ADVERTISING on a single billboard costs anywhere to Rs 3 lakh to Rs 35 lakh per month.
ADVERTISING on a single billboard costs anywhere to Rs 3 lakh to Rs 35 lakh per month. And there are approximately 3,400 billboards in the city. But many of them are empty these days. The reason is obvious: billboard owners are feeling the heat of the economic slowdown. Business for them is down by 25 to 40 per cent on an average.
Yogesh Lakhani, CMD of Bright Outdoor Media Pvt Ltd, owns 1,400 of them. He says, "The shaky economy has affected my business by 10 to 15 per cent. Plus, the 15 per cent sale growth rate has also stopped. So my business is down by almost 30 per cent." Lakhani, whose main clients are corporates, builders and the entertainment industry, says that February and March are lean months but with the economic slowdown, IPL and election, business is further affected.
Roshan billboards' Shanu, who wanted his boss Altaf Shaikh's name to be used, says, "Business is down. Out of the 105 billboards we have in the city, 52 are vacant."
In And Out's Kailash, however, says that corporates have not cut down the budget. "But I must say that cold calls have decreased. Earlier, from 10 enquiries, only five would actually advertise. Now that has decreased." Of the 150 hoardings In And Out has, only 60 per cent is booked. "In terms of discounts, it depends on how many billboards a client requires. Though, suppose a billboard
costs a lakh, we now give it for Rs 85,00,000," Kailash adds.
Global Advertisers MD Sanjeev Gupta says, "The slowdown has affected us very much. It's almost in the ratio of 60-40 per cent. We have had to bring down the prices by 20 per cent and also offer various schemes to woo clients. To add to the slowdown is the film industry strike."
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