Kapil Ohri
Digital

Phonethics to power LCD screen content on Western Railway trains

Hype Integrated Communication has tied up with Phonethics to develop and aggregate content for the LCD screens which it will install on Western Railway trains in Mumbai

Hype Integrated Communication, an OOH media company which recently partnered with Western Railways in Mumbai to install LCD screens in all of its 67 trains, has now tied up with a digital agency, Phonethics, to manage the content to be run on these screens.

According to the deal, Phonethics will be responsible for creating and aggregating the content to be showcased on the LCD screens. The content developed by the digital agency will be part of a 30-minutes video clip which will be repeated for 18 hours in a day. The same video clip will be aired for seven days.

Speaking to afaqs!, Vikram Russell, executive producer and head of operations, Phonethics, says, “The idea behind developing a video clip of 30 minutes duration lies in the fact that a passenger commutes in a Mumbai local train for an average of 15-30 minutes.”

Phonethics to power LCD screen content on Western Railway trains
About 15 minutes of the clip will be based on content such as jokes, 'shayari' and thought of the day; Bollywood content; video clips showing Yoga and physical exercises that can be done while commuting; and travel related clips. Another six minutes will be dedicated to branded contests, quizzes and polls. The remaining nine minutes will be pure advertising.
Phonethics to power LCD screen content on Western Railway trains
Russell says, “Quizzes, contests and polls will be incorporated to build interactivity in the content. The viewers are allowed to send in their replies for any contest or poll via SMS. The interactivity will also help us to measure the traffic and the popularity of the content.” He adds that initially, the content will be updated on a weekly basis. The frequency of fresh content will be revised later.

Apart from producing the content on its own, Phonethics will also outsource content from other national and international content owners. For instance, it is talking to some international content producers to include action related video clips such as Formula 1 racing in the content.

Hype Integrated Communication has already tested the content on a Mumbai local train that runs from Borivali and Churchgate. Jignesh Sharma, executive director, Hype Integrated Communication, tells afaqs!, “We are targeting to install 10,000 LCD screens in trains on Western Railway.”

Hype Integrated Communication will handle the ad sales function for the content displayed on the LCD screens.

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