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From
its docile and low profile beginning as a small poster on the roadside
to becoming huge hoardings to building and vehicles wraps... outdoor
advertising has come a long way! The latest entrant in this space
are the mobile billboard vans that can be seen camping in strategic
locations in concurrence with the morning and evening traffic in
the bustling city of Mumbai.
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| M'cons
Advertising's frontlit mobile billboard featuring an ad for
Skoda |
The
two major players in this area are Kino Sign Trucks and M'cons Advertising.
While Kino uses Ashok Leyland trucks for their displays, M'cons
uses Tata trucks. A mobile hoarding essentially consists of a double
sided 20 feet by 10 feet display (frontlit and/or backlit) mounted
on a truck. A unique feature of these trucks is that the display
can be hydraulically lifted to a certain height as per the requirement
of the area. These trucks cost Rs 800,000 (including fabrication)
and the cost of advertising on them for a period of one month is
Rs 300,000 to Rs 400,000 as opposed to permanent hoarding sites,
which cost anywhere in the vicinity of Rs 500,000 to Rs 1.5 million
for a month depending on the location of the site. The more posh
the location, the costlier the hoarding site. The maintenance of
these trucks in terms of fuel, drivers, mobiles for these drivers,
cleaners, government display charges, tender charges, generator
etc, roughly adds up to Rs 50,000 per truck per month.
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| A M'Cons
truck with a Tata Indicom hoarding stationed at Bandra Lake
in view of the morning traffic |
While
earlier there was just the essential requirement to obtain a relevant
permission license from the RTO and Municipal Corporation of Greater
Mumbai (MCGM) to run these trucks in the city, a new twist in the
tale has recently dawned as the government saw a good source of
revenue from these upcoming mobile billboards and hence introduced
a tender system. Interested parties, in order to attain the license
to run these trucks, had to fill in the tender and the best quote
would be granted the rights. This new development saw M'cons Advertising
bagging the tender rights for the Mumbai's western
suburbs (Bandra to Borivali).
On the other hand, Kino Sign Trucks operate in South Bombay area
from Colaba to Mahim and also in the eastern suburbs. The truck
owners have to shell out Rs 15 million as grant to the government
per year for 10 trucks. The standard service tax rates and education
cess, that of 10.20 per cent, are applicable for these trucks.
Speaking
about the tender system introduced by the government, Kino Sign
Trucks director Kabbir Luthria says, "We did bid for the tender
rights but we didn't bag them. However, I believe that the rate
at which M'cons has filled the tender is not financially viable."
M'cons
Advertising, headed by Manoj Pardasany, touts itself as being pioneers
in introducing this concept in 2002 in India, gaining the germ of
the idea from New York, where such trucks were plying. Luthria,
on the other hand, says, "The hydraulic system that we have
in our trucks is one of a kind in the whole world. There are mobile
billboards in America, but none of them have the hydraulic system."
Further speaking on the profit margins on these trucks, he says,
"The cost of operation is very high for these trucks. We make
about 15 - 20 per cent profit on the overall cost of operations,
but it still turns out to be expensive."
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| Zee's
new show 'Kareena Kareena' on mobile billboard |
While
Kino and M'cons own 10 trucks each, Kino will however be adding
another 10 to its kitty in a month's time keeping in mind the clients'
growing demand for them. Interestingly, both don't see each other
as competition as the routes they ply on are different. Says M'cons
Advertising assistant consultant (outdoor) Mohammed Reza, "We
don't see Kino as a competitor as they do not tread in the western
suburbs, where our trucks ply."
As
far as advertising is concerned, clients like Reliance, all major
banks, Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), HSBC and many other advertise
with Kino. M'Cons clientele list consists of brands like Birla Sunlife
Mutual Funds, BPL Mobile, Electrolux India Ltd, Godfrey Phillips
India LTD, Globus, Lee, Wrangler, Sahara, MTV, HSBC, Zee TV, Lifestyle,
Hutchisonmax Telecom, Philips India LTD, Tata Tea, Radio Mirchi,
Globus, Hyatt, Fedex, Hindustan Levers Ltd., Ogilvy and ICICI.
Such
hoardings revolutionise the way one approaches outdoors as they
are cost-effective, convenient and highly visible. As this is a
clutter-free medium (until now at least), it provides clients with
excellent branding that is essential for product launches. The payment
structure for these mobile billboard trucks is generally 30 days
from the display date and M'cons provides clients with concessional
rates in case of advance payments.
Some
in-your-face advantages that these mobile billboards have, Reza
points out, is that they have clear visibility and help advertisers
to go on a branding blitz at a fractional cost. "These hoardings
are ideal for targeting specific demographic profiles of the city
and they have higher return on investment (ROI) as the double displays
works for us in case of both morning and evening sites. One more
advantage is that even during transit, these have high visibility,"
says Reza.
M'Cons
has 40 strategic display points and its trucks cover at least two
of these daily. The first shift of display is 8:30 am to 3:30 pm
and the second is 4:30 pm to 11 pm with illumination at evenings,
informs Reza. Talking about the number of vehicles a particular
client books at one time, Reza says it depends on their campaigns.
When agencies make the bookings, it stretches from anywhere between
three days to two months. Direct clients generally book for 15 days
for specific launches.
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| MTV
Roadies mobile billboard facing the morning traffic at Bandra |
Also
interesting is the fact that permanent hoarding site owners are
also looking at this as an extension of the services they offer
to their clients. Zenith Outdoor managing director Yash Gala entered
into a partnership with Kino Sign Trucks a couple of months back.
