Nearly two years after the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) launched Roadstar, its ambitious out-of-home (OOH) audience measurement tool, the unified currency remains far from becoming an industry benchmark.
Only a dozen agencies have so far adopted the software–developed by Mumbai-based software firm Relu.ai. Big players in the Indian market–WPP Media, dentsu, and Omnicom–are missing from the list though. Broader industry adoption, especially by media owners and advertisers, remains a challenge for Roadstar.
Praveen Vadhera, CEO of IOAA, claims, “Roadstar has secured the support of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) a year ago after due diligence of their Technical Committee. Nearly 10-12 agencies have subscribed to our software as of now. This includes some non-IOAA members as well. This number will grow eventually.”
“Madison, Walk the Talk, Interspace, Signpost and OAP Mediatech are among those who are currently using Roadstar,” Vadhera said, adding that the association now plans to make a representation to the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) in a bid to secure its support for the tool.
However, Srinivasan Swamy, the newly elected president of AAAI, said, “The decision on Roadstar hasn't been taken yet.”
More on Roadstar roadblocks
What is worse, no stakeholder is able to stipulate a timeline on when Roadstar might evolve into a widely accepted industry currency.
A year ago, e4m had reported that AAAI members had conducted testing of Roadstar following which Rapport Advertising (IPG group) and GroupM (now WPP Media) had pointed out certain flaws, including privacy issues, in the Roadstar’s functioning.
Following their feedback, IOAA had directed the software developer Relu.ai to address issues through significant software upgrades. The upgraded version of Roadstar was distributed to AAAI members in July 2024 for the second round of testing.
Some agency heads, who are using the upgraded version at present, expressed satisfaction, “Clients are largely satisfied with the insights. While the software still needs a few minor tweaks, it remains a work in progress — an ongoing developmental journey.”
Measurement Tool – ?5,000 Cr Industry; No Unified Measurement
India arms of global majors like WPP, IPG, Omnicom and Dentsu have already adopted data-driven tools for OOH planning and measurement. Even homegrown agencies such as Laqshya Media, Experia Group and Connect Network depend on their own proprietary solutions to track performance. Several other agencies have been using tools procured from the US or other countries.
However, with India’s OOH industry projected to cross ?5,000 crore in ad spends by FY26 (as per industry estimates), experts stress that a standardised, transparent, and widely accepted measurement currency is no longer a “good-to-have” — it has become critical for sustained growth.
“A measurement tool for the Indian OOH industry — in terms of its uniformity, efficacy, and delivery — is very, very critical for the entire ecosystem to grow,” said an industry veteran, requesting anonymity. “Globally, wherever unified currencies have been established — be it the UK, the US, Brazil or Singapore — they’ve significantly helped the industry scale. These frameworks have enabled advertisers to justify spends, improve ROI, and unlock new growth opportunities. India, however, still struggles to get there.”
Gaps
As per IOAA, Roadstar covers over 800 markets in India, from metro cities to taluka levels, and tracks more than 60,000 media sites. It uses data from over 35 million mobile users to identify high-traffic areas and optimize ad placement. The platform maps consumer movements through 3 million places of interest across 120 categories, providing detailed metrics such as Unique Reach, Gross Reach, Frequency, and more.
However, several industry leaders point out, "Roadstar currently lacks an NCCS-based consumer classification system, which many clients expect to define their target groups accurately. Since it can’t directly map TG-based impressions, Roadstar has instead created cohorts based on people’s travel patterns — an approach many in the industry view as outdated and less effective,” claimed an executive.
Brands like Unilever, Wipro, and Godrej are investing heavily in small-town OOH. Today, planning for these markets requires much deeper coverage than what Roadstar currently offers, he claimed, adding, “Even within the covered cities, the inventory depth is limited, making it harder to deliver robust planning data,” an executive claimed.
Roadstar’s ownership and funding model also remain a concern. Globally, OOH measurement tools often succeed because they are collectively funded by agencies, vendors, and sometimes brands — ensuring longevity and credibility. “Even in India, currencies like BARC thrive because stakeholders — agencies, publishers, and advertisers — co-sponsor and co-own the ecosystem,” the expert explained.
In Roadstar’s case, neither the agencies nor vendors nor brands seem willing to take long-term responsibility for sustaining and scaling the platform. That’s another hurdle the industry needs to address, executives claimed.
Suggestions by stakeholders
For Roadstar to become truly robust, it needs to go beyond measuring reach and impressions and include propensity-to-buy indicators for specific areas, industry leaders point out.
“At present, the platform relies on cohort-based data from people’s movement patterns, which is fine as a starting point, but incorporating first-party data will be critical to building a more reliable and advertiser-friendly system,” said an agency head who has been using Roadstar for more than a year now.
An agency leader stated, “For the OOH measurement ecosystem to evolve, all stakeholders — media owners, agencies and advertisers — need to invest collectively. Right now, clients are not directly involved in evangelising this shift, and the industry continues to depend on limited funds. With slow adoption, the OOH sector will struggle to achieve its potential growth of 20% or more.”
Given the highly fragmented nature of India’s OOH ecosystem, with hundreds of players spread across both urban and rural markets, industry observers believe it could still take years before Roadstar gains widespread acceptance and evolves into a unified, pan-India measurement currency — much like TRPs have done for television.
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