Vodafone kicks off Rapid Metro branding

Vodafone India unveiled its first-ever branded Rapid Metro Station in Gurgaon named Vodafone Belvedere Station. A five-year deal has been signed between Vodafone and Rapid Metro. The brand plans to make the metro station'Faster, Smarter, Better' for its customers. Vodafone Belvedere Rapid Metro Station is a unique interactive station that engages the commuters at every step and brings the brand alive. The station has various points of branding such as static media, video-wall, cube wall etc.

The Vodafone Belvedere Rapid Metro Station has been conceptualized using state-of-the-art design specifically to match the best in class transport technology used by Rapid Metro. In line with'Customer First' proposition of Vodafone, the station has been made commuter friendly and has been designed, keeping in view various needs of commuters.

"Gurgaon is a city of future. Vodafone as a brand aspires to make things faster, smarter and better for its customers and Rapid metro is a step in that direction. There is a huge synergy between our brand and a property like Rapid Metro.  Both of us aspire to make life of our customers much easier, simpler and better. And another advantage is that it just not provides the branding opportunity but it is extremely synergistic where the brand comes alive in multiple forms in interactive fashion unlike static presence on outdoors. Through this, we give our customers a chance to interact with a brand and its features and to make the telecom experience come alive. There are ample opportunities to let our customers know about our product and services and we will be using this place on an on-going sustained basis,” explained Subrat Padhi, Business Head - Delhi, Vodafone India.

The station is designed to interact with its commuters, guide them by the means of interactive wall set up, and display their various advertisements and offerings and interactive steps guiding the commuters to their respective platform. The station has a Wi-Fi zone at the platform to help the customers stay connected with their loved ones at all times. Evolved technology has been displayed at various junctures of the station to befit Vodafone's data paradigm.

Additionally the brand will endeavor various activities with an aim to promote all these platforms. "Over the course of next few months and years, we will have a lot of activity at this location which will help our customers in interacting with the brand. There is an application cube wall, video-wall, free wi-fi and there will be various activities which will help our customers to understand brand and features a lot better. We will sustain this initiative for over the period of time and we will be doing lot of activities at this location in the future,” said Subrat.

The partnership was a cautious call for the brand therefore they conducted a whole R&D before signing the deal. "We started with most basic R&D like starting with Gurgaon and looing at things like whether it is growing or is a millennium city? Is it an aspirational place or not etc and the answer to all of this is'Yes' . Afterwards we looked at the growing places within Gurgaon . This is certainly a corporate hub now and increasingly it will become a residential hub,” added Subrat.

The store has an extensive angle store at the non-ticketing area at station to serve the passengers and non-passengers audience which will deal with all regular customer dealings. The specialty of the store is that the store has only women staff with an aim to empower the women.

Speaking about this endeavour, Rajiv Kohli, Operations Director- North, Vodafone India said, "Finest technology platforms, superior network connectivity and a continued focus on customer service, are the hallmark of Vodafone's business in India. The station is a testimony to what Vodafone stands for, which is delivering unique, innovative and out-of-the-box products and services to its customers. This platform helps Vodafone to not just engage with its customers but also reach a larger audience with unique offerings and services.”

Sanjiv Rai, MD & CEO - IL&FS Rail Ltd, said, "We are very happy to have received a positive response from corporates on this branding opportunity.  Our association with Vodafone is based upon the synergies both companies bring to the table, backed by Vodafone's philosophy of superior network connectivity and customer satisfaction. Vodafone Belvedere station has become a landmark in Cyber City and we are confident that commuters will appreciate this contemporary branding initiative.”

Expressing immense pride Subrat summed up, "We are extremely proud to unveil our new offering - the Vodafone Belvedere Rapid Metro Station. The station is fully equipped to constantly allow the customer to engage with brand Vodafone during their daily commute. Along with the virtual customer journey through Vodafone's service offerings, visitors can also get a peek into exciting new products at the Vodafone Store located at the station. It is a moment of great pride for all of us at Vodafone to be part of the world class Rapid Metro Gurgaon. We aim to provide an innovative and extraordinary experience to the residents of Gurgaon and the NCR and wish all the commuters a happy and hassle free commute at the Vodafone Rapid Metro Station. We will be doing new things on on-going basis. Tomorrow has to better than today. We will continue to invest and innovate and do things to bring brand come alive in different ways for customers in different months and years.”