Roshan Space gives new life to billboards

An interactive campaign has been designed by the OOH agency to transform the attitude of the audience conditioned to accept the billboard as just a prop

Sohini Sen | Mumbai | November 8, 2013

Roshan Space has taken it upon itself to give Mumbai's billboards a new life. To celebrate the old and traditional medium of billboards, Roshan Space has launched the 'Billboards Talking' campaign by giving them the power to express themselves.

"Billboards are always selling us something, showing us pretty pictures, painting a fantasy or creating a desire. We feel it's time to change that perception. We believe it's time to give the billboards the voice they deserve and which they have earned over the years," said Junaid Kader Shaikh, Managing Director, Roshan Space.

The campaign which was launched around two months back features various billboards starting a conversation with an interesting and relevant quote or question. In Mumbai, there were billboards with messages like “What if I had a voice?” or three billboards together voicing their impact through a quote like “We work thrice as hard."

The billboards can be seen in prominent locations such as Worli, Juhu, Prabhadevi, Bandra, Western Express Highway, to name some spots. The differentiating aspect of the concept, apart from assigning an area specific unique code to the billboard, is that the billboards reflect a “live sentiment” and strike a chord with the audience.

Launched in 2008, Roshan Space is a specialist in strategic planning, creative execution, buying, implementation and monitoring of Out-Of-Home (OOH) communications and advertising solutions. While the OOH agency has previously worked with clients such as MTV, Zee TV, Birla Sun Life, Dheeraj Realty and Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX), this is their attempt to transform the attitude of the audience conditioned to accept the billboard as not just a prop on the road like a traffic light or lamp post but an individual with a personality you look forward to meet, greet and has something to tell you on your daily travels.

The first phase of this interactive campaign was unveiled on September 11 this year with billboards across the city being part of it, taking into consideration the demographics and psychographics of its TG with messages relevant to them.

"Billboard Talking is not just a campaign, but an idea that continues over time. The science and art of outdoor is not passive, but interactive. At any occasion the billboard is not occupied communicating a marketing message, it will have something to say to make its presence felt. We are determined to take forward the conventional static billboard to a digital and interactive media. In a nutshell, we aim to connect the dots between the brand and its promise and the consumers and their behavior. And what do we connect them with? 'Ideas magnified' supported by processes," added Shaikh.

The second phase of the campaign will soon follow which will establish the identity of the billboard which was introduced in the first phase.

Billboards are a powerful reminder medium and play a vital role in reinforcing the message to the audience. While large billboard formats are noticed by all echelons of the population, the audience is exposed to the display for a short duration.

"Seeing a brand repeatedly gives a disguised approval and over sustained time duration results in the message getting recorded in their memory. We patronise brands that become familiar to us. This is especially valuable to create product or brand awareness. This is the basic function of a billboard. Implementation of technological advances in billboards innovations is bringing a revolution on both the static and digital media in their creative and interactive communication. 'Billboard Talking' is our first step toward this dynamism," pointed out Shaikh.

Sohini.Sen@BestMediaInfo.com

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