Transit media is defined by Wikipedia as : Transit media is a form of out-of-home advertising that uses vehicular platforms to establish a mobile brand presence. Typically, transit media campaigns are employed in denser urban environments to maximize brand exposure to both pedestrian and on-road traffic. The medium has traditionally been limited to featured advertisements on buses and trams, but in recent years has extended to various sub-categories, such as dedicated car, van or truck advertising.
This definition gives a glaring insight into the way media planners and advertisers have looked at transit media traditionally and mostly with a bias in perception adopted from the “western or developed” point of view.
1) Transit media is typically for high-density urban environments
2) Used of pedestrian or on-road traffic
Even today, even though population density and migration indicated an urban or city-based trend, as the old adage suggests – close to 70% of India’s population still resides in villages – still holds true. Especially if you factor Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and towns. So what is the dynamic and impact of transit media on rural audiences in India? If we take just one out of the total 28 States in India, Maharashtra, close to 90 million people reside in semi-urban and rural pockets across the geography. Well, these are a few points an advertiser should consider to understand the potential of this medium for brand campaigns and product marketing:
1) The average population at high density transit points in Rural Maharashtra is 40,000 per day
2) If you only account for State Transport (ST) bus stands operated by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), the total population which goes through 85+ locations is a whopping 10+ Crore or 100 million .
3) Of the 90 million residing in rural pockets, with 55 million in semi-rural or rural areas, only 40%-45% have access to Print & TV as mediums
4) Close to 46% of this population is in ‘media darkness’ or not being approached effectively by any media
With increasing innovation in transit media and better understanding of media planners and advertisers of alternate and established mediums Corporates and brand are able to effectively reach out to rural markets and audiences in India.
As the market in Urban India saturates, marketers will have to seek more smart, cost-effective and intelligent means to reach out to the right target audiences and expand their reach to a potentially untapped market opportunity which exists today. Those who seek to think beyond the ‘A-Z’ of media planning and venture to truly understand the dynamics of Indian rural markets and audiences will survive in time to come.
Vritti i-Media is an award winning technology and media innovation company, which has set-up an established network of technology enabled audio advertising solutions at bus stands across 80+ locations in Maharashtra and audio-visual advertising network at critical hubs with high population density like food-courts on highways. With their unique outdoor advertising (OOH) solutions they have helped large corporates, SMEs, entrepreneurs and small business owners to effectively use their network of ‘transit media – media on the move’ to reach out to audiences in rural Maharashtra.
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