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The OOH media company unveiled a huge backlit structure, a gigantic, triple-sided, double-decker unipole, at the swanky new airport
OOH major Laqshya Media launched its landmark advertising display system by unveiling a huge backlit structure, a triple-sided, double-decker unipole, at the swanky new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad on January 20.
In design and scale, RGIA is in line with the major airports of the world. Currently, the airport is built for a capacity of 12 million passengers, with a full saturation capacity of 40 million passengers per annum. The airport has a very high dwell time of one hour for domestic and one hour, forty-five minutes for international passengers.
The advertising adds to the airport’s look and feel. Right from the entrance gate, access roads, car park, curbs and check-in points to the boarding points, a vast array of state of the art advertising display units – interior signages, unipoles, flag poles, light boxes, LED poles and multimedia walls – have been designed and installed.
The unipole has six faces – three faces of size 60ft x 20ft and three faces of size 60ft x 10ft. Yuvraj Agarwal, executive vice-president and chief operating officer, Laqshya Airport Media, tells afaqs!, “The format is unique because the upper deck can be used for the creative and the lower deck can be used for the logo or the key brand message.”
The height of the unit is around 75 feet and one can see it while landing or taking off from the airport. It is also visible from the main approach road, the car park, the departure and arrival ramps, the terminal building, the drop-off and pick-up points, etc. The total display area is 5,400 sq. ft and the ad costs for the unit is Rs 27 lakh per month. Only two such units have been developed at the airport and Laqshya is offering attractive inaugural packages to clients.
This is the first time a backlit large format with display space of 5,400 sq. ft has been built at any airport in the country. Other media formats such as V-shaped unipoles, portrait unipoles and car park flag poles are also strategically placed on the main access road leading to the airport.
The Laqshya project falls under Laqshya Hyderabad Airport Media Pvt. Ltd (LHAMPL), which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Laqshya Media. It commenced operations in 2007 for the Hyderabad airport advertising concession, which it won in August 2007. The seven year contract covers all media opportunities at the passenger terminal building and the main access road.
The decision to set up a separate entity called LHAMPL stemmed from the fact that the airport advertising business, by its very nature, differs from other OOH segments. The exclusive nature of the contract and the long tenure were other reasons.
The temple leaf design of the airport has been incorporated in all the media formats, which enhance the user experience and the ambience. Laqshya’s other media properties at the airport include wall mounted units, binnacle units, free standing units, customised product display services, flagpole and portrait unipoles, gantries, baggage trolleys and an aerobridge, all of which have been creatively designed to add to the airport’s look and feel.
He shares that the Hyderabad airport concession is a flagship concession for Laqshya and it will definitely contribute positively to its top and bottom line. “The RGIA concession is one of the topmost in the country in terms of revenue expectations,” Agarwal says.
Besides the RGIA, Laqshya Media also has the exclusive advertising rights for the Bundernaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The company also acquired the rights for the Coimbatore International Airport recently.
Discussing the way ahead, Agarwal says, “Laqshya will continue to look for and expand, using key opportunities in the airport advertising space. The next 18 months will be crucial in chalking out the future growth trajectory. Airport advertising will move in a versatile direction with focus on revenue, campaigns closely targeting customers and advancements in technologies.”
For the record, Laqshya was one of the first OOH players in India to attract private equity funding, when UTI Ventures invested about Rs 45 crore in it in 2006.