100 August 2018
TRANSIT MEDIA
I
n the fast moving Mumbai, where local trains have been
the commuters’ lifeline, the ushering in of Mumbai
Metro media as the finest uncluttered advertising
space with better ambiences was well received by the
industry. Constructed in 2014, Mumbai Metro is being
operated by Reliance Infra's Mumbai Metro One Pvt.
Ltd. The exclusive rights of advertising and branding are
handled by Times OOH. Currently, Line 1 is operational,
which is 11.4 km long covering the Versova-Andheri-
Ghatkopar east-west corridor with 12 stations en-route
on the elevated line. The ridership has been growing
ever since. In FY18 the ridership was 11.8 crore with
40+ minutes of dwell time, as per IMRB research.
Mumbai Metro is a destination for smart commuters
with 90% NCCS A, 70% are graduate and above, 70%
research product online and 27% are middle and senior
level executives.The Metro network has proved to be a game-changer
in Mumbai’s advertising business. While the king-size
hoardings have always taken the major share of OOH
pie, this rapid metro network filled the vacuum with its
sought-after advertising destination and aesthetically
designed formats.Mumbai Metro
Metro’s USP has been that it offers all day, year-round
exposure in a captive environment. Apart from static
display panels, Mumbai Metro has a wide range of
advertising formats to offer. There are about 205 digital
screens across 12 stations which include 106 head-on
screens alongside the tracks of Mumbai Metro. The high
dwell time also gives brands the opportunity to engage
with the audiences for various kinds of on-ground
activations, product sampling and product launches.However, being a nascent advertising platform, brands
are currently spending 10%-15% of their budget
on Mumbai Metro through various media planning
strategies. The usual campaign of brands on Mumbai
Metro ranges between one month and 1-2 years.
This gives enough flexibility to brands for undertaking
strategic branding as well as tactical launches on this
platform. Brands have been using Metro wrap, digital
and static formats on an average of 1 to 3 months
wherein Station Branding rights have been given for 3-5
years, taken up by Vivo & Bank of Baroda.Besides, short-term tactical strategy with interesting
angles is being executed by production houses for movie