Bhubaneswar gets a Tata Indi'com'fortable bus shelter

Bus shelters as advertising media are becoming snazzier by the day. Recently, the OOH specialist agency, Aaren Initiative, created an experiential zone at a bus shelter as part of a campaign for Tata Indicom in Bhubaneswar in Orissa.

The campaign aimed to establish that owning a Tata Indicom handset was an easy and comfortable way of creating a style statement. This ease and comfort has been translated into the bus shelter, which was given a makeover and fitted with a water cooler, a public phone booth, fans, a Tata Indicom branded mobile phone charger corner, FM radio, greenery in the form of planted pots, a digital wall clock and even well-maintained washrooms for men and women.

Sanjeev Malhotra, assistant vice-president, Tata Indicom, says, “We improved the condition of the bus shelter in Bhubaneswar by providing facilities for commuters, who are otherwise bored while waiting for buses.”

Malhotra says that such snazzy bus shelters wouldn't be possible in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi because of space constraints and because the authorities there don't easily grant rights for such facilities. However, Tata Indicom is open to doing similar innovations at other sites, depending on the availability. He shares that 15 per cent of the total advertising budget of the company is spent on outdoor.

The bus shelter is located in Jayadev Vihar, a major junction for commuters, comprising college students, IT professionals and government employees. The location is surrounded by various offices and large residential colonies. The shelter provides advertising space on the top and front panels and an MUPI unit placed on one side of the shelter.

The target group for the campaign includes men and women in the age group of 15-45 years.

The innovation was executed in December 2008 and will be seen till May 2009. Alfa Communications, an Orissa based media seller, owns the media rights for the bus shelter.