Promos move on - using autos, cabs to steer a hit

New Delhi: It`s advertising on the move, as clever and gimmicky as they come. Buses are passe and producers are now hitching a ride on Mumbai autorickshaws and looking at taxis too to drive their movies to the masses.Ekta Kapoor is amongst the recent Bollywood filmmakers to innovate and has used autorickshaws to promote her ready-to-release "Ragini MMS" with teasers like "Ragini Ka MMS Dekha Kya?" and "Ragini Yahan Baithi Thi".

As they criss-cross the teeming streets of Mumbai, nearly 3,000 autorickshaws in Mumbai are flaunting the advertisement for the film. A cheap, innovative way to reach out to the crowds and create a buzz about the film that releases Friday. The idea works, particularly with the millions who spend hours on the road just trying to get from point A to point B. "I think it is a spectacular idea by Ekta to market `Ragini MMS` on autos which are found in every nook and corner of Mumbai all the time. The film is made on a small budget and could have come and gone without much buzz, but with such innovative marketing, people, especially masses, are talking about it, and the slogans have generated more curiosity," Pavan Kripalani, director of "Ragini MMS", told IANS. Autorickshaws were also used to market Aamir Khan`s blockbuster "3 Idiots" in 2009. Only three passengers are allowed to sit in one auto; so the producers advertised with stickers of "Capacity - 3 Idiots!" to publicise the film. Autos, taxis and buses offer a viable advertising platform especially for low-budget films, says Gautam Bhirani, director of Marketing and head of Corporate Communications of Mumbai-based transit media firm Moving Trumpet Communications Pvt Ltd. "Transit media is a great way to build a buzz - some films need that and some don`t. A film on a social issue can utilise the medium better to create the buzz than a regular romantic film with superstars," said Gautam. "Low-budget films also have budget restraints for marketing; so transit media, which is very cost-effective and offers better penetration and recall, works well for the film marketer," he added. For years, advertisers used the massive space available on the panels of local buses to publicise films by pasting colourful vinyl posters. "Buses have been used for the past 20-25 years for film advertising thanks to their size and immense reach among the masses. All of Mumbai is covered by buses and numerous people travel by them each day. The posters look colourful and attract attention. Besides, it`s a very cheap medium," said Yogesh Lakhani, chief managing director of Bright Outdoor Advertising. His company has the licence to advertise on 4,700 buses across Mumbai, and he says it takes a minimum of Rs.5,000 to put up a film poster on a bus for a month. Lara Dutta has kept the trend going by putting up posters of her debut production "Chalo Dilli" on buses in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and other cities recently. "A local transport bus was very intrinsic to our film, which is about a journey undertaken from Mumbai to Delhi. So we set up the marketing plan accordingly and had our posters pasted on state roadways buses, local buses and even at railway stations," said Ram Mirchandani, CEO, Eros Entertainment, co-producer of "Chalo Dilli". Taxis are also coming up in a big way as a form of advertising. "Taxi advertising is a very popular medium abroad and India has adapted the concept well. Be they private fleets or regular cabs, they are used by everyone. The cabs offer door and boot branding and now with LED-based taxi tops available, it offers great space at a reasonable cost. One also gets area-specific cabs according to their target audience, " said Gautam, whose company has the permission to advertise on 5,000 taxis in Mumbai. A taxi for door branding would cost around Rs.5,000-Rs.6,000 a month, and the 42-inch dual side LED version would cost Rs.6,000-Rs.7,000, he revealed. Autos are an even cheaper medium, with costs as low as Rs.150-Rs.400 per sticker as it is an unorganised sector. Producers have earlier too planned special campaigns around transit media. Farah Khan launched the music of her movie "Tees Maar Khan" in a train, which had posters of the film on the exterior, while special promotional activities were woven around buses prior to the release of "Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd" and "Thank You". IANS