradition.”
The festive glow isn’t confined to big cities either. With Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets witnessing a consumption boom, brands are extending their OOH footprints into regional India. From high-footfall malls in Pune and Jaipur to highways connecting emerging industrial towns, the billboard boom is spreading fast.
As the first outdoor media company listed on the BSE, Bright Outdoor Media continues to consolidate its leadership across Mumbai and the wider MMR region, claiming nearly 50 per cent of Mumbai’s OOH market. Its stronghold, built on long-term client partnerships and a robust portfolio of owned media assets, is now expanding into a digital frontier with more LED installations across transit hubs and high-traffic zones.
The company’s hybrid model combining static strength with digital agility could very well define the future of Indian outdoor advertising. For now, though, Bright’s billboards are doing exactly what their name promises: keeping the festive season shining, one giant frame at a time.
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
