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Note to readers: The last decade has witnessed significant advances in mobility and transport. New technologies and opportunities have brought a dramatic change to our societies. Planet and people-friendly transportation is more relevant than ever in the history of humankind, with everything from health to climate crises hitting us at warp speed. Storyboard18’s Month In This - EVolve 2022: Building an electric future, is an opportunity to bring to the forefront conversations around charging up marketing and brand building, to exchange and share new ideas, challenges and solutions in the field of clean transportation and mobility. Catch this Storyboard18 special on Moneycontrol, CNBC-TV18 and Forbes India. 

As electric mobility continues to gain popularity among sustainability conscious upwardly mobile Indians, advertisers might find a new way to advertise to this new set of customers.

Earlier this year, a report from advertising and marketing focussed news portal reported that a US-based EV charging network Volta Charging, which boasts of 2,137 stalls nationwide, is launching a dedicated media network, Volta Media, to better serve its advertising partners.

The move simply means that brands across categories will now be able to advertise at these EV charging stations to capture the attention of tech savvy and affluent consumers.

On Volta Charging's website the company states: "It's time to rethink your media strategy. Our growing network of charging stations reaches millions of qualified customers with premium place-based, interactive content in a sustainable format."

In India, the same model can potentially be replicated as the EV infrastructure strengthens owing to the strong impetus given to ramp up the EV ecosystem both by the government and private players.

The Centre said it is planning to install up to 70,000 EV chargers across the country in the next few years. Meanwhile, under phase II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-India) scheme, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has sanctioned 2,877 electric vehicles (EV) charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states. 1,576 charging stations have been sanctioned across 9 expressways and 16 highways.

FAME was launched in 2015 to improve the infrastructure required for the large-scale use of EVs. Phase II, which began in April 2019, is the current phase and will last five years.

Meanwhile, key companies including Mercedes-Benz India, already have 100-odd EV stations across the country where EVs of all brands can be charged easily.

Ideal touchpoint for engagement

Experts believe that EV stations can potentially be an impactful outdoor advertising platform, giving brands access to upwardly mobile, tech savvy and an affluent urban consumer base. This cohort are not only early adopters of technology but are also equally conscious and responsible about the environment.

Rachana Lokhande - Founder, Glocal Bridge and advisor at the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) says that the EV charging stations require higher electricity voltage and the availability of larger spaces to build the stations which can accommodate multiple cars.

“The plans for battery swapping stations and building a dense network of charging points instead of charging stations are emerging to be a better solution. Considering that charging stations might likely be on the outskirts, this dense network of public EV charging points is an ideal touchpoint for developing a good DOOH (digital outdoor) /OOH network,” she adds.

Viability of charging stations advertising

Industry executives seem divided on the potential of charging stations becoming a hot favourite of advertisers when it comes to targeting a specific set of consumers.

Nilay Chandra, VP - marketing and charging infrastructure, Ather Energy, notes that in India, our two-wheeler parking locations are in the corner where there is not enough parking space and outdoor in such an area will not be in the best looking or well lit-up space probably beyond a point I don’t know how many people will be visiting that area to get return on investment (RoI) of that location.

“I believe even in India in some locations this model can work. The need to get operational revenues from advertising is little low in India. Even if 40 percent of our vehicles convert into EVs in the next five years we are talking about 10 million EVs so our volumes are so substantial even without doing outdoor advertising at charging stations there is business viability,” he explains.

Chandra further adds that the charging time is so less at these stations one doesn’t get such a highly captive audience that brands might get at an airport.

“While volume might be high, the engagement will be so slow that conversion rates won’t be high. My belief is that while in some prominent locations this model might work but this will not be the prominent model of how revenue generations at these stations will happen,” he rues.

Meanwhile, luxury automobile maker Mercedes-Benz India, which has over 100 charging stations in the country, says that it intends to keep its stations advertising free.  

“In future, there will be charging points for luxury cars (more than 100 kW) and the others will be for the mass brands. We however do not want to intrude customers with advertising messages when one is charging their car, rather focus on offering a quick charging experience,” says Santosh Iyer, vice president of sales and marketing for Mercedes-Benz India.

Lokhande of Global Bridge argues that the potential of outdoor advertising is dependent on exposure to the audience, which is dependent on the time taken to charge a vehicle and the positioning of the public charging points.

Whether the outdoor advertising at EV charging stations picks up big time is something only time will tell, the adoption of electric mobility in India is clearly undebatable.

EVolve 2022: Can EV charging stations become new outdoor ad platforms?

Note to readers: The last decade has witnessed significant advances in mobility and transport. New technologies and opportunities have brought a dramatic change to our societies. Planet and people-friendly transportation is more relevant than ever in the history of humankind, with everything from health to climate crises hitting us at warp speed. Storyboard18’s Month In This - EVolve 2022: Building an electric future, is an opportunity to bring to the forefront conversations around charging up marketing and brand building, to exchange and share new ideas, challenges and solutions in the field of clean transportation and mobility. Catch this Storyboard18 special on Moneycontrol, CNBC-TV18 and Forbes India. 

