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Home » OOH News » United Technologies flies high on innovation

United Technologies flies high on innovation

By Nabamita Chatterjee - February 28, 2014

The outdoor innovation at Mahim in Mumbai has been executed for one of the latest helicopter model S-76D from Sikorsky, the helicopter-making unit of United Technologies.

United Technologies Corporation has rolled out an innovative outdoor campaign where the idea was to create a strong brand identity in the minds of their target audience. Executed by Vivaki Specialist Services (outdoor unit of Mediavest-Starcom), the innovation near Mahim has become the talk of the town in Mumbai and has attracted numerous eyeballs. The innovation has been done for one of the latest Helicopter model S-76D from Sikorsky, a subsidiary of United Technologies.




• Outdoor : the best choice


Goldie Srivastava, Director-Communications (India), United Technologies Corporation,says while sharing the reasons behind opting for the out-of-home medium for promotion and branding, "United Technologies is a company which has got a very long history of innovation and invention. We fundamentally cater to the buildings and aerospace industry and thus we touch upon a large number of people. Whenever there is a need to communicate with the mass and put across our brand identity, out-of-home is our best choice. We have been very selective and strategic when it comes to outdoor. In outdoor, our aim is to deliver the brand message through impactful and iconic displays.”

The current campaign has the tagline:'One Powerful Idea' and the brand aims to demonstrate how an idea, by getting the right technological backup,can completely transform human lives. This was the core message that was highlighted in the campaign by drawing upon relevant examples.

• Standing out of the clutter

Vivaki Specialist Services, the outdoor advertising partner of United Technologies Corporation,employed two types of strategies for the brand positioning.One included presence at airports along with using large formats at various strategic locations across major metros which is a high-visibility zone for UTC's TG and the second included creating iconic OOH properties.

While talking about the outdoor strategy used to reach out to the TG, Goldie Srivastava further shares, "From a business perspective,the aim of UTC is to cater two different sectors, one is the building systems industry and the other is aerospace industry. For the buildings industry our target clients are architects, designers, builders, technology consultants and also decision makers in the government.In terms of the aerospace industry,the  key target audience include airline companies, key government ministries and their departments as well as armed forces.For some of our solutions we also target large businesses and corporate houses. So, when it came to outdoor advertising, we focused on standing out from the clutter, because we have observed that today it is impossible for anyone to assimilate the multiple messages coming from billboards. We had to be really innovative in our approach so that we are prominently visible and can create an impression in the minds of the people. Though the plan was looking great on paper, we were all skeptical about how it would turn up in reality.But it has been a very enriching and interesting learning process for us.”

• A Collaborative Effort

To execute the first-of-its kind innovation for UTC, the company faced a lot of challenges which they turned into an opportunity. Goldie shares further how they overcame these issues, "Vivaki Specialist Services has been instrumental in implementing the idea into a reality. Milestone also partnered with them for procuring the right site and Sakshi Advertising, the fabricator, completed the work with conviction and brought life to the project. Shyam Kashyap and his father Bhagwan Das played the biggest role as they were the artists behind the creation of this life-size model. Every minute detail of the Sikorsky S-76D helicopter, starting from the dye creation to the colour scheme used, the precise dimension of rotors, wheels, etc have all been taken care of by them. Leo Burnett, our creative agency also played a vital role in providing the right creative support for this idea. We feel it is not only an out-of-home innovation, but also a collective effort that has gone into reproducing the concept in a creative manner.”

For Vivaki Specialist Services, the biggest challenge while planning for the execution at Mahim was to deliver an outcome that was nearly as close to the concept that the entire team had visualized and presented to the client. The agency maintained a collaborative approach to achieve their objectives.For example, they handled the initial ideation having first level of creative inputs coming from Mediavest. To reproduce the design of the Sikorsky S-76D helicopter true to its finest detail required tremendous craftsmanship and understanding of the precise contours, colour schemes and technical details of the actual helicopter. Besides, they ensured identification and use of the right material for fabrication so that it could withstand the humid weather condition.

•  Fabrication : the most vital phase

The fabrication of the model was taken up in Delhi because of the client's presence there and it was convenient to get a huge vacant space to undertake the production of the mammoth 40 feet helicopter. The post-fabrication and transportation posed another confront because of the huge size of the model. Besides, making the Octroi officials understand the reasons behind fabricating and transporting such a Helicopter prototype and landing it temporarily on a Helipad and finally completing the rest of the work in Mumbai were all Herculean tasks which eventually turned out to be  great experiences for the teams. What also made it especially challenging was the location selected, which is a major arterial route and a dense traffic intersection.It thus required a fair bit of convincing to have the authorities grant permission for the execution but Milestone helped them in getting the municipal and other authority bodies' permissions.

Kaushik Chakravorty, Chief Operating Officer - India - Vivaki Specialist Services for his part sums up the whole experience, "This innovation that we so happily presented, showcases our creative and collaborative capability. I think, this amply showcase the power of OOH in context and content. We hope people like and love this not only as a communication but also as a work of art, labour and love."
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