123Pune.com

Idea Cellular launches pilot ad campaign with 50 autos, websites too cash in on low-cost opportunity
Anuradha Mane

Pune, April 9: An autorickshaw is not something that you would immediately associate with as an advertising tool, especially when the product being vended is a mobile telephony service. But that is what Idea Cellular Ltd is trying out with 50 auto-rickshaws in Pune. Given the visibility and reach of the auto-rickshaw, it arguably makes quite an impact as an outdoor advertising medium and that was what Idea Cellular was banking on when it recently launched a pilot ad campaign with about 50 autos in Pune.

Given factors like high visibility, low costs and the mobile nature of the advertisement, the marketing idea seemed to appeal to the telecom major. “A small advertisement in a newspaper would cost around Rs 15,000 where as a billboard in Pune would be around Rs 40,000 per month. In comparison to this, an advertisement on a rickshaw would cost Rs 200 per month,” said a company executive associated with the campaign.

Idea Cellular has hired an agency to keep track of the autos and make a monthly payment to only those drivers who keep the advertisements in place. “We are trying to work out this medium as a permanent one. With a regular audit, this system can be very effective,” he said.

With ‘A’ category markets having reached a saturation point, there is a need to reach out to the lower category markets and it is in this context that the autorickshaw as an advertising tool makes an impact. It’s not that Idea Cellular was the first company to think of tapping the marketing potential of the aam admi’s traveling option to market its services.

Mouthshut.com , India’s first person-to-person information exchange website started the trend in Pune towards the end of 2005. “We zeroed in on auto-rickshaws as an advertising medium way back in 2001in cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Apart from being cost effective, autos also provide long-term value. We have even encountered autos that have carried our advertisements for two years or more,” said Faisal Farooqui, founder and CEO.

Another website to cotton on to the concept of using autorickshaw as an advertising tool a month ago was Mh12.com , a Pune-specific website. “Auto rickshaws have a uniform presence in almost every part of the city. In fact, when I decided to advertise, I went to just three places - Swargate, Shivaji Nagar and Pune Station and I could tap 350 auto rickshaws,” said Rafiq Shaikh, proprietor of Mh12.com . Hits on his website have risen by 70 per cent ever since he used autos as an advertisement medium, he added.

And this system works well for the auto rickshaw drivers as well. Baba Adhav, president, Rickshaw Panchayat, Pune and PCMC, said: “It adds to the income of the rickshaw drivers. But unless it is a bulk order, advertising companies do not approach the Rickshaw Panchayat. The rickshaw drivers have the freedom to display advertisements on their vehicles if the advertisers approach them directly.”

“Instead of putting up a huge advertisement on a billboard for a few lakhs of rupees, spending the same money on auto rickshaws would help at least a few hundred rickshaw drivers to meet some important financial requirements,” Farooqui said.

But the moot question is whether the Rs 200 a month is an adequate compensation for the autorickshaw drivers.

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