How Zomato stands out with outdoor advertisments?

Published On
June 18, 2025
Zomato excels in outdoor advertising by combining witty punchlines, pop culture references, and cultural relevance with minimal designs. Their clever messaging captures Gen Z attention and drives brand recall. While bold, their strategy highlights the need for creativity with responsibility.

If we have to choose a modern-day benchmark of outdoor advertising, our experts will pick Zomato. The food-delivery company targets Gen Z and uses pop culture references to make a spot for itself.
Beating the competition is not easy in today’s competitive market but Zomato stands out with its witty ideas & messages on outdoor billboards.
If you’re planning outdoor advertising campaigns for your business, you should learn it from Zomato.
This blog explores the key components of Zomato's outdoor ad campaign strategy and lessons you can use.

From the Head of Marketing, Zomato

Pramod Rao, the head of content and marketing says, “The thought process behind the campaign was to leverage outdoor media to catch attention, deliver the key message around online ordering, and create a recall.”

1. Zomato uses witty punchlines

Have you ever noticed how cleverly Zomato uses punchlines? Their marketing team uses a witty & memorable punchline to attract the audience. Messages such as ‘Ladka Nikal Gaya Hai’, ‘Mera Pizza Ghar Aaya’,  ‘Oonchi Hai Building, Lift Teri Band Hai’ are the core highlights of Zomato outdoor ads.
Noticeably, these ads are divided into two parts. The first witty sentence is to attract an audience and the follow-up message is to share the business message or advertise the benefits.
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For example-

  • ‘Oonchi Hai Building, Lift Teri Band Hai’ was followed by ‘We’ll Still Deliver in Time’.
  • ‘Nation Wants to Know, Ladka Nikal Gaya Hai’ was followed by ‘Get Live Delivery Updates’.
  • ‘Iss Offer Ne to Fod Diya’ was followed by ‘Flat OFF up to INR 200’.

2. Zomato uses irresistible references to pop culture

One of Zomato's most attractive marketing factors is its pop culture references. They use dialogues and songs in ad campaigns, making viewers remember the forgotten golden days of the film industry.
Some of the most popular pop culture references from Zomato are ‘Kheer Mangoge, Kheer Dege’, ‘With Great Paav, Comes Great Bhaaji’, and ‘Oochi Hai Building’.

3. Zomato uses simple colors and minimal design

Outdoor advertising has two power factors to attract an audience, visuals & texts. It depends on the brands which one they want to go with. If we look into Zomato, they use texts as punchlines to capture attention and generate recall.
They have a clear idea of their target audience. The outdoor ads they create are meme-material which become internet sensations overnight. They play smartly and witty every time.

4. Zomato celebrates the culture

In October 2024, Zomato erected an interesting billboard in Belagavi, Karnataka. The billboard didn’t use any witty sentences or striking visuals. Instead, they chose simplicity, referring to the culture and festival vibes.Two different billboards were delivering:

  • ‘Peak Celebration Often Include Pak’ followed by ‘Get Min Rs 125 OFF’.
  • ‘Get a minimum of Rs 125 OFF to defeat the evil cravings’.

The first ad refers to the festive foods especially the Pakoras, a local favorite. The second one uses the phrase to refer to the concept of ‘good triumph over evil’.
Notably, Zomato featured the Kannada language to connect with residents and festival illustrations to celebrate the season.

The Controversy around Zomato Outdoor Ad

In 2017, Zomato launched an outdoor ad campaign and made a clever reference to foul language. Soon it went viral and Zomato faced the backlash. Though people who backed Zomato suggested viewers not to overreact to these silly jokes, it made a sensation in the business world.
The question revolved around the freedom & responsibility of a brand to maintain the decorum. By the way, Zomato soon removed those outdoor ads and stopped the negative chit-chat.

Conclusion

Zomato is a genius when it comes to outdoor ads. They use pop-culture references, funky punchlines, and festivals to attract viewers. The punchlines are followed by the real business message.
If you’re thinking of taking inspiration from Zomato, go for it. However, learn from the Zomato controversy too, and maintain professional decorum. All the best.
Want to launch an outdoor advertising campaign like Zomato? Contact Vigyapan Mart outdoor advertising experts today.

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