For 28-year old Shreyas Sharma buying an electric scooter was a big decision especially with multiple incidents of vehicles catching fire. He did an extensive amount of research and decided only after an EV owner shared his personal experience.

“I decided only after my friend who owns an EV himself answered various queries and shared his positive personal experience,” he tells Storyboard18. 

Sharma belongs to a bandwagon of consumers who are extremely curious and interested in electric vehicles but are often deterred by negative news and perception, myths and lack of reliable information available to them. This is exactly what electric vehicles makers in India are trying to solve through various marketing efforts which includes awareness creation and myth-busting exercises, community building, influencer engagement and mainstream promotions.

There is a huge marketing push by major brands in two and four-wheeler categories. Tata Motors, Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Audi India and Mercedes-Benz India are all fuelling up their marketing tanks. These companies are taking over every possible media platform ranging from digital and social media to television commercials to create awareness, intent and dispel myths around owning an electric vehicle.

Unlike regular automotive advertising which heavily focuses on the brand and the product, when it comes to EV, brands have to also take the responsibility of educating the customers as they are trying to shift consumption patterns.

Creating awareness, busting myths

Building awareness and busting myths in the EV category clearly emerged as the top priority for EV makers in India. Industry executives believe that the EV category, especially four-wheelers, is still at a nascent stage. The category is broadly divided into four key barriers - a price premium, inadequate charging infrastructure, range anxiety and limited choices.

Tata Motors, for instance, which recently launched the Nexon EV MAX followed by the Nexon EV Prime, also unveiled two new concepts that captured consumers’ interest – Tata Curvv and Tata Avinya in April 2022. Across communication, they addressed various barriers through the four pillars of myth busting, leveraging owners’ testimonials, range rallies, and expert opinions.

Vivek Srivatsa, head marketing, sales and service strategy, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, tells us that when the Tata Group company launched the Nexon EV, it roped in Milind Soman and Ankita Konwar to drive the car all the way from Manali to Leh to demonstrate its capabilities. 

He goes on, “When we launched the ‘Evolve to Electric’ campaign, we activated multiple touch points, right from a stunt activity - ‘The Electric Ascent’, to social media communication that busted myths. We were also recently present at the TCS Marathon in Bangalore.”  

Srivatsa tells us that owner experiences are also amplified regularly to offer an authentic opinion of owning an EV, adding that “this adds to our overall credibility.” 

Influencer engagement, word-of-mouth works  

Ather Energy, which sells two-wheeler EVs, has focused on community building and CRM marketing, PR and influencer marketing to get the news out about a product that will launch shortly.

“That really worked well for us because we got our first set of evangelists through that route,” says Nilay Chandra, VP - Scooter Business, Ather Energy. 

The company, which first focussed heavily on digital marketing has now switched to a mix of digital and mainline media platforms to truly achieve scale and become a national brand. Influencer engagement and its experience centers remain its key marketing points as well.

“Our brand is known to a lot more people, we have moved to a pan-India approach and gone mainstream by adopting TV and print in the last one year. We want Ather to be considered like any other scooter company that has been there for decades,” Chandra adds.

Customized communication

Mercedes-Benz India, which deploys social media and television to promote its range of EVs, believes in creating customisable communication for luxury EV buyers. Marketing a luxury EV is similar to marketing a top-end luxury vehicle as the focus remains on individual requirements and brand experience desired from the brand. The company further adds that attributes like sustainable driving, zero emission, reduced carbon footprint, latest technology onboard, hassle free ownership etc. are highlighted through its marketing campaigns.

“For a luxury EV customer the marketing approach combines offering sustainable mobility with an emotional appeal and luxury brand experience synonymous with Mercedes-Benz. With our brand campaign and retail marketing approach we showcased the EV with its world-class product attributes along with an EQ ecosystem that promises hassle free ownership devoid of issues like range anxiety, charging infra etc,” shares Santosh Iyer, vice president of sales and marketing for Mercedes-Benz India. Iyer was recently announced as the next MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India and will take over the luxury car marker’s operations in India.  

All leading players are pushing their boundaries when it comes to branding and marketing. The focus is on supplying reliable products and quashing fears and anxiety around owning EVs which will push its adoption in a big way. 

Focus on reliability 

Ather's Chandra tells us that what the category needs is people who are as focussed on the quality, reliability and consistency. 

He says, “When consumers want to adopt a category because the products are better, especially in a category where families are going to use it and deeply linked to their livelihood as it is related to the commute, I think reliability of a product becomes fundamental.” 

In an interview with Storyboard18, Chandra says, “Rather than pointing fingers at how things are blown up in the EV category which might be true, the industry needs to focus on measures to make reliable products. Once consumers see evident action being taken by all players then half of the problem will be solved and then we could do myth busting exercises. At this stage, there’s no substitute to having good reliable products with an intent to be industry for a longer haul and not running after selling certain volumes.”

MERCEDES BENZ INDIA