We spend a lot of time travelling from one place to another in the famous autorickshaws of Mumbai. Now, three creative individuals have come up with a branding initiative to utilise a commuter’s time in the autos.
Meter Down is a company dedicated to use the potential of autorickshaws for brand building. Meter Down was born out of the desire of three working professionals to ‘create value through innovation’. Meter Down offers advertisers an opportunity to reach out to 12 lakh consumers every month at a low cost (almost 6 paise a person)
The magazine features a mix of news related to travel, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion. The magazine has sections where youngsters can buy or sell items and a local area guide to help them figure out the best restaurants and multiplexes in the area. The magazine is placed in autorickshaws free of cost.
Mulchand Dedhia, Ishan Mehta, Simi Sailopal are members of the Meter Down team. “About 10 months back, we were looking for a unique business idea for a media startup. Suddenly we realised that autorickshaws had never been used for brand building before.
We saw this as a great opportunity as every Mumbaikar uses an autorickshaw at least once a day and hence the reach of the medium would be immense,” said Mulchand Dedhia.
Meter Down helps brands engage with their target audience in a clutter-free and focused environment, simultaneously delighting passengers with fun-filled articles that make every rickshaw ride worthwhile.
The team carried out a survey among 500 people to determine the idea’s feasibility. Their guess was right as almost 70% of Mumbaikars spend around 35-40 minutes in an autorickshaw everyday. “The survey revealed that a majority of people simply waste precious time in an autorickshaw by either talking on the phone, listening to music or by simply looking outside, since there is nothing better to do,” said Ishan Mehta.
He added, “So we thought, in this way we could help passengers through a unique autorickshaw magazine.”
Mulchand added, “Individuals in the age group between 15 - 35 years, who are curious to know more, are our target audience. Meter Down has interesting information to enthuse everyone from a college-going teenager, a working professional or even a curious housewife.”
The trio is not daunted by the state government’s recent suggestion that the vehicles would be phased out eventually. “The idea of phasing out autorickshaws seems a bit premature. In order to phase out Mumbai’s 1.5 lakh autorickshaws, we need to find an alternate mode of mass transport,” said Simi Sailopal.
Commuters feel reading a magazine is an ideal way of spending time while travelling. “Since the traffic situation is deteriorating, I think a magazine like this will be a good way to spend time while commuting,” said Karuna Kukreja, a regular commuter. She added, “It will be great to know about restaurants, coffee shops, new shopping arcades in the vicinity.”
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