Mention New York and a picture of the Statue of Liberty flashes in your mind?s eye, for London it?s the Big Ben, and in case of New Delhi? It?s the Delhi Metro. The Indian capital city has had an image makeover. The lifeline of the city, it has catapulated New Delhi into the big league, allowing it to boast of world-class transport facilities. The sheer number of people using the Delhi Metro proves its popularity. More than 15 lakh passengers use Delhi Metro?s over 185 trains on a daily basis. The Delhi Metro network comprising 190 km today not only criss-crosses the city but also brings satellite cities Gurgaon and Noida in neighbouring states within its ambit with its 130 stations. Even the success of the 2010 Commonwealth Games hinged on the Delhi Metro to a large extent.

Advertisers have been quick to spot the opportunity. While national brands have been advertising in Delhi Metro for quite some time now, local or small brands are now jumping onto the bandwagon. If industry estimates are anything to go by, the current ratio of national/local brands advertising in the metro stands at 65:35. So we have local brands such as Nu Zen Gold Hair Oil and IIT Study Circle rubbing shoulders with national players such as Airtel, National Stock Exchange, Parle Products, and Colors to name a few.

The Delhi Metro network (excluding the Airport Express line) has an advertising space of about 25,000 sq m within its premises. Additionally, there is space available on the civil structures. Only about 40% of the space available inside stations is currently being utilised for the purpose of advertising. This is either because the remaining space is vacant or the media is uninstalled across some stations. Despite this, Delhi Metro continues to be a part of many brand conversations ? big or small.

Things have changed since December 2002 when media buyers, outdoor advertising agencies and marketers gathered to take a look at this legal outdoor advertising option in the city?s largely unorganised outdoor market. Hemanth Shah, president, out-of-home initiatives, Lintas Media Group, recollects how stakeholders had mixed emotions before the start of the first section of Delhi Metro from Tis Hazari to Shahdara. ?Comparison with the infrastructure present in Singapore and London was bound to happen. Everyone was surprised to see that Delhi Metro was high on quality. Today, planners are confident about the potential of Delhi Metro as the medium is measurable,? he says.

Today, after the completion of the first two phases, advertisers from across categories including telecom, automobile, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and financial services are finding ways to connect with their respective target groups. Over the years, many outdoor media owners in Delhi NCR (national capital region) including biggies like Times OOH, TDI International, Pioneer Publicity and Big Street have attained rights for stipulated time periods to advertise in lieu of licence fee paid to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Ad inventory is available inside the stations, entry/exit points, civil structures and inside the trains. Also, there are screens present at some stations.

Outdoor advertising agency TDI International which has advertising rights for 26 metro stations has a national/local advertiser ratio of 60:40. Unlike national clients, it does not make much sense for local or regional players to advertise throughout the year. Explains Jitender Singh vice-president, marketing, TDI, ?Local or regional advertisers usually make noise for shorter time periods. For instance, coaching institutes in a particular area are active advertisers between February and June. Or, a local jeweler will take ad inventory during Diwali. The medium gives desired reach to the advertisers as their shops are located closer to the stations.?

Big Street, the outdoor arm of Reliance Media World, claims to have done a detailed study of the catchment areas around the stations that is now helping its sales team to pitch contextual communication to businesses, in and around the stations. Rabe Iyer, business head, Big Street shares how retail advertisers have been patronising the Delhi Metro for quite some time. ?Clients have shown faith in audience profiling done by us. With this, they have been able to execute focused campaigns that reach out more efficiently to their target group. Our packages help advertisers reach out to a wide section of audience including businessmen, office-goers, housewives, students, among others,? he says.

?Besides rice brands and movies, we have had advertisers such as electronic retail store Croma, educational institution NIIT and other coaching centres, Harrison Locks, real estate clients such as Nirali and Amarapali among others,? he adds.

A recent survey conducted by Ai-Kiu Research throws up some mind-boggling facts and figures on consumer profiling in Delhi Metro. Metro has a predominantly male ridership with females accounting for 24% of the total ridership only. Of these, 50% are in the age group of 25-35 years. While 60% of the respondents came from salaried class, 17% are students. Again, 70% of respondents were long-distance travelers spending more than 30 minutes/day while commuting in Delhi Metro.

Advertisers have been experimenting with various combinations to catch the attention of the commuter. At times, big brands are keen on hijacking the complete ad inventory inside the trains which include handle bars and ad panels placed close to the seats and the roof. Depending on the make of the train, the monthly cost of the entire ad inventory in a train ranges between Rs 1.8 lakh and Rs 4 lakh. As the number of trains continue to increase with the rise in ridership, the brands are showing a smart act by playing on volumes. For instance, a brand can advertise in two compartments by taking space on only one side each compartment. In this manner, one can use two trains or more than that by working out more such combinations. Parle Products and Airtel are already doing this.

Says Mayank Shah, group product manager, Parle Products, ?With the commute time getting longer, advertising opportunities on mediums such as Delhi Metro are vital as now lesser time is spent on traditional media like TV. Another aspect that we have observed is that several people prefer to use Delhi Metro to commute to work rather than using their cars. This gives us an opportunity to reach out to multiple segments of consumers which is important for Parle which has products across multiple price points.? Parle Products has been consistently using Delhi Metro for more than four years now.

