While earlier clients used to spend lakhs of rupees on a few sites at a few stations, now for a few lakhs, they will get coverage across all the WR stations at one go..

  
   
 

Tap Churchgate to Virar in just Rs. 15 Lakhs a month
Date 12-Jan-2008
ajaz.memon@gmail.com

If converting needs into wants is the basic premise of OOH advertising, what should the advertisers say to trigger the relevant wants of the consumers? How should it play up the key brand message, so that it persuades the consumers to identify with and desire the brand? All this and more in an interview with Ajaz Memon- Director, Networks Media Solution on his latest venture- “ Digital Lenticular Clocks.”

Excerpts from the interview are as follows:

 

1. How did you come across this idea of bringing the digital   clock/lenticular displays in the Indian OOH Media, especially when the success rate of this medium hasn’t been impressive?

The key factor was that there was a demand from advertisers to have a single unified medium across all the WR stations in Mumbai, to target all the commuters together. This was the only tender which interested us among a host of others.

2. Can you share with us the cost effectiveness of this medium, the no. of installations and also as to why you chose Mumbai to be the launching pad for this medium?

Mumbai became the launching pad by default because it has one of the largest local railway networks in the world. While earlier clients used to spend lakhs of rupees on a few sites at a few stations, now for a few lakhs, they will get coverage across all the WR stations at one go.

  

 

3. How will this medium be relevant to the OOH Media, especially   when there is so much clutter on the Mumbai Railway stations? And also for the mere fact that you being an Airport media specialist could have launched the same medium in the Airports rather than on the Railway stations?

In fact it makes more sense to launch amidst clutter to really   appreciate the USP of the medium which is multiple merging images, which makes it stand out. Also, Airports are far more expensive as a medium for clients to afford these displays in volumes, Railways target the masses and the numbers justify the investment.

4. How does the media owner react to the same? Are they willing to have a PVI (possibility to see) determine their media worth?

Response from the media owner is also encouraging. It would be a bit early to talk about PVI’s acceptability.

5. Sir, what will be your marketing strategy for the same and which segment of the Industry are you looking forward too, as your TG? And will the main stations like Churchgate, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Virar have different displays from other stations?

Over the years, a number of Strategic Advertising Approaches have been put forward, and use, to create favourable perceptions about the brand and persuade the consumers to own them. These approaches offer completely different routes to play up the consumers, but the objective is the same for all: ‘Make consumers prefer the brand’. We at present have a unique selling and positioning approach for marketing our medium; wherein we claim to offer a superior medium that is sustained by the unique features or benefits that no other medium can claim. Secondly, we want to create a unique mental niche in the clientele’s mind i.e. based on satisfaction of their most important and relevant need expectation from the product category and i.e. why we have divided the 360 displays into 2 packages of 180 displays per client, and we already have a booking from a financial institution for one package.  The Industries we are targeting for clientele are: Telecom, Insurance, Banks, MFs, FMCGs, and to some extent TV Channels, businesses which want to target masses at economical costs, yet make a big impact.  All the stations will have identical displays, though the numbers will vary depending on number of platforms per station.

6. Can you please throw some light on the mechanism and the maintenance which would be required for the Digital Lenticular Clock Displays ?

The Clocks will all be equipped with self-updating GPS mechanism, so that the time on the clocks will update itself at regular intervals and will require minimum maintenance except replacing a worn-out part or an LED bulb. There is going to be a LED Clock on top along with a lenticular display below. The Lenticular will work on the ‘Automatic merging picture’ technique which will have 3 visuals of the same client in one single display box. The merging movement and the digital look will obviously attract attention, and anyways, which Railway commuter does not check the time regularly to look up if the train is on time or not?Hence our medium will attain both the visibility and the attention. As far as the  maintenance is concerned- the Lenticular displays are motorised, and we have in place a team of technicians who will be responsible for regular upkeep and maintenance.

7. Sir, according to you, what will be your expected revenue by the end of the year and do you hope to achieve a win-win selling approach?

  As a media owner/ marketer in today’s competitive OOH world, one cannot afford to look at any selling efforts as an isolated transaction any more. It has to have a built-in element of a ‘repeat’ transaction possibility. This possibility usually comes from a feeling in both the parties of having gained something from the transaction. The outcome must be mutually positive one, not just at the time of purchase but also after the use of the product. Therefore, only a win-win selling approach will be a sustainable one, which is why we are hoping to break even soon, though the hardware has entailed a huge investment.

8. Sir, can you share with us the revenue sharing module that you have with the Railway officials?

We are paying the railways a fixed Licence fees irrespective of the occupancy of the sites.

9. Apart from the planning process, how else can research promote efficiencies in outdoor?

The media planning module has an in-built plan optimizer which can optimize the plan either based on reach or cost. Introduction of industry currency would bring in more investment, technology and attract global outdoor players. The result would be consolidation across cities in media ownership. Agencies would be able to work out volume discounts with multi-city vendors, which will bring-in additional efficiencies.

10. Sir, can you share your future ‘Needs and Wants’ in the OOH industry? and secondly, can we expect any add ons on the Digital Clocks in the future?

 ‘Needs and Wants’ are interdependent. All needs get manifested into wants whether that need comes to the surface and gets expressed, or remains hidden. In that sense, wants are conscious or subconscious expressions of our needs. We are often more aware of our wants and are able to articulate them better than our needs. As far as the add ons and next destination is concerned-  it stands on ‘ The reaction from the Western Railways and our clientele.’

Interviewed by : Nitin Sharma