Advertising in space is a romantic notion, but is it a feasible one? Will brands be on board?...

Imagine a billboard with your logo floating through the vast universe. Zero clutter, just your logo set amongst the stars. That could soon be a very real possibility for brands, thanks to SpaceX founder Elon Musk tying up with a Canadian startup to put up the first ever billboard up in space.

Next year, Geometric Energy Corp (GEC) plans to blast a satellite into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will allow advertising to be beamed from Earth and displayed on a pixelated screen on the side of the spacecraft. The billboard won’t be visible from the ground but a live feed of the content will be streamed on YouTube or Twitch.

While advertising in space is an intriguing thought, will brands be excited by the idea?

Universe appeal

The final frontier has always been a draw for humans, says Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer, DDB Mudra Group. “The excitement of the unknown and the thrill of the audacious have always been a strong lure. And that’s what the billboard in space does. It takes your brand message to where no message has gone before,” he says.

“Advertising has historically been about occupying space, and with Musk, it has become quite literal,” says Kishan Kumar Shyamalan, chief growth officer, Wavemaker India. “There have been many brands with a very strong space association. Top of mind would be Omega and the Moonwatch inspired by the journey, and Jockey did a global campaign around the space journey too. Red Bull took a dive from space; KitKat nearly reached there.

“Almost four to five years ago, we had worked very closely with a telecom brand and a premium biscuit brand around space journey/activations. Had we pulled those off, that would’ve been something,” he adds.

Kainaz Karmakar, chief creative officer at Ogilvy India, is equally intrigued by the prospect of advertising in space. “I know this sounds crazy at first but everything that has pushed the world ahead has always sounded crazy in the beginning,” she says. Asked if she would recommend it to clients, she says, “The emotional ROI could be grand (but) I would explore it more and learn more before I would ask my client to put money on it.”

Who will take the leap?

“The novelty of this billboard launch and its YouTube streaming will attract immediate interest and eyeballs. However, its sustained relevance in consumers’ lives remains to be seen,” says Vivek Sharma, chief marketing officer, Pidilite Industries, who believes that space should be left unpolluted and free of the clutter of commercial messages. “Why advertise in space when you have the option of targeting consumers privately through digital means — at the right place at the right time,” he adds.

Ad agencies are also apprehensive about which brands might be brave enough to take the leap. “It surely is an exciting space, no doubt there. However, I feel more than the marketing muscle, brand(s) need to have the personality and attitude to effectively maximise such an opportunity,” says Shyamalan.

Mathew agrees. “I believe these mediums are only good for two kinds of brands: The brave ones and the creative ones,” he says. “The brave ones will be the first ones to be on it. They won’t tangle themselves in discussions around reach, audience or ROI. They’re the ones who want to own the headlines. While the creative ones may not be the first to embrace it, they will use it in ways that would blow your mind.”

Shyamalan thinks space would be a great opportunity for brands who want instant fame. “A lot of the new-age brands don’t want to wait to go through the classical brand building approach. For them, this is a great opportunity to scale instant fame,” he explains.

To the first go the spoils

Krishna Iyer, director - marketing, MullenLowe Lintas Group, says, “As promising as Musk’s proposition seems, it will only offer proper marketing returns to the early bird who will garner massive talk-ability for their unprecedented ad placement. For the ones who follow (remember Buzz Aldrin), it will only be snob value at best, with very little marketing ROI.”

Mathew agrees. “It’s the me-too folks that I wouldn’t bother with. They would want to be on it because it worked for many others. And that’s never the best reason to do something because the ROI on these kinds of things will never be return on investment, it’s return of (consumer) interest,” he explains.

“For clients chasing the next big thing, a billboard in the heavens may hold some appeal. But a practical marketer will look elsewhere to get ‘higher’ returns,” adds Iyer.

Box: Other mediums advertisers would love to explore

“Given the choice, I wish we could advertise during sleep; I call it in-dream advertising. And depending on your dream patterns, we could do contextual advertising or dynamic creative optimisation.”

• Kishan Kumar Shyamalan, chief growth officer, Wavemaker India

“Sci-fi enthusiasts can envision a day when one can wear a plain white tee having display capabilities and an in-built GPS, allowing one to become a ‘walking billboard’. As a marketer, imagine presenting your brand messages to relevant audiences at their eye-level, at a place and time favourable to your business, without seeming too intrusive. Perhaps, that will be the day ad blockers will have to block real people.”

• Krishna Iyer, director – marketing, MullenLowe Lintas Group

“Except for sleazy people, no one has seen the potential in delivering their brand messages inside toilet stalls at places like airports and malls. You can’t get a more captive audience than that.”

• Kainaz Karmakar, chief creative officer, Ogilvy India

“A medium I stare at every day, but is rarely used is the sky. I wonder why we don’t have enough examples of skywriting in advertising.”

• Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer, DDB Mudra Group