Maharashtra elections: How polling season led the way for OOH boost

The Maharashtra Assembly Elections of 2024, clinched by the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, turned out to be a big draw for the Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising sector.

The increased activity during election campaigns, rallies, and polling led to heightened visibility for brands and political parties alike, driving inventory utilisation and revenue growth in the OOH market.

Jayesh Yagnik, Chief executive Officer of MOM Outdoor Media, notes that elections often drive significant growth in the OOH advertising market, with inventory bookings typically rising by 20-30%.

Adding to this, Haresh Nayak of Connect Network explained, “The OOH spends have witnessed a sharp increase, with an estimated 30-40% rise compared to the last state elections. This time we have seen most political parties being super active on ooh and have dominated the medium.”

“During the Maharashtra elections , the OOH industry witnessed an occupancy rate of 80-90%,” said Rohit Chopra, COO of Times OOH.

In terms of numbers, an estimated Rs 40-50 crore would have been spent for the election campaigns, as per Dipankar Sanyal of Platinum Communications.

Ad rate increase

Even though MH elections brought a spike in OOH advertising demand, there seems to be a mixed response when it comes to the increase in ad rates. Nayak reveals the ad rates have increased due to the surge in demand from political campaigns and are roughly around 10-15%.

“There has been a significant premium in some of the media costs, particularly in the arterial routes in major cities,” Yagnik added.

But, Sanyal said, “During election campaigns, ad rates don't go up. It's totally a volume game hence they don't shoot up in OOH.”

On the same lines, Chopra disclosed that despite the heightened demand, ad rates remained aligned with established rate cards set by industry stakeholders. “However, the scope for negotiations are typically reduced during this high-demand period, indirectly boosting profits for media owners.”

Top ad spots

Prime locations across Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and other key cities emerged as hotbeds for OOH campaigns during the election season. Metro stations, railway stations, highways, and arterial roads saw a frenzy of activity as advertisers vied for maximum visibility in these high-traffic zones.

In Mumbai, private hoardings were extensively utilised by political parties, adhering to specific protocols. Additionally, the BJP leveraged the Mumbai Metro as a key advertising platform, capitalising on its status as the city's new lifeline to connect with the masses, said Chopra.

Nayak noted that huge spends were seen on WE Highway, EE Highway and arterial routes like Linking road, SV road etc. Also, DOOH has a very significant share of the spending. Moreover, Tier-1 cities dominated the spends, but Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are also among high spenders.”

As per Yagnik, prime advertising locations include the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, Western and Eastern Express Highways, and busy railway hubs like CST, Dadar, and Andheri. High-traffic junctions such as Sion and prominent areas like Bandra remain highly sought after by political advertisers.

Sanyal also pointed out that hoardings don’t need to be available everywhere hence the use of mobile vans, posters, wall paintings, and wall wraps also come into force.

Category of advertisers that stood out

Brands generally avoid associating with political campaigns to mitigate potential public backlash.

“With the festive season concluding, many brands are saving budgets for the upcoming wedding and New Year seasons, opting not to allocate separate budgets for election-specific campaigns,” said Chopra.

Adding to this, Sanyal also observed that during elections brand campaigns are usually avoided because as the election campaigns have higher decibels, which drown out other brands especially in the last 15-20 days. However, brands which have long term bookings do continue.

But, according to Yagnik, apart from government campaigns, sectors like real estate, FMCG, automotive, and telecom are making significant investments in OOH advertising to capitalise on the heightened visibility during this period.

Other medium’s outreach

Not just outdoor, digital was also a strong focus for political engagement during the elections. Google revealed that in October and November itself, there was more than Rs 48 crore spent on Google ads for about 43k ads.  BJP followed by INC were the top spenders on Google, where the former spent Rs 20.7 crore and the latter spent Rs 8.1 crore during the same period.

As per TAM data exclusively shared with e4m, Congress dominated the assembly election campaign advertising on TV with 58% share in October 2024. BJP stood 2nd in terms of ad duration share in the assembly election campaign in both September 2023 and October 2024 on TV with 35% share and 19% respectively.

Overall, ad insertions of the Political Parties grew by 145% on TV in Oct'24 as compared to Sep'2 3. But, in print and radio, the ad insertions decreased by 12% and 9% respectively in Oct'24, when compared to Sep'23 .

But in print, BJP was on top in the advertising list and had 47% share of ad space in October 2024, followed by ShivSena and then Maharashtra Navnirman Seva.