Traditional billboards have been a fixture of urban landscapes for decades; but they suffer from several fundamental limitations: once printed, they cannot be changed without significant cost and effort, and performance is difficult to understand.
Digital out-of-home advertising solves these problems by using electronic displays that can be updated remotely and instantaneously.
This is where ChutneyAds, a venture by PriyoShop and DigitSpark, comes in. In the congested streets of Dhaka, where attention is a scarce commodity, the company is looking to offer a new form of advertising that cuts through the noise.
The company says that with a network of over 200 digital display panels strategically placed throughout Dhaka city, it aims to pioneer a new model of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising in Bangladesh. ChutneyAds successfully addresses many of the limitations that traditional billboards suffer from.
"DOOH marries the visibility of outdoor ads with the data and flexibility of digital," explains Asikul Alam Khan, PriyoShop CEO and one of the driving forces behind ChutneyAds. This flexibility translates into several key advantages over traditional advertising methods.
Dynamic content is perhaps the most obvious benefit. While static billboards display a single image for weeks, DOOH screens can showcase multiple ads in rotation, including video and moving graphics. Research indicates that these dynamic displays capture 400% more views than static signs and achieve recall rates of approximately 83%.
Real-time updates represent another significant improvement. Advertisers can modify content instantly to respond to events, time of day, or new offers. A coffee brand, for instance, might advertise hot beverages in the morning and iced options in the afternoon—a level of contextual relevance impossible with traditional billboards.
Apart from the superiority of the medium, ChutneyAds is interesting for another important reason—it is an initiative of PriyoShop, Bangladesh’s leading B2B retail marketplace for MSMEs.
Over the years, PriyoShop has built a platform with more than 131000K+ MSMEs. While PriyoShop started with connecting these MSMEs with brands and supplies, the company has built additional service layers on top of it, including access to finance, data and intelligence for brands, and so on.
The thesis is that as the platform grows, PriyoShop can capture value across the entire distribution chain proportional to the value it creates for each stakeholder in the ecosystem.
This is where building a DOOH advertising network in partnership with these retail outlets to set up digital billboards in these shops comes in. PriyoShop can easily work with these retail outlets and expand its DOOH network.
The arrangement not only makes sense to scale a DOOH advertising network, it also allows for making such a network more effective in targeting customers who are in the mood of shopping.
For retail outlets, it can help them earn additional income and potentially increase their sales. For ChutneyAds, it makes expanding the network feasible with limited efforts.
ChutneyAds claims it offers many more additional advantages to the advertisers and brands looking for effective mediums to reach their customers.
ChutneyAds' network enables targeting precision in the outdoor advertising space. Advertisers can select specific screens based on location (commercial areas versus residential areas) and specific times (rush hour versus weekends) to match their intended audience.
This granularity extends to measurement capabilities as well. While traditional billboard effectiveness has always been difficult to quantify, DOOH provides analytics and proof-of-play data. Advertisers receive detailed reports on when and where ads ran, often supplemented with impression estimates. Advanced systems can even use sensors or mobile data to gauge audience metrics.
Interactivity adds another dimension. Many DOOH installations support touchscreens, QR codes, or augmented reality features that traditional billboards cannot match. This bridges the gap between physical advertising and digital engagement, allowing consumers to take immediate action on their smartphones.
ChutneyAds has identified four key sectors where DOOH advertising delivers particularly strong results: fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), banking, telecommunications, and microfinance institutions.
For FMCG brands, the ability to influence last-mile purchasing decisions is invaluable. Nielsen research found that digital display screens in grocery stores led four out of five brands to experience sales increases of up to 33%. The immediacy of in-store DOOH advertising, catching consumers with ‘their wallet in hand’, as ChutneyAds puts it, creates a direct pathway from exposure to purchase.
DOOH helps to build trust and credibility through high-visibility public messaging. Over 50% of consumers report trusting out-of-home advertising more than online ads, finding it less intrusive. This trust factor is particularly valuable for financial services, which depend heavily on public confidence.
Perhaps most interesting is ChutneyAds' focus on microfinance institutions serving micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). By placing screens in marketplaces and commercial areas, these institutions can reach shop owners and small entrepreneurs directly in their working environment. The hyper-local nature of this approach builds trust through consistent presence in the community while providing cost-effective outreach compared to traditional field operations.
For retail outlets, DOOH/ChutneyAds doesn’t require additional space to demonstrate the ads. The screen doesn’t need to be placed on shelves or other spaces, it can be hung outside the shop somewhere facing consumers. It means retail shops can effectively and efficiently showcase their ads.
It also allows these to showcase the sales promotion offers. Discount promotions are quite effective to motivate consumers to make up their mind and finally purchase something. That’s why BOGO, combo offers, and deals are usually shown in the super shops. Getting an additional item for free creates a sense of added value and satisfaction, making the deal feel more rewarding for the consumers. Due to structural limitations, the retail shops can’t showcase these offers. ChutneyAds can enable retail shops to similarly show their offers and thus retain their current consumers and attract new ones.
For the brands, DOOH is dynamic and cost-effective compared to many other digital options such as Facebook Ads. Running Facebook ads or dark ads across the social media platform is expensive and may not bring the expected ROI. Contrarily, DOOH ads through ChutneyAds allow the brands to reach customers where they are and in the moment when they are purchasing something.
ChutneyAds positions its DOOH offerings against both traditional out-of-home advertising and online channels, highlighting the distinct advantages of its digital approach.
Compared to traditional billboards, DOOH offers greater flexibility, eye-catching dynamic content, and the ability to display multiple messages on a single asset. The capacity for day parting (scheduling different content at different times) and contextual triggers (such as weather-responsive messaging) further enhances relevance.
When measured against online advertising, DOOH boasts several compelling strengths. It cannot be blocked or skipped, exists in the physical world at the point of purchase, and generally enjoys more positive consumer sentiment.
According to a 2024 Harris Poll, 73% of consumers view DOOH ads favorably, compared to just 48% for social media ads and 37% for online banners.
Rather than positioning DOOH as a replacement for online channels, ChutneyAds emphasizes their complementary nature. Research indicates that 46% of adults have used online search to look up information after seeing an out-of-home ad, and nearly 40% have visited a brand's social media or website following such exposure.
The economic case for DOOH appears strong. Industry studies suggest that out-of-home advertising delivers approximately $5.97 in sales for every $1 spent—a return that exceeds radio, print, and digital banner ads.
These returns are particularly notable in specific contexts. In-store DOOH has been shown to increase product sales by up to 33%. For telecommunications and technology companies, purchase intent can jump dramatically.
As Bangladesh continues its economic growth and urban development, ChutneyAds looks to position itself at the forefront of advertising innovation. The company's focus on both metropolitan areas and local markets suggests a nuanced understanding of the country's complex commercial ecosystem.
The venture represents more than simply a technological upgrade from paper to pixels. By combining the unavoidable physical presence of traditional billboards with the flexibility, targeting, and measurability of digital channels, ChutneyAds aims to change how brands communicate with Bangladeshi consumers.
In a market where smartphone penetration continues to rise but physical retail remains dominant, this bridge between digital and physical advertising spheres may prove particularly valuable.
Whether this approach will reshape Bangladesh's advertising landscape remains to be seen, but the early metrics suggest that in the battle for consumer attention, digital billboards have significant advantages over their static predecessors.
