A popular form of transportation in Chennai - and also, I must add, a form of transport Chennaiites love to bitch about, heavy bargaining with the driver required! - is the 3-wheeled "auto", which is short form for auto-rickshaw, which has completely replaced the human-powered rickshaw in South India in the last 15 years. Our creative marketing folks (thanks, Shankar!) decided to try an experiment and brand some autos with the Zoho message.
In many ways, the humble auto is a great vehicle (pun intended!) for our advertising. It is ubiquitous in Chennai and many other cities in India, very affordable, and very convenient on those narrow, over-crowded roads. I tend to prefer them to cars myself. Contrary to popular perception, I find most drivers polite and helpful - but then I tend not to bargain hard to extract the last ounce of concession from them, which is almost a religious requirement for many Indians! It is part of our ritual to do tough bargaining (hint: whatever the price quoted, start with "that is totally outrageous!"), feign to walk away, then "reluctantly" come on board, blame the driver for being so "unreasonable" and so on. The drivers, of course, are all too happy to play their appointed role in the ritual.
We will be trying many such marketing experiments this year.
Zoho Ads on the Ubiquitous "Autos" of Chennai
Posted on Last Updated On
2 Mins Read
One small piece of suggestion, instead of giving for the autos say for instance 5 autos.. make it as one investment in bannering like hoardings in a busy area like.. Thiruvanmuyur, Beach, Cinema theatres.. mostly where the people are more in number. That will give us more Sign-Ups. What say?Charu
One small piece of suggestion, instead of giving for the autos say for instance 5 autos.. make it as one investment in bannering like hoardings in a busy area like.. Thiruvanmuyur, Beach, Cinema theatres.. mostly where the people are more in number. That will give us more Sign-Ups. What say?Charu
Yes. Indian Auto's is good Ad network in Roads.. Not in online.100% sure. This marketing method will leads big success. Because everybody must see the roads before they start the Traveling.
Yes. Indian Auto's is good Ad network in Roads.. Not in online.100% sure. This marketing method will leads big success. Because everybody must see the roads before they start the Traveling.
Wow! Crazy as it may seem. But it is a lovely way. Hats off to your Creative Heads.Everything seems to revolve around Chennai - TN these days - First it was the Google Internet Bus then Rahman at the Oscars and and now this :DDid you try getting the ad with a local language flavor? - There is a thing with Tamil-ians and Tamil as most know - nothing offensive - May garner more attention.
Wow! Crazy as it may seem. But it is a lovely way. Hats off to your Creative Heads.Everything seems to revolve around Chennai - TN these days - First it was the Google Internet Bus then Rahman at the Oscars and and now this :DDid you try getting the ad with a local language flavor? - There is a thing with Tamil-ians and Tamil as most know - nothing offensive - May garner more attention.
Sridhar,I am an adviser for a consulting company in Chennai. We are basically helping clients move from desktop world to SaaS. Essentially targeting professionals like chartered accountants, company secretaries, lawyers, doctors, etc. along with small businesses. We basically uproot them from desktop world and put them on a Cloud based world. Some of them are content using the free options and others pay the SaaS vendors and move to premium services. Our role is in helping them move to SaaS based world and train them to take advantage of Cloud Computing.I think I am disconnected with the happenings in India. Didn't know about the toll free number. Sorry about that.
Sridhar,I am an adviser for a consulting company in Chennai. We are basically helping clients move from desktop world to SaaS. Essentially targeting professionals like chartered accountants, company secretaries, lawyers, doctors, etc. along with small businesses. We basically uproot them from desktop world and put them on a Cloud based world. Some of them are content using the free options and others pay the SaaS vendors and move to premium services. Our role is in helping them move to SaaS based world and train them to take advantage of Cloud Computing.I think I am disconnected with the happenings in India. Didn't know about the toll free number. Sorry about that.
Advees,
Its nice to market zoho in chennai. And yes, you will get maximum benefits out of it. But do you think its the perfect way to build the brand?I would be happy if you have done that in airport or shopping mall or hotels
Advees,
Its nice to market zoho in chennai. And yes, you will get maximum benefits out of it. But do you think its the perfect way to build the brand?I would be happy if you have done that in airport or shopping mall or hotels
Thanks for the compliment Rajkumar.Yellow colored metal body is the only mandatory color for the autos that ply with permit. The top rexine portion color is optional. This has been cross verified with Regional Transport Office before we initiated this.
Thanks for the compliment Rajkumar.Yellow colored metal body is the only mandatory color for the autos that ply with permit. The top rexine portion color is optional. This has been cross verified with Regional Transport Office before we initiated this.
I guess they know that students are tech-savy and travel using these autos :) good strategy !
I guess they know that students are tech-savy and travel using these autos :) good strategy !
Nice idea - but I don't think it is legal to implement it as shown in this photo, at least in Chennai. I believe that yellow and black are stipulated colors for commercial auto rickshaws in Chennai.The most I have seen are just stickers on glass panels or in limited portions on the black cover, which again may be violating the rules, but is small enough to be ignored.So how was the response to ads on Hindu Classifieds on Sunday and to the ads on "Special Focus on Web" section of classifieds on Mondays ?
Nice idea - but I don't think it is legal to implement it as shown in this photo, at least in Chennai. I believe that yellow and black are stipulated colors for commercial auto rickshaws in Chennai.The most I have seen are just stickers on glass panels or in limited portions on the black cover, which again may be violating the rules, but is small enough to be ignored.So how was the response to ads on Hindu Classifieds on Sunday and to the ads on "Special Focus on Web" section of classifieds on Mondays ?
Krish, it is a toll-free number in India! By the way, what product are you marketing?
Krish, it is a toll-free number in India! By the way, what product are you marketing?
But, why do you have 1800 number instead of local Chennai number?
But, why do you have 1800 number instead of local Chennai number?
Sridhar, this is really cool. I love it. For the past three months, we are trying to market SaaS to businesses and professionals in Chennai and we are finding it hard to push the idea into the conscience of people. This campaign is going to help us along with your company Kudos :-)
Sridhar, this is really cool. I love it. For the past three months, we are trying to market SaaS to businesses and professionals in Chennai and we are finding it hard to push the idea into the conscience of people. This campaign is going to help us along with your company Kudos :-)