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NEW DELHI: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s move increase non-operational revenue by allowing advertising on the exterior of some trains has struck a chord with both big and small brands.
Outdoor advertising agencies say companies are queuing up for their turn to be able to wrap the metro train. The first such train wrapped with advertisements was inducted on the Dwarka-Vaishali route on Friday.
“Companies from all categories are getting interested in the opportunity to advertise on the exterior of the trains. Starting from the FMCG companies to ecommerce, everyone wants to leverage the offering,” said Manish Sethi, director, EG Communications, an agency that has the advertising right.
Online marketplace Indiamart, which recently rolled out its brand campaign, is one of the first few takers of the space. “We are planning to put up a contextual message on the metro train, something similar to ‘you might have to wait for the metro but not on Indiamart’,” said Sumit Bedi, vice president – marketing, Indiamart.
The ecommerce company will be advertising on trains on the yellow line, which connects Jahangirpuri to Huda city centre. According to Bedi, it ferries around 1.4 million commuters every day.
“On the yellow line, the metro train passes through areas such as Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazar, where a lot of people who we would like to target reside,” he added. Of the campaign budget of up to Rs 50 crore, the company is spending up to 10% on wrapping the trains.
The minimum duration of the contract for advertising on the exterior of the metro is three months. Companies using the outdoor advertising media say the cost is a little over that of advertising on a bill board stationed at a premium location in a metro city. However, agencies say that the production cost of the metro wrap, which is done in select places such as Ahmedabad, is huge.
The first-ever wrap of the Delhi metro was done by Pepsi during a cricket tournament in 2011. Since the opening of this advertising opportunity, Morpheus Group has been the first company to use the service on the Dwarka to Noida route.
DMRC operates a fleet of over 200 train sets with over 60 eight-coach trains and over 80 six-coach trains. The train wraps are permitted on 10% of the total train sets available on the operational lines of Delhi Metro network.