MAM
OOH To skyrocket its growth with technical innovation
MUMBAI: Out-of-home (OOH) advertising, also known as outdoor advertising, refers to billboards, signage, or other highly visual, highly impactful media displayed in public spaces people walk past and drive by every day. It also represents one of the biggest opportunities for advertisers to connect with their target audience outside the crowded context of their personal devices.
As the advertising landscape continues to evolve, OOH advertising will undoubtedly continue to play a crucial role in reaching and engaging audiences around the world. For brands looking to make a bold statement and connect with consumers in meaningful ways, OOH advertising is an investment worth making.
A major trend is the rise of Digital OOH, which grew by 12-15 per cent in 2024, especially in large cities due to technological advancements. In January this year I went to Time Square in New York where I came across a 3D LED screen. I was influenced by it and wanted to bring to India the technologies adopted for this purpose. Bright should be the first to introduce cutting-edge technology in the country.
However, 70 per cent of these screens are smaller formats in locations like malls, transit areas and corporate hubs. DOOH’s growth is expected to accelerate in 2025, with more on-road and ambient screens. Currently, DOOH holds 10 per cent of the OOH market, and while programmatic advertising is still in its early stages, it remains innovation-driven enhancing the scope for media quality and visibility.
OOH advertisement fulfilling the consumers’ desire for non- interruption spiked growth in high-footfall locations like airports, malls, and metro stations in 2024. Air travel is expected to rise by seven to ten per cent in 2025, non-metro airports are also gaining traction with advertisers.
The digital OOH landscape in malls is expanding rapidly, especially with luxury and beauty brands leveraging this space to connect with their audience. Additionally, the growing metro network presents exciting branding opportunities through station naming rights, as well as static and digital advertisements. I truly believe that the scope of OOH advertising is immense, catering to a wide range of industries—from real estate to entertainment. At Bright Outdoor Media, we have established ourselves as a leader in outdoor advertising, recognised for our extensive network, innovative approach, and strong client relationships. Our commitment to excellence has made us a trusted brand in the OOH industry.
In 2025, the OOH industry is poised for continued growth, with an emphasis on digital and tech innovations, increased infrastructure, and more consumer mobility. The OOH advertising revenue grew from Rs 4,140 crore in 2023 to Rs 4,650 crore in 2024, marking a robust 12 per cent year-on-year increase.
It is this triple barrel growth in Digital OOH, Airports and Regular Outdoor that has resulted in a growth of 13 per cent in 2023 and 12 per cent in 2024. Another significant growth factor was the Parliamentary Elections with all political parties utilising this medium for campaigns.
In terms of categories, real estate showed a remarkable growth of as high as 28 per cent, contributing over Rs 1,000 crore in 2024 up from Rs 789 crore in 2023.
When the demand for OOH is on the rise, a significant drop has been observed in terms of TV advertisers, with the numbers shrinking from 11,100 in 2023 to 8,650 in 2024.
It is expected in 2025 TV will increase by Rs 2,000 crore, growing at six per cent in 2025, bringing the total to Rs 36,520 crore. However, its share of the total ad spend is likely to decline further, settling at 30 per cent, keeping it as the second-largest medium after Digital.
For the last five years the overall Radio industry has more or less remained constant at 2 per cent, though having dropped from Rs 2,260 crore to Rs 1,270 crore. The digital radio replacing the old model is the lookout for consumers integrating innovation and outlook. Radio advertising compared to the OOH fails to make any impact due to its major limitation to video.
Print’s overall share in the Total Adex will gradually decline. From a 19 per cent share in 2024, Print’s contribution is expected to drop slightly to 18 per cent in 2025. This reduction reflects the broader trend of digital media increasing at a rapid pace.
With increased disposable income of Rs 1 lakh crore among middle-class consumers, brands are likely to benefit and invest more readily in marketing and advertising. The union budget enhances consumer spending, promoting digital innovation and supporting the growth of MSMEs and startups. This shows an immense growth projected in India in the coming years.
