Brand bazaar lights up road to Ayodhya
Ayodhya has emerged as the new branding hotspot for India Inc with companies like Coca-Cola, Reliance, ITC, Dabur, Adani Wilmar, Emami, and Parle Products rushing to get the maximum visibility for their products to capitalise on an anticipated influx in devotees to the holy city.
Shops and dhabas or roadside restaurants in the city as well as on highways connecting the major Uttar Pradesh cities of Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi with Ayodhya are witness to coolers, signboards and vending machines being set up by these firms sporting their branded products. In addition, parks, branded gates, changing rooms for devotees, activity zones, stalls, incense paths, and experience centres are also being opened, executives at these companies said.
Coca-Cola said it has swapped its trademark red colour branding with brown colours to go with the "temple theme".
It has placed 50 vending machines with 50 more in the discussion stage. «We are placing coolers and boards to deck up stores of shopkeepers, setting up 20 changing rooms for devotees, and developing a park for them,» its spokesperson said.
Though a small market so far with a population of about 350,000 people, Ayodhya is expected to see eight to 10 times surge in visitors leading to the Ram temple consecration on January 22, which executives said is a large captive market.
Activation budgets more than doubled
«The temple inauguration is a momentous occasion and we are being part of this,» said Mohit Malhotra, chief executive of Dabur.
