DMRC, Kotak first to use in-tunnel advertising in India

The out of home business seems to be attracting a number of investors and, more than that, a lot more avenues to explore. New in India is in-tunnel advertising, a virgin space. C2E Technology Labs, in collaboration with the Delhi Metro Rail Corp. (DMRC) and Submedia, a US based company which patented the technology for this kind of communication, spotted an opportunity in the dark tunnels through which Delhi Metro trains run.

The company has tried the concept of a 'reverse movie': The audience is moving, while animated film frames are lit up in the tunnel spaces. C2E provides the technology for such endeavours. The first advertiser to try this new kind of advertising is Kotak Life Insurance.

The technology consists of two sets of processes. The first is a specially designed display box, which houses the images, placed frame by frame next to one another. The other process consists of changing the images in such a manner that when installed in the displays and watched by a moving audience, they appear to move without any blur or distortion.

The design of the boxes incorporates variables such as speed of the train and distance of the viewers. The software consists of modifying the images in a manner consistent with such variables. Both these, along with the moving audience, creates the motion picture effect.

With the help of this technology, DMRC can use tunnels and station walls to put up commercial films.

As this technology is suitable for use even at low speeds of less than half a metre per second, it can also be installed along escalators and travelators (moving pavements). This would find extensive use in malls and other enclosed public spaces.

A Rabindranath, chief executive officer, C2E Technology Labs, says, “For a long period of time, advertising focused only on print, channels and outdoor hoardings. In-tunnel advertising will revolutionise the thinking of advertisers and the perception of people towards a brand. In-tunnel is the first of many avenues this new medium of advertising will allow companies to embark on. Advertising will no longer be the same as people will now look for more creative twists in every advertisement. ”

Anuj Dayal, chief public relations officer, DMRC, says, “The idea of in-tunnel advertising seemed exciting to us. DMRC has always been seen as a pioneering entity, and this initiative is one more feather in our cap.”

Rahul Sinha, head, marketing, Kotak Life Insurance, the first advertiser to use this medium, says, “This medium is a fantastic initiative from C2E Technology Labs and wins on many counts for an advertiser. We are very excited at the prospect of being the first and I am sure we will be able to reach out to lot of our audience through this medium. The audience is captive, and with no other diversion, will pay attention to the commercial. There is no clutter and the impact created is impressive. All these put together make advertising on this medium very exciting for us, and thus we chose to be the first ones to try it.”