Safe Journey

Launched nationally last week, 300 lifts have already been fitted with the device. It consists of an electronic controller powered by four dry batteries. The power supply in the controller is constantly monitored and within 10 seconds of any drop in the supply, the device gets activated. Designed to cover the entire spectrum of elevators in the market, Liftguard is priced between Rs 75,000-1,60,000, depending on the type of controller in use.

The Rs 161 crore Otis Elevator, a Mahindra group company dominates the elevator market with a 60 per cent market share. The other players in the 40,000 unit elevator market are Kone ( a Finnish company), Bharat Bijlee and Mitsubishi. The Japanese firm has entered the Indian market recently.

 

Otis will spend Rs 70 lakh on the campaign. The print medium consisting of mainline English and regional newspapers will be the ad vehicle. The ads are largely targeted at female readers. That's because a lady tends to get scared when she finds herself trapped with a group of strangers in a lift, reveals an Otis spokesman. So the media plan also includes women's magazines like Femina, Chitralekha and other regional magazines which have high female readership. The campaign will also run in niche trade journals like Trade Architecture & Builders and Inside Outside.

While the ads are aimed at lift users, Otis is also appealing to its customers. Direct mailers are being sent to managing committees of buildings.