Blank billboards in Mumbai reflect a slowing economy and one of its casualties, a reduction in ad budgets
Mumbai: Blank billboards on the Western Express Highway to the airport in Mumbai, India’s undisputed billboard capital, reflect a slowing economy and one of its casualties, a reduction in advertising budgets.
Empty spaces: Phone numbers of agencies that sell billboards on hoardings at Peddar Road in Mumbai. Hemant Mishra/Mint
The agencies that sell these billboards—their phone numbers now stare back at passers-by from the blank billboards, exhorting them to call—have reduced prices by up to one-third, but can still find no takers in most cases. Around half the billboards in the city’s tony Juhu area are blank. On the highway to the airport, especially between the boroughs of Andheri and Mahim, the situation is worse—nearly two of every three billboards are blank. The most expensive billboards in the city, the ones on Marine Drive, still sport ads, but they fetch around Rs. 9 lakh a week now, down from around Rs. 12 lakh. Read more
Source : www.livemint.com