Praveen Gupta, director, EG Communications, a Delhi-based company that has ad rights for 153 trains of Delhi Metro believes that large formats such as civil structures are yet to take off. ?With inside train options, chances of spillover are minimised. The upside is that branding inside the train can be seen by those standing on the platforms too,? he says.

Recently, for the first time, real estate developer BPTP advertised in 20 trains for two months. Discussing the rationale behind using inside train options, Amit Raj Jain, vice-president, BPTP explains how the medium is apt to reach a large section of their company?s target group?the students who will be the buyers of tomorrow and working professionals with a monthly salary package of Rs 70,000 and above. ?Though most of the ads were for Amstoria, one of BPTPs project in Gurgaon, the main objective was to increase familiarity with the parent brand,? he adds.

Now frequency of trains has increased, resulting in commuters spending less time inside the stations and more inside the trains. Are inside station inventories unable to hold the attention of a client for a longer time? According to Iyer, though frequency of trains has increased to cater to the increasing number of commuters, the average time spent in the stations has remained the same.

Mayank Shyam, director of Traffic Media (the licencee of inside station branding from Qutub Minar to Huda City Centre) is of the opinion that Delhi Metro is proving to be beneficial for both, national and local advertisers because of the sheer number of average daily eyeballs ensured by the medium. ?A big chunk of metro commuters are using Qutub-Huda City Centre stretch on a daily basis and the number will go up by leaps and bounds in near future,? he says. Current monthly ad rates on the Huda City Centre stretch are anywhere between Rs 1100-1500/sq.ft.

Shah of LMG feels that currently ad inventory on platforms and concourse is more sought-after as compared to civil structures. When asked about the day when Delhi Metro will attract luxury brands, he says, ?Airport Express line will take care of that very well,? Agreeing with him, Sanjeev Hajela, president ? Prime Consult, Prime Wayfinding and Prime Retail adds, ?Delhi is going towards NCR and Delhi Metro has a key role in bringing this change.?

Despite all the experimentation and excitement, advertisers have barely scratched the surface. Compared to the advertising innovations seen on the London Tube or the Tokyo subway, Delhi Metro is still on the learning curve. A spokesperson from DMRC says, ?We are open to explore new advertising opportunities in Delhi Metro especially with the inside tunnel formats. Currently, 40% of the total revenue of our Property Development Cell comes from advertising. ? Other functions of property development include setting up food outlets, ATMs, tea, coffee and cold drink kiosks, etc. Delhi Metro?s early success is spurring other cities in India. The Kolkata Metro, which, according to industry experts, has failed to capture the attention of advertisers, is looking at ways to replicate the Delhi model. As metro rail projects take shape in other cities across the country, it will be interesting to see how new formats will evolve. As far as Delhi Metro is concerned, it is certainly a safe bet for big and small advertisers.

DELHI METRO?S INNOVATION DIARY

Sprite Xpress

As part of an in-tunnel advertising campaign on Delhi Metro between Kashmiri Gate and Chandni Chowk stations, specially designed display boxes, which housed images of a Sprite campaign, frame-by-frame, were placed one after the other on the wall of the tunnel. The images are known as ad cards, which are film negatives coated with silver halide. As a train enters the tunnel, the ad cards provide passengers with the experience of watching a television commercial, whose picture quality is bright and undistorted. Passengers looking out of the windows get to see what seems like a silent movie clip.

New York

The makers of this John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Irrfan Khan and Neil Nitin Mukesh starrer film brought the New York skyline to Delhi Metro. This was done by fabricating the skyline as a 3D backlit structure.

Hit

Seven-foot tall dummy cans of insect repellant Hit were placed strategically at three Delhi Metro stations in the capital ? Rajiv Chowk, Kashmiri Gate and New Delhi. Made of fibre-glass and covered with vinyl, the larger-than-life cans were placed at entry/exit points, ticket counters and areas leading to the platforms.

EAST & WEST

Outdoor advertising in countries like Japan and the UK is way ahead of what we have seen in India both, in terms of ideas and technology. According to outdoor advertising experts in India, the size of the ad inventory in these countries is larger and the local authorities are more open to the idea of innovations in public infrastructure.

As comfy as possible

In Japanese advertising, ?jacking? (a term derived from the English word Hijack) occurs when an advertiser purchases a substantial portion of all of the ad space available in a particular medium or within a geographic area.

Home furnishing product maker Ikea leveraged its expertise in interior design to deliver a genuine brand experience, rather than a mere barrage of posters.

A few years ago, the company train-jacked Kobe? Port Liner Loop Line to celebrate the opening of its mega store in the city. Ikea not only filled some of the standard ad frames with its own messages, but replaced the train?s standard window shades with those from its own stores, converted the seats to sofas with Ikea?s brand upholstery, and added wall coverings.

Going digital

Recently, a new cross-track projection (XTP) system, which allows high-quality digital images the size of a 14 foot TV screen to be projected on to the walls at 23 sites opposite platforms, was installed by outdoor advertising company CBS Outdoor for London Under-ground. With this, Tube users are able to watch moving advertising images on the biggest screens in Europe and keep up-to-date with trailers for the latest movie releases while they wait for their next train.