TDI International India bullish on DMRC media

Media owners, holding ad rights on Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) media in the Delhi NCR, have experienced highs and lows in recent years, but TDI International India is perhaps the only OOH firm that has steadfastly increased its media in this space. Starting with ad rights on the DMRC Red Line, TDI International India has gone on to hold rights on three different lines - covering some 73 stations. Among them, the stations across the Red Line are already executing campaigns while the ones across the Blue Line and Green Line are set to become operational soon. The firm reposed its faith in this transit media even when the returns were not looking up.

Commenting on TDI International India's experience with the DMRC media, Jatinder Singh, VP - Sales, TDI International India, told Outdoor Asia, "We are the pioneers in this media. Initially, we had some difficulty convincing brands to advertise on the DMRC media. While we expected this media to become a prime advertising option, brands did not respond in equal measure.”

Hiyav Bajaj, Managing Director, TDI International India, observed that "most brands did not opt for DMRC media because of the way some media owners went about their business. Those firms lacked the experience to handle DMRC media and backed out of tenders, adding a degree of uncertainty to advertising on the media. Some of the OOH firms that operated in the DMRC space did not enjoy a brand equity of their own and that further hurt the business prospects.”

The challenges notwithstanding, TDI International India, stayed invested in this media. "Our strategy was for wider coverage, greater penetration, and focus on regional and local along with national clients. We did incur financial losses initially and it's only more recently that we achieved the break-even,” said Bajaj.

Singh explained that the firm focused attention on deriving the best value out of the media. "For this, we formed a team exclusively for the DMRC media. The team was expected to monitor the media and come up with the right marketing solutions. We also stepped up our efforts to engage regional and local brands in the retail, education, FMCG and consumer durables segments. This approach worked for us,' he said.

The team closely studied the demographic profile of DMRC commuters and employed the insights gained thereof to pitch to advertising brands. Also, the team filled up vacant media with interesting creatives to demonstrate the effectiveness of the media.

"Our experience and strong foothold in the outdoor advertising sector of India enabled us to not only bear the initial slow reaction of the brands, but also to find and promote the unique strengths of the medium. In due time, the brands realised the wonders which 4 minutes of exclusive viewership before 27 lakh daily commuters on an uncluttered media like the metro stations and platforms could do,” said Bajaj.

When asked if there are plans to pitch for ad rights on Metro media in other cities, Bajaj said that Metro media takes time to develop, so there are no immediate plans to pitch for such properties. However, when it comes to DMRC media, Bajaj is extremely bullish on the business prospects. "We feel that the struggle to establish this media is nearly over and in the coming years DMRC media will become one of the main media options for advertisers. We have plans to acquire new lines,” he said.