Click to play videoMumbai: There are billboards and many of them, but a live advertisement with 18-year-old Mihir Mehta on display in a mock hotel is generating curiosity as well as excitement in Mumbai .
Mihir is the face of Ginger hotels. And he is at least while he is in his very own hotel room on the Mahim Causeway in Mumbai.
Mihir is very clear on why he chose to put himself on display for 13 hours a day for 10 whole days.
"There is no motivation as such but I will earn a lot of pocket money,” he says.
The mock up of a low cost hotel room from Indian Hotels is attracting some curiosity from onlookers too.
They feel if the actual hotel is as good as what had promised, they won’t mind a few nights in Ginger.
"If the quality is good we don’t mind paying,” says a media executive, Ashok Trivedi.
But what brought about this innovative piece of marketing and will the concept catch on in India?
"It’s called ambient advertising and it is a new concept that will grow. Now that there are highways and flyovers this will show through the clutter,” says regional creative director, south and Southeast Asia, McCann-Erickson, Prasoon Joshi.
The advertising is unusual but the client is happy and Indian Hotels say that the end user that is the consumer will be satisfied too.
"It’s a great package. It’s Rs 999 a night plus taxes. We couldn’t build a hotel in Mumbai so we showcased a replica and there had to be a customer in it too,” says CEO of Root Corporation, Prabhat Pani.
Mihir is probably the first in a series of ads featuring live models and he deserves his extra pocket money.
However, with five more days of hard work ahead, he will be glad when this innovative campaign is over.
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