The Hindu Business Line : At the gates of advertising!

IT'S a case of getting potential customers to actually want your advertising. And having them participate in it. A number of companies in Chennai, big and small, local and not, have taken to sponsoring gate signs branded with their logos saying "No parking in front of the gate."

The trend has caught on, especially in the last two months, with rows of houses and buildings both residential and commercial sporting these boards; and there are a few cases of one house sporting two signboards sponsored by different companies.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance claims the credit for pioneering this trend. Interestingly enough, it was the customers who gave the company's direct-selling team this idea, says the company's Head (Marketing), Mr Kartik Jain. Now, even non-customers are included in this exercise, and there is great demand for these free signs. Other companies Business Line spoke to confirm this. They get calls from aggrieved people demanding to know why they haven't got a board when their neighbour has!

Major K.V. Rajan, General Manager of English-teaching institute VETA, in Chennai, says this initiative has several advantages: Apart from being inexpensive compared to other outdoor advertising, it is non-intrusive (especially during driving), mutually acceptable and beneficial, community-friendly, and has a longer shelf life than wall posters, which can be torn or defaced.

The Bharti Tele-Ventures' Vice-President (Operations-Mobility), Tamil Nadu and Chennai, Mr Raghunath Mandava, said it is an extension of his organisation's belief in taking up activities for the society's benefit (tree guards, traffic island maintenance and so on). "It is a useful tool for the building to communicate in an aesthetic manner, and make Airtel an integral part of the local milieu. Brand visibility is a by-product."

The other companies say the strategy has worked very well as a brand-building measure. ICICI Lombard's Mr Jain said, without revealing statistics, "Awareness has gone up multi-fold and there have been significant conversions from non-customers." The practice ties in with the company's motor and home insurance policies (it has also doled out gate signs saying "Only members' vehicles allowed" in apartment buildings).

VETA gets 30 walk-in and telephonic enquiries a day as a result, says Mr Rajan. It has put up 5,000 boards in Chennai city alone, and is going to extend the practice to its other centres across the South.

Mr Jain said it's a "cost-effective and clutter-breaking idea." The boards cost less than Rs 100 each, including labour and transportation. This strategy now accounts for a third of ICICI's outdoor advertising budget. "The boards are at eye-level and cannot be missed," he added. ICICI follows this strategy in the top 20 towns and cities after starting in eight cities last year.

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