South Corpn to rope in fast food joints for campaigns

Plans to use LCD screens there for awareness drives

South Delhi Municipal Corporation is looking beyond hoardings, radio and television to run its advertisement campaigns.

To expand its reach, civic body is now eying fast food joints such as Pizza Hut and McDonald’s – which witness a large number of footfall, especially of young people – and also online platforms to run its awareness campaigns on sanitation, health and property tax, among others.

Officials said the corporation is set to empanel the agencies which have media rights of the LCD screens installed in food joints, private hospitals and other public places such as commercial complexes, railway stations and airport.

The empanelled agencies would run various campaigns at government approved rates.
“We want to reach out to the maximum number of people. Therefore, we are looking at avenues other than the traditional ones. The campaigns would be shown on LCD screens during peak hours,” said a senior corporation official.

As per an estimate, the civic body is targeting around 400 food joints in south and west Delhi for the campaign. Officials said the campaign would also be run in private hospitals.
“Media agencies have installed such screens in several private hospitals as well. If we run health-related campaigns related to Dengue and other vector-borne diseases, it would make the desired impact,” the official added. 
  
 Apart from LCD screens, officials said, they also plan to post their advertisement on websites that attract maximum traffic volume. “The advertisements are likely to be posted on news websites,” an official said.

The proposal to empanel the media agencies is likely to be tabled before the standing committee for the final approval. As per the proposal, the new initiatives would also be cost effective in comparison to advertisement on television.

“The media agencies would charge the agency at the rate of Re 1 per screen for a slot of 10 seconds. A similar slot would cost around Rs 10-11,000 on any mainstream television channel,” said an official, adding that the campaign is likely to be introduced in October.