The Hindu Business Line : ‘Digital advertising has tremendous potential’

Bangalore, Aug. 3 Digital cinemas could just be the next big thing in advertising. Cheaper than Internet advertising and more effective than TV, the medium has the potential to grow and account for 10 per cent of the advertising pie in three years, according to Mr Rajesh Mishra, CEO (Indian Operations), UFO Moviez, part of the Rs 4,000-crore Apollo Group.

The Mumbai-based UFO Moviez brings to theatres the guarantee of digital quality audio and video using modern technology – satellite uplinks, digital movie projectors and cinema servers.

Besides theatre owners, advertisers are also showing interest in the medium.

“Television is more intrusive, and people tend to switch channels, but the audience in a theatre is a captive one,” said Mr Mishra.“They are more receptive. The environment – the dark room, the good mood of being there with friends and family – makes the medium more effective.”

Advertisers are also assured of reaching the entire film-going population in one go.

The ads are played by the server and so can be logged – giving the assurance that the ad was played. Plus, you could release your ad at over 200 cinemas across the country simultaneously, he said. Ads can be adapted for this audience and no longer need be garish, stretched copy of TV ads. A print ad costs Rs 750-1,000 to make. With digital technology, design and delivery costs are done away with. High-quality Mpeg 4 ads can be created and distributed without incremental investment. Digital cinemas also allow advertisers to introduce teaser campaigns.

Ten-second-long flash ads, which work on raising curiosity about a product, are only being seen on TV. In cinema, these ads could not be shown as they would be lost in a loop of the projector and so were not exploited.

Now, a weekly playlist can be created and the transparency in the system allows modifications and changes, Mr Mishra said. Cinema advertising currently accounts for only one per cent of the total market at Rs 150 crore.

UFO Moviez recently won the award for Digital & Best Media Innovation – Cinema at Bangalore Ad Club’s Big Bang 2007 Awards.

Previously, it has bagged the Technological Innovation Award in Indian Cinema at IIFA. The firm is already “retrofitting” 60 cinemas a month and will complete 2,000 theatres by March 2009. It beams movies in 15 languages in cinema halls in 17 States across the country. The concept of sending advertisements using satellite bandwidth directly to campuses, compact cinemas, complexes and even homes would impact advertising in India, Mr Mishra said.