How Schindler India looks to transform in-lift advertising with Times OOH

Tarunesh Mathur, senior vice president, delves into the dynamics of in-lift advertising, speaks about its objectives, challenges and more.

Standing in a lift full of strangers, with no mobile network, often leads to uncomfortable silences and awkward stares. But not if you are in one of Schindler India’s lifts, as you'll have some digital ads to look at.

Schindler India has collaborated with Times Innovative Media (Times OOH), a part of the Times of India Group to redefine in-lift advertising. This partnership will empower brands to offer their ad campaigns on connected screens.

According to MMR (Maximize Market Research), the Indian elevator market is expected at 50,000- 55,000 units yearly with an installed base of ≈ 25 lakhs. This could create a huge scope for marketers, as the medium could act as a media vehicle for ad campaigns.

Schindler India predicts that in-lift advertising can become big, and in the next three years, it can grow up to five to ten times.

Tarunesh Mathur, senior vice president, Schindler Group believes it could interest advertisers, as they can target a captive audience in a particular building depending upon objectives. “For that one minute, there’s no mobile network which could be a win for brands as they can get a high recall value.”

DOOH (digital out-of-home) advertising is inviting a lot of advertisers because of its ability to run shorter and low-value campaigns. The brand believes as there’s a clutter in the OOH segment, the in-lift advertising can act as a better medium for brands. 

“In India, the dynamic of every market is different. There’s a lot of things required at the whole value chain, which is going in the direction of programmatic advertising,” he says. 

Through this, the brand can run hyper-local campaigns easily via in-lift advertising. Also, it allows the marketers to target a particular audience depending upon the area which isn’t the case in OOH.

The brand offers a proprietary content management system, which can be functioned through a click of a button. 

Currently, the brand is catering to 75% of residential properties and 25% of commercial properties. With this in-lift advertising, the company is focussing on tier-1 cities. The company claims that it has a daily impression of 1.2 billion in a day.

Till now, the elevator company has witnessed more interest from national campaigns than hyper-local campaigns. 

Talking about the category of interest from advertisers, he mentions, “E-commerce is heavily invested in this category as there’s a festive season. The brands across categories like service-based, jewellery, and car brands are choosing this kind of medium till now.”

Marketers can change their communication on a real-time basis using content management software. 

It can optimise data and provide location data as well.

Schindler has observed this model worked well in Switzerland, and Germany and is trying its hands on India now. The business model has worked well in China too. 

“In a day, an average lift would do 700-1000 trips, consisting of 5-8 people. So, it can become a great opportunity for brands to get eyeballs.”, he adds. 

This medium is looking to play on the frequency, as customers could see an ad a number of times. The in-lift screen also offers slots for society announcements, festive wishes, and safety bulletins. 

Challenges of In-lift advertisement

One of the challenges of in-lift advertisement is the time duration spent in elevators by consumers is hardly more than a minute. How does it ensure that the brand’s message is communicated efficiently during the period? 

He answers, “In a day, an average person would take a 7-8 elevator ride. We’ve slot-defined for a particular length, to give enough time. There’s a 32-inch high-definition screen that provides enough time for users to engage with the brand.” 

“We want to play on the card of frequency; this medium will give brands higher frequency to engage with the audience that has a higher chance of buying their product or services.” 

After the pandemic, people have taken their health seriously. Consumers are seeking to take stairs instead of elevators for numerous health benefits, but this could become a hurdle for in-lift advertisement. 

The company believes that earlier lifts were a luxury, but now it’s a convenience feature. “With quick commerce, loads on lifts are high as delivery executives come frequently. Post-pandemic, people are moving out and using lifts more now. We are seeing an increase rather than a decrease.”