Cong, BJP are using out-of-home media, such as hoardings, in a big way.
At several intersections in this City of Joy, the Congress troika of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh beams at passersby from large hoardings. At other key points, it is the BJP’s PM candidate LK Advani and president Rajnath Singh.
Thanks to the election commission (EC) ban on poll graffiti, parties are using the out-of-home (OOH) medium like never before.
If the OOH market is Rs1,700 crore, pundits say over the next three months, it could notch up a tidy Rs300 crore from “election business” alone. Needless to say several OOH outfits are vying for a share of the pie.
Apart from hoardings, a fairly large programme is under way to “decorate” vehicles with posters and flexi banners. Some say the interactive banners will be a favourite with parties, especially in rural areas.
Over 50 hoardings have been put up in the city by Congress alone. In Mumbai and Delhi, there are no hoardings vacant, thanks to a 15-25% discount being offered by OOH companies.
Sanjay Parikh, president of Percept OOH, which is pitching for about Rs60 crore worth of business this election, says, “The cost of outdoor advertising has been reduced by 15-25% in the last 20-odd days, prompting advertisers to make a last-ditch effort to catch the eyeballs at the fag end of the fiscal.
“Advertisers are opting for bundled assets, instead of a la carte to avail of discounts.”
Apart from hoardings, bus shelters are being used in Mumbai.
Platinum Media is not servicing any political party as of now, but its CEO Arminio Ribeiro observed, “Both methods – static visibility and on-road programmes — are being used by parties.”
Mona Jain, chief strategist officer at India Media Exchange (the consolidated media buying unit of Starcom MediaVest and Zenith Optimedia), says: “We will work as a consultant. Our role will be to recommend the media mix, level of activity a party needs in various media, etc.”
However, bus shelters and activation programmes need not be less expensive. In Mumbai, for instance, bus shelters being in upmarket areas, the rentals will be high. Flexi banners for rural areas are also expensive.
“There is no printing facility in rural areas and flexi banners have to be printed at a feeder market, the price for which could range from Rs5-12 per square foot,” Parikh says.
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