The OOH industry has seen exponential growth in the last few years. Data shows DOOH screens have grown from 26,940 in 2020 to 57,690 in 2021 to 89,700 in 2022. It is presumed that airport advertising is also growing faster and brands are heavily investing in airports.

From Indira Gandhi International Airport to Kempegowda Airport and from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, airport advertising is getting bigger across the length and breadth of India. With the festive season, elections, and mega sports events line up, the brands are figuratively adding more digits to their marketing and advertising budgets.

The coming months can be a game changer for the entire airport advertising industry. The upcoming World Cup event is anticipated to be played in more than eight to nine cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, leading to an increase in footfalls in the airports.

Given the growing popularity of airport advertising, we spoke to industry experts to know what brands and agencies have in store for leveraging this medium.

A PAN India touchpoint

Highlighting changes the airport advertising industry has witnessed in recent years, Bhattacharyya said, “The industry is more exclusive and eye-catching as average dwell times of an hour plus, the airport offers unique opportunities to connect consumers with brands. The rise in DOOH media in airports (4200+ screens as per EY Ficci Report 2023, allows brands to deliver contextualised communication for maximum relevance and increased attention. I believe it’s important for marketers to have a balance between placement and creative play in the airport environment.

For brands airport advertising delivers the highest perceived value and prestige compared to other advertising channels as they have an opportunity to engage with unique audiences.

From an engagement measurability point of view, the passengers wait in queues at several spots in their journey & chances for them to notice an ad are relatively higher. The footfall is high at airports covering almost all hours. No hours of advertising go unaccounted for. Hence today combining the capabilities of programmatic advertising with the premium and high dwell time at airports enables brands to create highly targeted, flexible, and measurable ads on high-impact screens.

With the advent of Programmatic DOOH, it allows brands to explore smaller tactical budgets to be activated in the airport environment and aligns nicely with other online channels attempting to reach the business and leisure audiences across the omnichannel ecosystem.” Bhattacharyya added.

Talking about the same, Dipankar Sanyal, CEO, of Platinum Outdoor shared “As more airports proliferate to tier 2 and 3 towns it is being looked upon as a pan India touch point rather than being present in top metros and being done with as it used to be previously.”

“Moreover, the digital assets have increased manifold. This helps reach and frequency through networks in the airport. Importantly digital has also made way for other brands to enter as static advertising in airports used to be restrictive. Some airports have been early adopters of DOOH which enables brands to engage with customers based on location, flight timings and content.” Sanyal added.

Categories and Brands investing across airports

Sharing categories showing interest in airports, Kumar said, “Categories including Automotive, luxury products, automobiles spend heavily at Airports and have explicitly grown in the recent years.”

Commenting on the brands investing across airports in the upcoming months, Gupta said, "Brands including Apple, Samsung, JY Tyre and Apollo are investing in all mega airports, whereas the government targets all Types B & C airports.”

“It all depends on the category and the brand we are working with. Xperia Group works with only one strategy which is experiential value creation. Sometimes the strategy we follow with the content to attract more eyes or at times the tech engagement to engage TG with the brands” Said Gupta.

Ramneek Ghotra, Executive Director -Growth, Finvasia, said, “Our good portion of marketing efforts are directed towards reaching niche audiences, and plans to explore airport OOH advertising. It benefits to connect with a targeted audience that resonates with us as a brand, and its USPs - benefits of zero-commission trading with multiple investment options. I would be happy to see the travellers perceive Finvasia as a cost-effective and user-friendly trading platform.”

Festive and World Cup Craze

Sharing insights on how brands prepare to advertise across airports, Hardik Kapdi, Co-Founder, OSMO, said, “At OSMO, we challenge the traditional method of planning using tech and data driven planning mechanisms. We use AI and ML-based planning for our client brands and one of the key touchpoints that emerge is Airports. Our airport campaigns for DAIKIN and RENAULT narrate the same.”

Adding On, Saibal Gupta, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, XPERIA Group, said, “Festive season is approaching in a couple of months and the mega event is ICC almost at the same time, which will create a buzz in advertising spends. But whether airport spend increase due to ICC WORLD CUP will be substantial or not at transit point destinations is still a question. The sponsors may do some spending at the airport but not substantial, which experience of a few years shows. However, due to festivals, spending will spike as it happens every year. Few engagement activities may happen as innovation during ICC WORLD CUP but whether substantial spending will happen or not is still a question.”

Adding some more inputs, Ravi Kumar, Chief Executive Office, Madhawks, said, “The upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 holds tremendous potential for the airport advertising industry. With matches scheduled across ten cities, a substantial influx of spectators is expected to travel to these locations to witness India play. Consequently, airports in these cities will witness a significant surge in cricket presenting advertisers with a golden opportunity to engage this captive audience.”