Benefits of in-cinema ads are known only to a few: MTDC's Dhekane

When one talks about government ads, ‘boring’, ‘dull’, ‘preachy’ are some adjectives usually attributed to them. Well, that seems to be a thing gone-by. But in the last couple of years, government ads are visually more vibrant, subtle (non-preachy) and in-sync with the current time and age. Also, various government outfits are now more open to trying out relatively new mediums such as social, digital and in-cinema.

The latest being Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation. MTDC is leveraging digital theaters to promote Maharashtra as a tourism destination. The state government’s recently launched advertising commercial is the first and only campaign that has used cinema screens, one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country, to promote tourism. The MTDC advertisement, which features picturesque forts, cities, beaches, temples, forests and mountains across Maharashtra, is sung by Shankar Mahadevan to the theme of ‘Jai Maharashtra’.

Adgully caught up with Sanjay Dhekane, Sr. Manager (Publicity & PR), MTDC to know more about the campaign.

Though tourism ads have been making rounds largely on television and print, speaking about choosing a medium as uncommon as in-cinema advertising, Dhekane said, “MTDC has also been promoting on TV and print aggressively. However, in-cinema advertising is the medium which takes us to the target market. People coming to theaters spend money on watching movies and hence, we feel that they are a serious audience. The attention span for those few hours is very much focused which we wanted to capitalise on.

As one of the few platforms that guarantee a captive audience, India’s movie halls are proving to be the right stage for corporates and the government to showcase advertisements that are relevant to the theater’s audience. “Our objective was to focus on the discerning audience which is interested in entertainment, in particular, movies, as Mumbai and Maharashtra is the entertainment capital of India”, Dhekane said.

Apart from more eyeballs viewing your ad (as cinema is one of the largest entertainment platforms in India), talking about the other positives that he foresees coming from this particular campaign, Dhekane stated, “There is a lot left to be explored in the medium of cinema.  Our campaign is simple, yet attractive and entertaining. It is capable of audience engagement and due to its uncommon platform it will also enhance the brand imagery of MTDC. This campaign was done during some of the best blockbusters like, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Chennai Express, Madras Café and Southern regional hits. We had evaluated their marketing campaigns, which looked promising, and prompted us to select these films as the platforms. It has worked for Maharashtra Tourism to a great extent.”

As one of the few outfits to start advertising on this medium, Dhekane is of the opinion that Digital Cinema is growing rapidly and they are looking for opportunities in the Digital Cinema space on the right platforms; and thus this medium will certainly gain prominence as an essential part of the media mix.

Lastly, speaking about whether this campaign will stand as a case-in-point or inspire and instigate other contemporaries to follow the same path, Dhekane opined, “Tourism promotion is a comprehensive marketing strategy and there are various ways to look at it.  It certainly generates positive results and others will follow suit.”