Brands
Creative Intelligence: Using AI to Predict Which Ads Will Actually Convert
Priyanka Aeron, Director & Co-founder of Thrive Global AI
MUMBAI: In a heavily populated digital landscape, simply being creative with your advertising will not guarantee that your ad will be successful. In fact, brands today are producing more content than ever. However, very little of that results in actual engagement or sales. However, Creative Intelligence, powered by AI, is fundamentally transforming the advertising industry.
Creative Intelligence utilizes data, machine learning, and statistical behavioral insights to analyze and predict how well a creative asset will perform prior to it being published. Therefore, marketers no longer have to rely on either their gut instincts or post-campaign analytics for making informed decisions before production. That said, AI-powered creative intelligence greatly improves results and decreases wasted dollars spent.
Moving Beyond Guesswork
In the past, making ads was a mix of gut feeling, experience, and A/B testing. These methods were useful, but reactive by nature. People have already spent their budgets by the time the results are looked at. AI models can find patterns that are linked to higher engagement and conversion rates by looking at huge datasets. These datasets can include things like past campaign performance, audience behavior, and visual elements like color, composition, and facial expressions. This helps marketers guess which ads will do well even before they go live.
Decoding What Truly Drives Conversions
AI-powered creative intelligence allows for an evaluation of advertisements that is not limited to the basic data but also explores the elements of an effective advertisement through subtle reactions; clarity and directness of the ad message and how well the ad captures audience’s attention in the first three seconds. AI can also provide insights into the successful use of advertisements directed to human faces, which connect through eye contact based on media channels, and how advertisements that utilize shorter but clear calls to action may produce more clicks from certain populations. The insights, provided through AI, provide marketers with the ability to think beyond creating more advertising material and additionally create more effective ad campaigns that actually convert.
Personalization at Scale
Consumers expect relevance more than ever. Irrelevant mass messaging is not going to work in a society inundated with information. Hyper-personalization, using AI, allows companies to create content that suits individual segments within their target markets based on their demographics, interests, and behaviors. Rather than having one single message that aims to reach everyone, brands can have many versions of their messages tailored to each segment within the market. Such flexibility is what makes campaigns successful nowadays.
Faster Iteration, Better Results
Another advantage to using AI in creative decision-making is speed. Companies must improvise because their campaign cycles are shorter than ever before, and having the ability to iterate rapidly is more important than it has ever been. There is no greater way to do this work than through AI, as new technologies give brands the ability to test multiple creative avenues and figure out which ones are working well. This reduces a lot of the testing that companies would otherwise have to do and makes the process faster.
With AI, brands can also make creative changes in real-time during a campaign, allowing the, to make vital decisions and adjust their creatives, rather than waiting out. This allows for faster adaptability, well-tested campaigns and reduced lost ad spend.
The Human-AI Collaboration
Even though AI is capable of performing certain tasks, its purpose is not to eliminate human creativity. Successful campaigns require human collaboration with computer intellect since both complement each other. While computers are capable of dealing with massive amounts of information, discovering patterns, and providing predictions, humans are the one to inject stories and emotions into campaigns.
The Future of Advertising
As the complexity of advertising becomes harder with the passage of time, Creative Intelligence will play a significant role in helping marketers formulate a strategic approach. The yardstick that will set standards for determining whether a marketing firm has fulfilled its responsibilities will be the forecasting of future outcomes, as well as personalized content and optimization of creative elements in real-time. In contrast to the existing scenario where the campaigns remain fixed, these campaigns will be capable of adjusting themselves according to the customer interacting with the brand, as well as other trends on social media channels. This will enable brands to offer customers an engaging experience that will exceed expectations. The biggest hurdle marketers will face will be finding ways to utilize these capabilities without compromising branding and enhancing the creativity of the team involved.
