THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As they crisscross the teeming streets of the city, flaunting colourful vinyl posters, the KSRTC buses are driving in crores of rupees to the pocket of the Transport Corporation. Nearly 4,500 KSTRC buses covering the length and breadth of the State are set to carry advertisements on their side and back panels. KSRTC has awarded a two-year contract for advertising in buses to Hyderabad-based Koushik Group for a whopping Rs 3.03 crore.Ads in KSRTC buses are back after a gap of one year. “KSRTC has been giving contracts to agencies for sometime now, but the agency which had taken up the contract last time had run up arrears. For almost one year, very few ads were being carried by our buses,” said S Salimrajan, Executive Director (Technical) of KSRTC.“We have got a good response from various interested parties within these few months. Movies, jewellers and finance companies are our major clients,’’ MD of Koushik Group G Nagaraju said. “Cost-effectiveness and penetration are the factors attracting advertisers towards such transit ads. Ads on both side panels and the back panel of a bus would cost less than Rs 6,000 per month. It is much cheaper and effective than digital sign boards and large hoardings,” he added. Mollywood movies are the major advertisers who cash in on this cheap and innovative way to reach out to the crowds and create a buzz about the films. Ananthapuri buses in the city have been displaying ads of ‘China Town’ and ‘Three Kings’ for sometime now. Ashiq Abu’s ready-to-release ‘Salt ‘n Pepper’ is among the latest from Mollywood to try a hand in these ‘posters on the move’ to reach out to the masses. “We are planning customised advertising for buses. We have identified long-distance buses running from Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode for the purpose. Initially, we will run ads on 15 buses and would expand the number considering the response.” said Joseph Pallath of Amazon Promotions, promotion agents of the movie. KSTRC has spared the JNNURM buses from being advertised, as they are Centrally funded.
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