| MUMBAI: The loo as an advertising medium?
It has not been exploited in India apart from being used as a canvas
for cheap erotic art or graffiti. Of course, public toilets in India,
be it in airports or railway stations or bus depots are nothing but
cesspools of excreta or urine scents. Hence, they don't lend themselves
for use as an advertising medium. However, there is money to be made
if some organisation chooses to use loos for ads.
In the US, toilet advertising is growing rapidly. The Indoor Billboard
Advertising Association disclosed last week that toilet advertising
rose 14.3 per cent as 185,000 spaces carried ads for clients. Even
large national advertisers like TNT and Perrier have climbed on
to the commode wave and are running campaigns.
A specialised loo advertising agency has also cropped up called
Flush Media. Its rationale for existence is the 15 minutes a day
that individuals spend staring at loo stall doors when relieving
themselves. The pioneer of this advertising genre is a company called
Zoom Media.
The agencies have been making a hard pitch as loos offer great
demographic segmented ad opportunities. Ladies washrooms can be
used to plug products to women; gents to gents. Ladies washrooms
in opera houses can be used to target high ticket items to classy
women while cheaper products can be pushed through ladies loos in
public places.
Additionally, loos ideally lend themselves to humorous opportunities.
For example, a media buying agency can create an ad which says "Don't
let your ad bucks go to waste...come to *** Agency and we will add
scents to your dollar...."
Are Indian companies listening?
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