Pune - Leading Outdoor Media Houses Join Forces.
22nd January'12, Pune
Three major and leading OOH media houses present Sixth Element, one of the largest outdoor media conglomerates in India. The felt need of the industry has been consolidation and Sixth Element is the answer to that clarion call. An absolute first; this coming together with a common vision and mission to provide end to end products and services.
Pune is now home to one of the largest Out-Of-Home (OOH) media organizations in the nation, thanks to Asha Publicity, Captions Outdoor Advertising and Hallmark Outdoor Advertising. The new entity known as Sixth Element Advertising Pvt. Ltd. will focus on client servicing of the highest order and support various brands in building much better salience.
Alok Jalan, MD, Laqshya Media P. Ltd., observes, “I feel this is a positive step towards consolidation in the highly fragmented OOH Media Industry. I envisage more such consolidation happening in the near future which would drive this industry towards a more professional approach. Value can only be created through consolidation and this is a welcome step in that direction. My best wishes to all stake holders for the new venture.”
Sixth Element shall provide a huge inventory of sites across Pune and other cities of Maharashtra. Promoters of the new entity believe that joining forces will enable their teams to reach out proactively to more clients and offer a one-stop-solution for all outdoor needs and requirements.
“All three organizations have been in the OOH business for a long time,” says Haseeb Faquih, “Now we’ll be able to provide our clients an even broader portfolio of OOH sites through Sixth Element, as well as consolidated delivery mechanisms”
Imtiyaz N. Vilatra, Managing Partner, Milestone Media opines that “This is a positive development for not just Pune's OOH market, but for the industry as a whole. Too much of fragmentation only leads to doubling of efforts and inventory without commensurate returns. This association may signal a tectonic shift which has been a long time in the making in outdoor media. Consolidation is the new buzz word in various industries, be it telecom, pharma or media. Visionary leaders have realized that consolidation is now synonymous with growth and are acting on their beliefs. This is a far-sighted amalgamation which bodes well for Pune's OOH industry.”
Chandrakant Kudal, is even more optimistic and aggressive, “Sixth Element will acquire the clout to take on the bigger campaigns and will be the must-have outdoor partner.”
“We will nurture and develop this enterprise into one of India’s largest OOH conglomerates, while at the same time work towards retaining our core values which has been instrumental in our growth thus far,” opines Mahesh Solaskar.
Asked about this cathartic development, Abhijit Sengupta, CEO, Outdoor Advertising Professionals (OAP) had this to say, "It is a very interesting development, and in the right direction. For decades the industry has been talking about collaboration if not consolidation, but nothing happened. And here there are three absolutely separate entities moving towards consolidation. It’s worth giving them a big round of applause, especially where the maximum amount of divergent views and modus operandi exists."
Razi Faquih talks about scalability, “This is the way forward. In fact, we are open to further consolidation by means of mergers, franchise options as well as management monitoring. What this means is smaller players now have an option of being part of the bigger picture.”
“Sixth Element is a venture which I have been advocating for many years now,” says Pratap Bose, COO, Mudra Max, going on to add, “I am glad and proud that the majority of the Pune market will now stand as a single entity to face up to the challenges of the future. It takes a lot of effort, planning and energy to have worthy and influential media owners to join hands and stand up together. I have a firm belief that this venture will go a long way in resolving the issues that threaten the OOH market today and I look forward to their success."
Sixth Element products include a wide and broader range of Billboard inventory, Gantries, Bus Shelters, Ad poles / Pole Kiosks, Building Façades, Drops and Wall Wraps and many more. A comprehensive resource center with on-line inventory status, where client servicing teams can access the availability of sites quickly and accurately is also on the anvil. In addition, it brings in new partnerships in the area of sourcing and erection of innovative new media.
“Sixth Element will give us the leverage to move into other metro cities of Maharashtra. Not only that, we plan to aggressively acquire new properties and sites at the current geography but shall also look at the cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai," said Manoj Daniel, CMO of Sixth Element. |
