Ticket to sell

Companies can now advertise on railway tickets - but how many are willing?

As marketers scramble to spread the word through the web, the phone, and other new age media, or think of new ways to use the traditional ones, they may now have another medium to splash their brand communication "" the back of railway reservation tickets and reservation charts.

Indian Railways recently awarded Axis Media the rights to market the back of train tickets and reservation charts. For now, the multi-coloured tickets will be issued from reservation counters of Central Railway, Mumbai, but it will soon be taken to other zones.

But are advertisers enthused?

The CEO of Axis Media, Pradeep Gupta is confident. "It's a very appropriate medium for brands which have a national presence and reach a large number of people."

It has already been accepted well, says Gupta, with big names such as Hindustan Lever, P&G, Garnier, Idea Cellular, Pfizer, Ranbaxy, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Wipro using the medium to good effect.

Axis Media is, of course, not new to this and had earlier initiated branding opportunities on the back of electricity bills in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, and HP LPG gas bills.

But will it work in the case of the railways?

Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults, adds, "Just the kind of reach it offers is appealing and not only national but local advertisers would want to use the medium." But as he puts it, using advertising jargon, "Use the medium as a medium."

He explains, "If marketers think they can carry a campaign designed for any other medium and paste it on the back of a ticket, it would fall on its face." Interactivity could play a crucial role, for instance, a game of Sudoku or a crossword which catches the eye of the ticket-holder.

But the more significant point is, has Indian Railways been underutilised by marketers? "To a certain extent, yes," admits Bijoor. Being one of the largest networks in the world, the railways provides a huge opportunity to advertisers.

But it is largely in outdoor, and that too by local advertisers, that the railways has largely been used. There are exceptions, of course.

For example, when Pepsico used entire bogies of trains for Kurkure, or again when it used an entire train called the Blue Billion Express prior to the cricket World Cup. Even film-makers have used local trains in Mumbai to promote films!

Gupta, meanwhile, is hopeful that with the kind of reach the railways have, branding on tickets would attract a lot of advertisers. "We are confident the medium will take off and we will continue working on more innovations like these."