As per the deal, Zenith would market a few of Kino's trucks. Says
Gala, "The risk of operating these trucks is very high but
at the same time we get the returns. More and more clients are seeing
this medium as an upscale one and the biggest of brands advertise
on them." The trucks that Zenith Outdoor markets for Kino are
booked till January 2005. Gala and Luthria are looking forward to
getting those 10 additional trucks in order to meet the increasing
demand.
These
nomadic billboards apart from being exciting and innovative are
very target specific and attract the highest possible impressions.
Bright Advertising - a big player in outdoor hoardings, sees these
vans as a good way of advertising but at the same time the company
feels that as opposed to the permanent hoarding sites that are 40
feet by 20 feet in size and sometimes even 60 feet by 40 feet, the
mobile billboards' size is limited to 20 feet by 10 feet. While
size does matter, one cannot however dismiss the fact that a clutter
free environment and the mobility factor does work in favour of
these billboards. It is to be kept in mind here that Bright Advertising
too filled up the BMC tender to obtain the rights for these mobile
billboard trucks.
While,
Mumbai remains the only city wherein a large number of these vans
operate, there are other cities like Bangalore and Ludhiana to name
a few, where this concept is taking shape. Says Reza, "We are
aware of similar vehicles being operated in other cities as well
and we are looking at possible entry routes in these cities via
different modes." Talking from a futuristic perspective, Reza
adds that now that they have ensured strong presence on home turf
after extending the MCGM display rights in Mumbai, M'cons will be
looking at expanding operations in other major and Class I cities.
"There have been a number of inquiries for displays and promotional
events and we are working out the modalities. Rural marketing is
getting bigger day be day and we want to capitalise on that trend
too. It is tough to comment on timeline but personally I will put
it at six months," he says.
Brands
speak
Let's
now have a look at what advertisers have to say about this innovative
medium of advertising.
A brand
like Reliance has tried and tested this medium but apparently it
doesn't see it as a financially viable solution for their brand.
Says Reliance Infocomm marketing head Kaushik Roy, "We did
try the vans for outdoor advertising for a while, but we didn't
continue with it. That is because it makes sense for a brand like
ours to advertise on permanent hoarding sites and be in one place
so as to make a connect with consumers time after time. However,
when we need a topping for our campaigns, we may think of using
it." Roy further says that these vans are cost effective but
in the long term they may not be so because to engage customers,
conventional media is more effective in the long term.
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| Max'
Mandira Bedi campaign advertised on the mobile truck |
Many
television channels like Sony, Max, MTV, Star, Zee and Hungama have
taken to advertising on mobile billboards. Max used them for advertising
their Extraaa Innings campaign featuring Mandira Bedi and
also their Cricket Fever campaign. Max
marketing and commercial vice president Tushar Shah says, "Outdoor
is an impact and reminder media. When you add mobility to it, its
value goes up. So mobility works as an advantage in this case. Also
the placements of these vans as per the morning and evening traffic,
garners more eyeballs."
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| Max'
strategically placed mobile hoarding catches office goers in
the morning |
What
works in favour of these hoardings? When a company has a particular
location in mind where they would want to place their hoarding,
it is not necessary that the particular site will always be available
to them. In such a scenario, these trucks come in handy as they
can be plonked where ever desired, as long as it doesn't violate
any traffic rules. Shah says, "Most hoarding sites are booked
on a long term basis and for a channel like ours, which has advertising
campaigns in spurts, it is sometimes difficult to get the space
we require for our hoardings. In such a case, the mobile trucks
are an advantage."
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| Hungama
TV's mobile hoarding on an extended autorickshaw in Bangalore |
UTV's
newly launched kids' channel Hungama TV too used this medium for
advertising; not in Mumbai but in Bangalore and Ludhiana. These
hoarding trucks are, however, not like the ones which are seen in
Mumbai. Some of them are autorickshaws with an elongated extension
which carries the hoarding and are smaller in size. Hungama TV chief
operating officer Purnendu Bose says, "The advantage of these
is that they are mobile and have self-lit displayers. One of the
disadvantages of fixed hoardings is that after a while it is dead
and people no longer look at it." The reason why Hungama TV
advertised in Bangalore on these mobile vans is because they didn't
get hoarding sites of their choice. Bose feels that these are expensive
but when one looks at the advantages in terms of mobility and the
novelty, it gets balanced.
Although
soft drink major Rasna does not advertise on these mobile hoarding
trucks, the company's general manager marketing Rajesh Mehta says
that Rasna is open to advertising on them if and when the need arises.
Says he, "This medium of advertising is good, especially in
the cluttered city of Mumbai. From a client's point of view, it
is viable as at a one time production cost, they can cover many
areas of Mumbai." Mehta, however, feels that the cost of advertising
on them is on the higher side and needs to be rationalised.
SET
India marketing manager Albert Almeida too feels that this new medium
of advertising is particularly good for an island city like Mumbai
as it can move from North to South and East to West in artier routes.
"This van can station itself at different locations at different
time spans and the eye level of the hoardings can also be adjusted
to the kind of place the truck is stationed at," he says. Sony
has advertised on these trucks for their mega show - Indian Idol,
which went on air last week and also for their other shows Ye
Meri Life Hai, Ayushmaan and Hum 2 Hain Na.
The
general consensus seems to be in favour of this alternate medium
of advertising. However, cost is a factor. But that may drop if
new entrants come into the market. But with the tender system introduced
by the government, it may not be that easy now for new players to
drive smoothly into this arena.
All
said and done, one thing's for sure... these hoardings will continue
to drive brands.
Click
here for a slide show on mobile billboards used to advertise
in the US.
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