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Lodestar forms alliance with E-City Media
The tieup entitles Lodestar to access all of E-City Media’s products and properties and thus leverage the medium effectively
Lodestar Universal and E-City Media have come together to create an alliance that will help both media houses. The new entity, which has no individual name, will conduct research and see how best Lodestar’s clients can use the media platforms owned by E-City Media.
The alliance has been struck for a period of three years and E-City Media aims to capture 2-3 per cent of Lodestar’s media buying budget through it. E-City Media owns Fun Cinemas and Fun Republic, which are present in many cities in the country. The joint team will work on creating customised solutions for advertisers.
Shashi Sinha, chief executive officer, Lodestar Universal, and Atul Goel, managing director, E-City Ventures, spoke with afaqs!
“We thought that clients might need a more interactive media than, say, television, so the aim of this alliance is to provide an opportune platform for such clients,” says Goel.
Goel says that people are more receptive to information in malls and multiplexes. It’s not like when they are in office or at home, where they do not like to be disturbed. He points out that certain categories like the financial sector and the FMCG sector need to attract customers and a mall provides a base to interact personally with prospective customers. Such locations also allow sampling and the setting up of purchase stalls.
Sinha explains that at a basic level, Lodestar gains access to the properties and products of E-City Media, which is useful because many of its clients need to spread awareness rather than launch a full fledged campaign. “And we as media agencies can tell our clients that we can deliver a lot more than just a creative by getting them visibility in the right places,” he says.
He points out that with a tieup like this, measurability is possible because of which the media pattern will grow. With measurability, the solution gains credibility and enhanced potential. Sinha is confident that the medium will grow and says his company plans to invest heavily in it.