Put in a good word and stand out

Ad honchos could learn a trick or two from them. Radhika Raj speaks to three trendsetters whose play on words and unusual positioning have set them apart in the billboard jungle

Mission en route
Cars speeding through Marine Drive often slow down a few minutes before they reach Soona Mahal. Most do so consciously, others out of habit. But this seldom has anything to do with the signal or the zebra crossing. It’s the satirical banner message above Pizzeria restaurant that coaxes them to take their eyes off the road.

It has been 33 years since former Mumbai sheriff (and president of the NGO, I Love Mumbai) Nana Chudasama put up his first banner. These messages today, lead to conversations at coffee shops, get picked up for college debates and are even quoted in the parliament in New Delhi. But what makes Chudasama proud is the change in people’s attitude that they sometimes bring about.

“During the recent elections, my banner read ‘Greek dictionary definition of an idiot: Man who does not vote’. A number of people personally told me that they voted only because of my banner. I have always believed that in a democracy, people should be vocal,” he says.  

Chudasama has put up over 1,500 original messages so far. The decision to hang a piece of cloth outside his office balcony was on an impulse. “I was part of the Swatantra Party (a political party that was fighting against the licence permit raj in Mumbai) at that time and I was put in charge of spreading social messages. I thought my balcony would be a great place.” 

Today, the message at Marine Drive has turned into a platform for influencing public opinion. Chudasama’s banner has also multiplied — it is now placed in eight strategic locations across the country, including Ahmedabad and Pune. The one on Marine Drive is worth 10 full-page advertisements of a newspaper. “If I had to put a hoarding here, it would cost that much.”

He was forced to get rid of the banner during the emergency. Sometimes his banners are pulled down by fanatics who do not approve of his view. But that does not deter him. “I display a message almost every week and I intend to do so till I die,” he says.

Graveyard shift
‘People are dying for our services’ reads a sign outside funeral director Michael Pinto’s shop. Pinto was a regular traveller on Marine Drive and always made it a point to read Chudasama’s banner. Inspired by the idea, he decided to do something similar.

Only this wasn’t for a social cause, but for generating business. “I started painting these messages around 10 years ago. I did expect it to become popular and if you notice, apart from generating great business, they make people smile or at least chuckle,” he says. Pinto cleverly uses the little free space outside to market his business.

Today his messages have become so popular that people often pick this route (Gokhale Road) over others just to check Pinto’s latest take on death. He replaces a message every two months. Some of his messages so have social relevance. ‘Hey smoker, you are the next guy in my coffin’ or ‘Drive safely. We can wait’ are some that have created a buzz.

However, Pinto realises that he is working with a sensitive subject. “I am not selling cars here. I am dealing with death, I have to be careful. I cannot display punch lines like ‘buy one, get one free’. Something like ‘When you drop dead, do drop in’ makes people smile and works well for me too,” he says

Writing on the wall
Today, graffiti in Mumbai is synonymous with the words ‘Bean Bags 26407383’ splashed in red on every broken wall, water pipe or asbestos sheets in the city. The visibility is maximum, better than most lit-up hoardings and billboards on highways. The guy behind it is Farooq Ansari, owner of Dolphin Bean Bags.

What started as a trial and error experiment is now appreciated by many as a novel advertising idea. But it took seven whole years to catch up, says Ansari. “The first year people simply called to confirm whether the number was right. Often, men would call up to ask for call girls. But there were a few genuine callers who kept up our hopes. The investment started converting into sales only two years ago,” he says.

The deceptively simple scrawl on the wall has a lot of thought going into it. “We make sure that the same font and colour is used everywhere, so there is brand recognition amongst the consumers. Also we never use the company’s name (Dolphin) because we want the focus to be on bean bags only,” he adds.

He has had run-ins with the municipal authorities and some disgruntled citizens. Sometimes people have put in official complaints to remove an offending graffiti but by the time the process is over (about a month), Ansari has erased it and moved on. “I get a month’s publicity free.”

Ansari would be gratified to know that his guerrilla form of advertising has acquired cult status on the web with conversation threads and photos on sites like Orkut and Flickr. Ansari claims that there are over 1 lakh bean bag messages splashed across Mumbai and they get over two lakh calls a week.

Sure he has to bend a few rules here and there and negotiate to keep this going, but he says it is worth the effort. But, he has already started looking at alternative methods to advertise. He believes this segment is getting cluttered with too much competition. “The idea has become very popular and everybody is doing it. So now above my number I have a plumber, a tailor, rental apartment’s number splashed. It isn’t original any more.” .