A blend of creativity and strategy is called as advertising’ – the statement probably best defines the ad industry. One of the best examples illustrating it is the Out of Home (OoH) advertising. What goes on a hoarding depends on where we are placing it and whom it is being targeted to. Advertisements that we see when we are travelling are not just randomly placed; there is a solid theory and expertise behind it.
It is interesting to understand what exactly OoH Advertising is and how one can pursue it as a career.
Introduction to OoH:
You can’t possibly be home all the time! We all commute to work, go for a movie, for shopping at a mall and to hang out with friends in a café or a restaurant. All these are places targeted by advertising companies for their OoH campaigns. You might find an ad in front of your seat in a movie theatre, or inside the bus that you always take for your office. There is no way you can ignore the huge cut outs of any brand placed right in the middle of a shopping mall.
From ads in a restroom, to humongous lit hoardings, from 3D cutouts to using daily seen items in a different way, all of this is OoH. It is an advertisement that reaches people when they are out of their homes, when they are away from traditional media like newspapers, magazines and television.
Types of OoH Advertising
In recent years, this stream of advertising has become dynamic as new mediums have emerged. While exploring different types of OoH advertising, we can categorize them into:
Traditional:
# Billboards
# Posters
# Street Furniture (Bus Shelters, on the dividers etc.)
# Bus and Train Advertising
Digital:
# Digital Billboards
# Digital Signage
# Small or big LCD screens (on the road or on the stations, inside buses etc.)
# Radio Advertisement (this medium is definitely reinvented in India)
# Kiosks (on the roadside or inside the mall etc.)
Honestly, there are never ending options available when it comes to OoH advertising. With the evolution of the digital world, there is also an opportunity to invent new options and improvise the existing ones.
Advantages of OoH:
In the conventional mass media courses, the syllabus may not talk much about this stream of advertising. This is one of most lucrative areas in the field of advertising, which is mostly learned by people on job. In this business, OoH has garnered a significant position. Not a single campaign, right from international brands like Reebok to local brands like Aarey Milk, can do without it. Also, it gives you a huge canvas to paint your ideas upon, to learn about consumer behavior and strategic locations. As the growth curve of the OoH industry is going upwards from the year 2014 in India, the industry is warming up to hire new professionals interested in this stream.
Another great advantage of working in this industry is that it brings out newer opportunities for your creativity to flourish. No advertisement campaign can be alike, so there is no way your life can get mundane as an OoH specialist or advertising professional.
So, if you are looking for new avenues in this field, then you might get an opportunity to actually learn OoH academically and also get a guaranteed placement. This opportunity is presented by North Point Centre of Learning through OoHA Certification Program.
This Fast Track 6 months certificate course will help freshers to become specialists in the OoH field and get placed in leading agencies. This means a great academic backup is complemented by apt professional exposure, ultimately shaping your career.