India’s biggest mode of commuting, Indian Railway, is now chugging fast to becoming one of the biggest advertising platforms. The latest fad is vinyl wrapping. It started with Rajdhani Express and now Western Railways is all set to adorn a new look.

After having succeeded successfully with the Rajdhani Express (Hazrat Nizamuddin Bangalore), all decked up with Airtel branding went on its maiden voyage…opening gates to a new avenue of advertising. Western Railway has also recently invited tenders for bulk advertising rights. The advertising options include luggage transfers inside EMU racks; vinyl wrapping of exterior of Gujrat Express; bulk advertising rights of vinyl stickers on the windows of Garib Rath express and reservation charts.

A brightly decked up passenger train bogies, is a visual delight for all, but for media planners it is a boon. This can actually provide extra mileage to any brand by using trains as an adverting medium. In recent past we have witnessed a few innovative brand campaigns, for example Kurkure Express, special summer special plying on the Bangalore-Nagarcoil, Bangalore-Chennai and Bangalore-Hubli routes, had fetched great gains for PepsiCo India. The other interesting example was of the ‘Blue Billion Express’ journey from Delhi to Jaipur, with superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra on board along with a 100 journalists and more than 100 contest winners headed to cheer the Indian cricket team at the ICC Champions Trophy match.

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