The Hindu Business Line : When ads seek new media

Advertising media have never looked more different, as unconventional, out-of-the-box vehicles emerge. The objective: cut through the clutter. The benefit: low costs. The downside: an unorganised industry status.

SCHOOL bags, painted trains, paper napkins, restaurant cutlery, glasses at bars, short messages on cellphones, credit card bills, postcards, backlit vans, exteriors of taxis and autorickshaws, advertising in cinema theatres, on backs of buses and two-wheeler seats, product placement in films and even television soaps!

Just how unconventional can media for advertising get? Big names across corporate India, along with their media planners, are pulling every trick out of the bag to capture the consumer's attention by way of media that encompass unconventional, and often, experimental methods of advertising.

So, there are names such as Reliance Infocomm, Nirma, Hindustan Lever, Lux, Birla Sunlife, IOC, New India Assurance, Tata Indicom and radio station Red FM being painted on the entire exterior of local trains, vodka brand Smirnoff branding glasses at bars, cola majors Coca-Cola and Pepsi having their names stamped on paper mats and paper napkins at restaurants, HLL's Lipton being advertised on credit card bills, and politicians getting their photographs and election symbols printed on school bags.

Observes Atul Phadnis, Director, S-Group, TAM Media Research: "Yes, it's happening. And though the numbers are few still, the trend will definitely evolve." According to Gopinath Menon, Vice-President, TBWA, the trend is certainly here to stay. "The concept is all about connecting with the consumer not only through the mass media, but also by way of what he/she does through the day. And, though the concept did exist in some form or the other earlier, it is much more visible now. Besides, unconventional media advertising is very relevant for tactical promotions," observes Menon.

"The idea is about surrounding the consumer in 360 degrees. As consumers move away from conventional media, this kind of fragmentation and micro-targeting is bound to happen in many ways," says Sandip Tarkas, President, MPG (part of the Havas group). Examples abound. As Shailendra Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Western Railways, points out, "The trend of corporates painting the entire exterior of trains began about three years ago. Subsequently, it declined owing to the industry slump. Now that markets have started picking up and the general economic scenario is on the upswing, we expect the trend to come back. In fact, ads we had released in the papers inviting corporates for this purpose a couple of months ago have been generating good response."

Recently, CNN entered into an alliance with wireless marketing solutions provider, Mobile2Win, to offer viewers participation in an SMS promotion. The objective of the exercise was clear — driving additional viewership to CNN's primetime programme Your World Today. Viewers across India could participate in the contest by text messaging answers. Says Grace Wong, Vice-President (Corporate Communications & Marketing), Turner Broadcasting System, Asia Pacific Inc, "Through initiatives like this, we hope to create more interactivity between our viewers and the CNN brand, to educate them about CNN in a fun way, and to encourage them to keep tuning into CNN."

Adds Rajiv Hiranandani, Vice-President (Sales & Marketing), Mobile2Win, "The wireless promotion undertaken by CNN is sure to add new levels of interactivity to Your World Today. Mobile2win is ideally placed to deliver this solution to CNN."

Here's yet another example. Globally, icons such as Harry Potter, Peanuts and Simpsons have often been advertised through merchandise like T-shirts, cups, toys and pens. Back home, media analysts say the trend of TV serials branding books, music CDs, stationery and children's accessories is gathering steam.

According to an analyst, books based on some Star TV programmes are already on the stands. Star, in fact, had introduced a book by the name of Amitabh Ka Khazana when his Kaun Banega Crorepati show was on air. Sony Entertainment, too, has been working on merchandising through Sony Music. The TV channel marketing teams are of the opinion that such exercises work well in establishing a direct connect with the consumer and add to the viewer's experience, once key brand extensions have been identified.

Also, as a Mumbai-based analyst points out, fast moving consumer goods, consumer durables and automobile companies are increasingly looking to place their products (in other words, advertise) on television serials. "Globally, it is a happening trend, and though it is yet to catch up big time in India, it is moving in that direction," the analyst says.

The reasons why such media are emerging as advertising vehicles are obvious: costs of advertising on such media remain low, taking the consumer by surprise in an unexpected space increases his/her chances of brand recall in today's cluttered media environment, and such media vehicles are eager to let out space because it leads to revenue generation, explain industry experts.

Elaborates Phadnis: "TV and print ads don't come cheap. Besides, if the company can change the delivery mechanism and also deliver some surprise element to the consumer, the advertising and brand is remembered."

Corporate contracts with the Railways range between three months and a year, and rates are based on client specifications. According to Kumar, a three-month `train' deal for one client, for example, could cost up to Rs 4-5 lakh.

Mobile backlit vans are another option being increasingly tapped by corporates. The Delhi-based Outdoor Communications Pvt Ltd, which deals in this business and operates in the Northern region, has a list of clients which includes names such as Star TV, Parle, HSBC, ICICI and Red FM. Says M. Ganesh, Manager, Outdoor Communications, "We began with Star TV, and today we work with several big names. The objective of a backlit, mobile van is to generate brand awareness and it works. Besides, the exercise is not constrained by geographical boundaries."

Outdoor Communications, which services clients in Delhi and the National Capital Region, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, is planning to go to rural areas. Rates vary from client to client, but on average, a backlit mobile van for a month costs a client about Rs 70,000. The flip side is, such advertising continues to be unorganised. As Praveen Kumar, Head of the Delhi-based media tracking outfit, Current Opinion & Future Trends (COFT), points out, "The trend is catching up, but such advertising remains unorganised."

"There is no measuring system for the effectiveness of this kind of advertising," says TBWA's Menon. Adds Phadnis: "It becomes tough to estimate the value of such advertising. We don't know whether it works. Secondly, there are no pricing benchmarks. Finally, sometimes consumers may take this advertising as irritation. An ad through an SMS, for example, could be termed as invasion of privacy by the consumer. Pop-up ads on the Internet — very popular couple of years ago — have decreased because these were considered too intrusive."

What media planners need to do, say industry experts, is to figure out whether such advertising delivers irritation or value to the consumer. "Three-four years ago, the argument was just about reaching the consumer. Now, it is about reaching the consumer and delivering value at the same time," a media planner says.

Clearly, reaching out to the consumer effectively is as complicated as it gets.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Should you stop copying a rival?

When ads seek new media

AIDS and social marketing

In addition to the ads ...

A new `take' on advertising

The colours of success

Sealing cotton's fate

In high spirits

Does your brand have the right DNA?

Hardsell