Branding on the move

When National Stock Exchange Managing Director Ravi Narain flagged off the Chennai-bound Rajdhani Express at the New Delhi Railway Station on Wednesday, he signalled the premier bourse’s debut in an unusual area: promotion of investor awareness on long-distance trains.

Seventeen coaches will be splashed with the images of Nifty, NSE’s flagship index. Inside, important investor awareness messages will be given on panels, with the message being ‘invest carefully’. The campaign will also seek to demystify Nifty 50 through pictographs and comic strips.

The campaign is expected to cover over 250,000 passengers crossing 34 locations across 11 states.

NSE isn’t alone, as more companies are warming up to the idea of building brands on the move. Sanjai Jalla, director at Peacock Media says, “We have received very positive response from companies across the board. Samsung, Hero Honda, BSNL, State Bank of India, Nokia, Life Insurance Corporation, ICICI Bank and HDFC have all evinced interest in advertising on premium trains.”

At present, Peacock Media has advertisement rights from Indian Railways for one rake of Swarna Shatabdi express and for six rakes of south-bound Rajdhani trains. While NSE has opted for branding on the Chennai-Delhi Rajdhani express, Kerala Tourism is conducting a ‘Go Kerala’ campaign enroute Trivandrum.

A senior official at Indian Railways says Northern Railways stands to get Rs 33 lakh per rake for brand-building exercises on Rajdhani trains , and Rs 50 lakh per rake on the Swarna Shatabdi express. The base licence fee will increase at the rate of 10, 15, 20 and 25 per cent from second year onwards. Cumulative earnings at the end of five years would amount to Rs 16.81 crore for the railways.”

It’s also cost-effective for companies. Jalla says the rates being offered by the railways are substantially cheaper than the expenses incurred for airing commercials on national television. Besides, advertisers get a captive audience for the entire duration of a 40 hour train journey in which they can engage the consumer with a direct and focused approach.

All national brands, marketing experts say, can effectively leverage the advertising potential being offered by the medium. Consumer goods, particularly food and beverage products, stand to do well on the medium. On-board exercises can be used to connect with the target audience.

Over 18 million people travel on trains daily.

Some companies are cashing in on the opportunity in other ways too. Max New York Life Insurance, for example, is looking at recording the demographic profiles of potential consumers through on-board exercises.

The potential in the segment, brand consultants say, is significant. For the railways, it means Rs 2,000 crore revenues over the next 10 years.