Marketing - Advertising

Marketing - Advertising
Logistics - Airlines
BIA is Bangalore’s new advertising hotspot

Will provide opportunity to pitch premium products at travellers

The airport operator, which has picked JC Decaux as its advertising concessionaire for seven years, says almost 70 per cent of its space is sold out.

Madhumathi D.S.

Bangalore, June 17

The wall-sized replica of a gold-trimmed Louis Vuitton trunk can’t be missed at the entrance to Bangalore’s new airport.

The LV item has been parked there for almost a month, drawing attention and silently speaking for the luxury brand store that opened in the city in May.

It also speaks for the acres of hot space at the Bengaluru International Airport; the interiors of the terminals are soon going to be the top destination to pitch premium products at air travellers.

The airport operator, BIAL, which has picked world number two in outdoor advertising, JC Decaux, as its advertising concessionaire for seven years, says almost 70 per cent of its space is sold out. “We have received a very encouraging response from the market. Some of the best foreign and local brands from a wide spectrum of industries — banks, cosmetics, telecom, construction and IT — are already visible at the airport. Close to 70 per cent of the space has been blocked,” BIAL’s spokesperson told Business Line.

Without divulging the brands it would sport, BIAL said: “We are in discussions with other large clients for the same space.”

While obvious advertisers would be airlines, hotels and restaurants, banking products and brands retailed within airport outlets, “I would also expect fashion-wear, cosmetics, lifestyle items and — being in the IT capital — some technology products as well,” said brand consultant, Mr Ramanujam Sridhar.

BIA is the first airport catch in India for JCDecaux, Europe’s leader that is present in 145 airports in 16 countries. Its two-year-old Indian entity builds and manages all media space throughout the 4,000-acre airport campus and the long four-lane approach road.

A private sector-promoted airport like BIA, said Mr Sridhar, can be a creative setting to subtly push high-end products at affluent travellers. BIA will offer nearly 12 million such travellers a year as captive targets, each spending 30-90 minutes at the airport.

The opportunity to engage them starts well ahead, on the 30-50 km drive; a lot of outdoor advertising is natural. But the challenge, he said, is for innovative and visual appeal in airport ads.
NON-AERO RETURNS

BIAL said it was too early to gauge its advertising returns – which could form an attractive part of its non-aeronautical revenue. On whether the pricing would also be premium, it said: “Together with JC Decaux, we have kept in mind the market reality and have also benchmarked ourselves against the Mumbai and Delhi airports.”

The globe-trotting LV trunk comes to an Indian city for the first time, according to BIAL, and will be placed initially for three months at the kerbside.
Encouraging response

“The response and curiosity it has generated amongst passengers and visitors is remarkable,” the spokesperson said.

“But at such premium positions we aim to avoid clutter and create unique offerings through innovations that excite our passengers.”