signAGE

When a retail leasing professional, me, was entrusted with the task of presenting a case on effective use of Signage Space in commercial office buildings, that was the first sign that recession had hit. But the fact that I was doing it for the biggest developer, for the most landmark of structures in India’s Millennium City did help to calm the initial storm and venture out in a totally new zone. With a digicam in my hand I set off for the assignment. On the then clicked, highlighted and suggested spaces are placed now the logos of brands like RayBan, Yahoo and Videocon (the new me).

The just passed recession has compelled the companies to look out for newer and innovative revenue model. The use of space available in highly visible commercial buildings for branding of companies including and in addition to the existing occupants is one such outcome. It’s prevalent abroad but quite THE NEW thing in India. Videocon is one of the occupiers in DLF Gateway Tower, Gurgaon aka The Ship Building and now the Videocon Tower, but the way the entire signage space has been sold to Videocon in this building, its unprecedented and its highly emphatic. This being one of the most visible buildings in the country in terms of daily eye balls, it presents itself as the first and most stunning example of Corporate Branding on entire building façades. Of course the Doyen of Indian Branding, Airtel, has gone one step ahead just 100 meters diagonally opposite to the Videocon Tower, but Videocon is pioneer here. The timing of Videocon rebranding itself and launching the same on Gateway Tower couldn’t have been better. In Airtel Building, unlike facade the entire construction in the property is colorful and in complete sync with the colors of Brand Bharti but its most effective only in night, and the colors seems to be overdone a bit there.

In short, the trend has been set to incorporate not a specific space but the entire building for the new age branding of new age companies. However, for the companies that don’t want the complete thing or the companies that are chick and want to brand themselves in a certain way, there is an option for going “the selective ” way like Ray Ban did or Yahoo did. Ray Ban has taken a small but equally effective corner space in the same Cybercity and overlooking the flyover. Yahoo, has gone more specific and taken one of the elevator space in one of DLF’s landmark buildings.

Signage culture is more in sync with Highstreets and Shopping Malls but strategically located Office Spaces is the newer breeding ground for it. To conclude Out of Home (OOH) Media in not a very distant future will have prime Corporate Offices in its scheme of things but only the intelligent placement and relevancy will separate wheat from chaff.