Adwise Analytics P Ltd. spawned by one of the largest IoT application companies along with a couple of veterans from outdoor advertising, is now installing a solution on hoardings. They have come up with large outdoor displays that makes actual displays on these completely transparent and live.
“In this line of advertising there is always a disagreement between advertisers, specialist agencies and media vendors on the actual date when a contracted campaign starts and ends and whether the display was fully visible during the interim period – that is there were no defects, illumination was on and the display was not substituted by any other in between etc. This IoT solution that we have designed comes in the form of a cloud-based software platform which sources inputs through a hardware unit installed on each site that provides live photo inputs. Any defect that is caught on photo is automatically alerted to the vendor through the platform and also recorded,” says Indrajit Sen, CEO, Adwise Analytics.
How do Billboards work?
All the billboards in this project are integrated with a back-end analyser unit manned by well-trained experts. Media vendors will have password protected access to the platform from any location and all they need to do is log in for bookings on their hoardings and specify start and end dates.
The solution platform then automatically tracks actual display on the site against the booked brand and records mismatches, if any. At the end of the period of display, a certificate is produced specifying actual start and end dates and exact condition of the display on each day in the display period. This Third Party Certificate, when produced together with the bill from the media vendor, lays to rest any doubts or questions about the actual display versus contracted display.
“Each display site is first registered on our platform using Unique ID numbers based on a high sensitivity GPS monitor which distinguishes between hoardings located one on top of the other also, with different lat-longs. Afterwards, our input technology provides a stream of live images of that site – day and night. We provide access only to the media owning company and empower them to act on alerts of defects as and when they happen, as well as to share this information on a completely transparent basis with Clients and Agencies to eliminate any disputes on their billing,” adds Indrajit Sen.
Currently this solution is being put into operation in Bengaluru and Kolkata. The potential that these two cities hold are large numbers of outdoor advertising displays. Many professionally managed companies have come forward to take this opportunity and grab market share.
Solution to some critical issues
Without a second thought, this solution offers a radical change in the ways that outdoor advertising has been working in India so far. Double bookings on same site for same or overlapping periods, collusion between lower operational level staff involved and similar highly questionable issues which used to be the order of the day could be avoided.
With this new IoT Solution around, Companies can now cut down on advertisement spends while ensuring transparency and reach. while the solution assures timely delivery, the system also focuses on audience metrics, sophisticated planning and programmatic buying. Undoubtedly, this IoT solution can can resolve many issues while restoring credibility and increasing business to this industry.
According to industry sources, it is predicted that the revenue in the OOH industry will amount to 28.3 billion Indian rupees in 2016 and grow to 45.2billion INR by 2020.
