MAM
Global digital signage systems market to reach $13.8 bn by 2017
MUMBAI: Global digital signage systems market will reach $13.8 billion by 2017, said the latest report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
The report claims that opportunities for advertising are on the rise in developing Asian countries like India, China and Singapore largely due to the growing base of urban population and a resultant wider audience base of target corporate workers, commuters and shoppers.
The retail boom in Asia brought upon by strong economic growth, rising consumerism, rising standards of living, increase in disposable incomes, and changing lifestyles that rival western counterparts, all provide a strong platform for growth.
“Given its ability to use vibrant, media-rich messages to rope in the right audiences, digital signage represents a powerful medium for advertising, information display and entertainment,” the report added.
The marketing arena worldwide has witnessed dramatic transformation over the past few years. The recent years have seen decline in traditional print advertisements in newspapers and static outdoor billboards, but commensurately rising interest in new interactive marketing strategies, including digital signage.
According to the research, the market is further driven by the evolution of hybrid digital signage systems wherein digital signs are augmented with the interactivity of digital kiosks. The amplification of marketing impact possible through this medium provides a high return on investment (ROI) business case for these systems.
Major application areas in these regions include public notices and real-time weather forecasts among others. Industrialisation will remain a key factor, indirectly driving growth in the marketplace.
Development of transportation networks, public infrastructure, new construction of commercial buildings will create demand for digital signage in public spaces, the report asserted.
Against a backdrop of a digitalised world, the digital platform of marketing makes for an effective medium to target elusive consumers, especially the younger generation. With several advantages like higher viewer recall and retention of digitally displayed messages, stacked in its favor, digital signage systems are forecast to witness sturdy gains in the upcoming years.
The report also stated that despite the market advantages enjoyed by digital advertising technologies, the global digital signage systems market witnessed sizeable deceleration in growth momentum during the years 2008 and 2009, as direct fallout of narrow creativity levels in a weak economy, and credit shortages for funding new and risky ventures during the period.
For instance, new investments in digital signage infrastructure came under direct pressure as a result of preferences among advertisers for existing and already accessible infrastructure.
Additionally, financing for big digital signage projects experienced relatively tougher funding options, as venture capitalist preference during this period was particularly skewed towards established technologies/projects with faster exit options.
The research underlines that falling costs associated with purchasing, installing and maintaining digital signage systems in sync with technology development and market penetration, will help bolster the market in the post recession period.
Low hardware costs, and declining software development costs have made systems, such as media players, and display units like LCD displays cheaper and affordable. While the retail sector remains the prime end-user of digital signage technologies, evolving application areas, such as in financial services, transportation and hospitality are forecast to generate steam in the upcoming years.
Companies poised to gain will be those capable of providing end-to-end digital signage solutions encompassing installation, consulting, content creation, content management and support, the report concluded.
AD Agencies
Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
