No limit to innovation on metro networks: Sanjay Kapoor

Commuters are travelling on metro in great numbers and this has increased chances of innovation and expansion for outdoor advertising, said Sanjay Kapoor, GM & Head Corporate Communications, PR & Marketing, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd. While talking about'How Metro Networks can Transform Transit Media Advertising', Kapoor drew from examples of the Hyderabad Metro which is yet to start operations but is already generating revenues though OOH. This is because there has been an increase in demand for expansion of networks on transport mediums.

"Transit oriented advertising has led to innovations on metro base. We now have train wraps and advertisements inside trains and on tokens and smart cards,” said Kapoor. He also spoke of two kinds of innovations in transit oriented advertising. One of these is OOH on Transit, which provides opportunities for brands for everything that can be seen from the sky, like on metro pillars. Second is the Rights Business, which is a different form of OOH. This includes station naming rights, corridor naming rights, pouring rights, broadcasting rights and experiential marketing rights. All these are indicators of massive innovation opportunities available on metro networks for outdoor advertising. Kapoor called on for swift adoption of new business models which could bring higher ROI to brands through transport processes and speedy actions. This, he said, was urgently required because less than 10% of total OOH inventory is digital at present since it demands higher investment.