Tunnel vision: Ads to jostle for space in Delhi Metro
DMRC has already made 12 km of tunnel advertising space available in the first phase. From October, a deluge of advertisements will adorn the tunnel walls of Delhi Metro.
By Moinak Mitra & Niranjan Bharati, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Delhi is poised for tunnel vision. Soon the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) tunnels in the Capital’s belly will see advertisers jostling for space.
Come October, and a deluge of advertisements will adorn the tunnel walls animatedly - yes, they’ll feature movement just like any other TV commercials minus audio. The cost of constructing the first phase of Delhi Metro stood at Rs 10,000 crore and DMRC was able to pay 7% of the cost through property development, that is, through advertising and shop rentals.
Says Anuj Dayal, chief PRO, DMRC, “Today, we’re earning 30% of our revenues through property development, and we’re always on the lookout for sound commercial avenues.”
Advertising certainly is becoming a key revenue component of the Metro, and tunnel ads are a new entity in the scheme of things. DMRC has already made 12 km of tunnel advertising space available in its first phase, “and another 30 km will be opened up in phase II by 2010,” says Mr Dayal.
But there are caveats. According to Farid Kureshi, CEO of Times OOH’s, “The proportion of these types of ads is very minuscule. To start with, it is being done in one tunnel at Delhi Metro, which would not require more than Rs 5-7-lakh investment. But surely, the market has potential to grow. However, it all depends on the regulation and policies, as is the case with digital advertising.”
Until now, underground ads were, well, not quite underground. They’ve adorned the walls of the Metro station, kiosks and other traditional nooks and crannies. But for the first time, those dark tunnels will be flanked by ads, thanks to an innovative outdoor format by C2E Technologies, formed by a group of consultants who quit dream jobs with Arthur
Andersen to take up independent consulting. The company has come into a profit-sharing agreement with DMRC to kick off the tunnel ad initiative, but for the first six months of operations, C2E Technologies will run the ads experimentally.
“We came across a technology that enables constant vision in a fleeting glimpse, just like the Zoetrope of the 18th century, since the Metro travels at 80 km per hour and the speed will soon increase further,” says K Rabindranath, CEO and co-founder of C2E Technologies.
Come October, and a deluge of advertisements will adorn the tunnel walls animatedly - yes, they’ll feature movement just like any other TV commercials minus audio. The cost of constructing the first phase of Delhi Metro stood at Rs 10,000 crore and DMRC was able to pay 7% of the cost through property development, that is, through advertising and shop rentals.
Says Anuj Dayal, chief PRO, DMRC, “Today, we’re earning 30% of our revenues through property development, and we’re always on the lookout for sound commercial avenues.”
Advertising certainly is becoming a key revenue component of the Metro, and tunnel ads are a new entity in the scheme of things. DMRC has already made 12 km of tunnel advertising space available in its first phase, “and another 30 km will be opened up in phase II by 2010,” says Mr Dayal.
But there are caveats. According to Farid Kureshi, CEO of Times OOH’s, “The proportion of these types of ads is very minuscule. To start with, it is being done in one tunnel at Delhi Metro, which would not require more than Rs 5-7-lakh investment. But surely, the market has potential to grow. However, it all depends on the regulation and policies, as is the case with digital advertising.”
Until now, underground ads were, well, not quite underground. They’ve adorned the walls of the Metro station, kiosks and other traditional nooks and crannies. But for the first time, those dark tunnels will be flanked by ads, thanks to an innovative outdoor format by C2E Technologies, formed by a group of consultants who quit dream jobs with Arthur
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Andersen to take up independent consulting. The company has come into a profit-sharing agreement with DMRC to kick off the tunnel ad initiative, but for the first six months of operations, C2E Technologies will run the ads experimentally.
“We came across a technology that enables constant vision in a fleeting glimpse, just like the Zoetrope of the 18th century, since the Metro travels at 80 km per hour and the speed will soon increase further,” says K Rabindranath, CEO and co-founder of C2E Technologies.
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