Sunday, 18 September 2016

INDIAN RAILWAYS EXPLORING NEW AVENUES TO EARN RS 1,000 CRORE THIS FESTIVE SEASON

By: Himanshu Modi


The Indian Railways, country's largest transporter, with a network of more than 7,000 railway stations, runs more than 12,000 passenger trains and is installing one lakh digital screens at 2,000 stations. It is the first time that Railways is throwing all its assets open to advertisers to run outdoor campaigns during the festive season. Almost 50 Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains will be made available to advertisers. The national transporter has hired Ernst & Young as its consultant for the same.

Indian Railways expects to mop up Rs 1,000 crore through train advertisements in the festive season between October and December and has lined up its premium trains for ad-wrapping to cash in on the advertising spree about to be unleashed by the ecommerce, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and auto companies.

The Indian Railways carry two crore passengers every day and according to industry estimates, advertisers-mostly driven by ecommerce and auto companies, go full hog on their ad spend for Diwali season. Brands spend almost 25-30% of their advertising budget during this period. Online retail giant Snapdeal has already kept aside Rs 200 crore as advertising budget to be spent during Diwali.

The screens will be sold along the train wraps as a part of the advertising package. There's no better outdoor mass media product for advertisers as Indian Railways as it gives them a pan-India presence.  Railway minister, Suresh Prabhu added that the Indian Railways is targeting to get almost 20-25% of its revenue from non-fare segment, dominated by advertising.



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