After a dull, lean period of staid and boring out-of-home (OOH) advertising in India, advertisers are finally getting innovative. A case in point is the Ginger Hotels' outdoor advertising initiative where the company put up a makeshift structure of a two-storeyed hotel room on a busy Mumbai road, and even had a real guest staying in there! Nor is this the only one. To promote its Xbox, Microsoft put up digital guns on bus shelters. Then there's Hutch, which put up a huge record player to promote its music service. Talk about getting quirky!

Although outdoor advertising doesn't figure high on the list of company ad spends, more and more brands are now beginning to look at it in a big way. This, says Indrajit Sen, COO, Jagran Engage, is because of two factors. "The interactivity that the medium provides is far greater than any other medium and secondly, the promoters are beginning to realise that TV advertising is a one-way street." True, as there's not much that one can actually do in terms of innovation there! The outdoor, on the other hand, provides a chance to customers to live the experience, as in the case of the Ginger gimmick

R Laxminarayan, CEO, Mudra Marketing Services, feels that people are finally beginning to realise the potential of OOH as a medium. "It is good to see brands experimenting with outdoor advertising." More important, it is not only the mainstream brands that are using the medium, niche segments such as jewellery brands, production houses and even radio are showing their interest in it.

The OOH market stands close to Rs 1,200 crore and is expected to grow at a rate of 15 per cent. "The reduction in ad spends on TV is a clear indication of people looking at OOH and other mediums." But with more innovative campaigns on the anvil, does it mean the death of the hoarding? "Of course not," says Laxminarayan. "Look at Amul, people still wait for every Monday to see a new Amul hoarding." So, it is not only about the medium but the message too has to be delivered in the right manner. Right.