Dreamers Media offers 36 EMIs on new cars

A four wheeler is still an aspirational product for a large section of Indian masses. Brands that seek endorsements on the exteriors of new private cars usually receive a flat refusal. Dreamers Media and Advertising has launched an initiative that offers to pay the first three years' EMI for the cars on behalf of owners, who grant permission to display brand messages on their new cars.

People will have to pay 25 per cent down payment and opt for five years of EMI for their car to avail this scheme. The agency is currently targeting cars up to Rs 6 lakh (on road price).

For example, for a car priced at Rs 4,50,000 (on road), the customer will need to pay Rs 1,12,500 as the down payment and Rs 6,461 as EMI (bank interest assumed at 11.5 per cent) for the next 60 months for the rest of the amount. Of these 60 EMIs, Dreamers Media will pay 36 EMIs.

Branding will be done on 60-70 per cent of the exterior body of the car using vinyl stickers and the cost will be borne by the agency. However, at this point of time the consumer does not enjoy the luxury of choosing the brand to be displayed on his/her car. Under the agreement, the agency can change the brand endorsement on the car at any point of time with 48 hours notice to the customer. Also, in case of an accident and damage to the sticker, the cost of putting the sticker back will be borne by the agency.

The agency will get a GPS virtual tracking system fitted to the car to ensure that it runs for at least 1,500 km every month. If a customer fails to do that, he will attract penalty, the clauses for which have not been revealed by the agency yet.

The initiative will be launched on September 1. The agency plans to come up with a marketing campaign to promote this innovative concept. Interested customers can call a toll free number, to be launched in a week, to initiate the process. The vinyl stickers will be put on the car once it is out of the showroom.

Mohamed Sunis, CEO and founder, Dreamers Media and Advertising, says, "This will help a lot many people to buy their new cars. We are mostly targeting middle class people, who have difficulties in managing their budgets once they plan their new car. This will also mean an increase in the sales of cars. My estimate is around 10-15 per cent, thereby helping the government to earn more road tax."

Though the agency claims to be in talks with six major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and 25 brands, it has not disclosed the names of its partners and the kind of deals that are being decided. It expects to rope in advertisers from categories such as telecom, FMCG and IT.

She adds that the brands will be chosen carefully, with due respect to people's reservations about endorsing some genres. Also, in future, it could target cars of a higher price, solely depending on the demand from the brands.

Dreamers Media and Advertising claims to have launched this concept for first time and has already obtained copyright for it. It also plans to extend the concept overseas but not at this point of time.

It targets to reach out to 15,000 people in the first year of operations and an ambitious figure of 100,000 by the end of the second year.

The proposition is also open to the second hand cars and the existing users of cars with a different slab and structure, the details of which have not been revealed yet. Dreamers Media and Advertising has launched this scheme in Delhi for a start and will be doing announcements in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Mohamed adds that the agency has put in nearly Rs 2 crore as initial investment and is willing to invest another Rs 50 crore. In its first year, the company expects revenues of Rs 50 crore.

The agency claims to have carried out 13 months of research before launching this idea.

Dreamers Media and Advertisers was started by Pratham Surathkal and Sunis Mohamed. Mohamed has nearly 15 years of experience in media, advertising, marketing and recruitment. Surathkal has worked in the real estate segment.