I f the next time you board an app cab like Uber, Ola, InDrive and see a tab on the back of the front passenger seat headrest, something like the entertainment screen in an aeroplane, you are most likely looking at a Screenzy device. This Calcutta-based start-up that began functioning commercially around November 2022 is now trying to extend its operations to Mumbai. This is the first time such a service is being offered in India, although Uber did a pilot in Mumbai, and Lyft offers a similar service abroad.
So what is Screenzy all about? The screen will switch on when a ride starts and start displaying various kinds of dynamic information as the app cap moves through the city. For instance, if you are passing, say, Victoria Memorial Hall, it will tell you that VRI inscribed there stands for ‘Victoria Regina Imperatrix’ or Victoria Queen and Empress. Or when near the Howrah Bridge, it will show that this is one of the busiest bridges in the world, handling 100,000 vehicles and 150,000 pedestrians each day. Or that the South Park Street Cemetery was the largest nonchurch cemetery outside Europe in the 19th century.
Then there are quizzes that run on the multiple-choice format that you can play to keep yourself entertained on the way to your destination. Not only that, if you get the answers right you can win vouchers and cashback on the cab ride right then. Instead of a quiz, it could also be a feedback questionnaire from marketplaces, restaurants, hotels, cafes, or other establishments.
(Clockwise from top left) Amit Ganguli, founder, Devendra Goel, founder, Arka Ganguli, founder and Ayan Mukherjee, founder
Dynamic Factoid Victoria Memorial Hall
Dynamic Factoid Howrah Bridge
And then there are ads. This is essentially what this screen is primarily about and this is where it expects to make money. Arka Ganguli, one of the four founders of Screenzy and the man leading the marketing push, explains that they will play in a sequence in a 15-minute loop; so, with an average ride duration of half an hour to 35 minutes, the loop should play at least twice during the time the passenger is in the cab. What is interesting is that the dynamic nature of the information that decided which factoid would pop up can also apply to the advertisements."
So ads about, say, a restaurant or diagnostic centre, could pop up when one is close to its area, essentially making ads hyperlocal. Alternatively, if there is billboard for a particular product or company, the device can display the same ad when the cab is passing the billboard. This is apart from the ads that are location-agnostic and will play in loop anyway. But dynamic or static, the ads come with a QR code that one can scan for offers or information about a particular advertiser to get some benefits like vouchers or discounts.
This is the bit that generates the cash for Screenzy, which is trying to cash in on the sort of captive nature of the audience riding in an app cab. Besides, they are likely to be reasonably well off and, therefore, more likely to act after seeing an ad, says Ganguli, who is betting that since most of the time a person is not doing much in a cab, he would most likely watch the screen in front of him or her if something, even advertisements, are playing on it. For Rs 30,000, he is offering to run an ad in 100 cabs with Screenzy devices for one month. There is obviously demand at that price, which Screenzy bumped up to that level from the initial Rs 20,000 per month.
The number of cabs running Screenzy aren’t very big right now. There are just a little over 300 tabs in the app cabs running in the city. So, if you haven’t seen one of the Screenzy screens yet, don’t be surprised. There are even fewer in Mumbai, 100, but that city is in the testing phase. Ganguli says that by around July or August, there would be about 500 cabs running with Screenzy tabs in Mumbai.
Screenzy was the brainchild of Ganguli and Ayan Mukherjee is the one making things happen. While Ganguli is the one doing the marketing duties, Mukherjee is the chief technology officer and the man in charge of ensuring that everything works to plan. After all, while the devices are riding in cabs, they are heavily based on locating technology and linking that with various things that are displayed on the screen.
The two had met through common associates while the first was working at marketing ad space in screens in elevators and the second was doing tech stuff in Cap Gemini.
The other two founders are Amit Ganguli, who held responsible positions in the auto industry, and Devendra Goel, managing director, Lumino Industries, who stumped up the initial cash kitty of Rs 2 crore for the project. While this is not exactly a click-and-brick kind of operation, it’s a bit more than just an app since it has to buy and fit the Screenzy tabs in the vehicles and, thus, needs more funds than an app developer company. Goel expects the passengers to stay glued to the screen.
Going by the signs, they are enjoying the novelty right now and sending back the right signals to advertisers who seem to be seeing the effect their displays are having as app cab passengers seem to be scanning the QR codes or pressing the call-to-action buttons. Even otherwise, the device gets switched on when the cab is started and its camera can see whether someone is in front or not and counts presence.
So, what about privacy, we asked Ganguli, if you are watched by an app throughout your journey in one of the cabs with Screenzy? He insists that the app only tracks movement to record if someone is in front of it, but doesn’t record anything.
Right now, the passenger in the cab doesn’t have any control over the device except when it comes to quizzes, but that could change soon,with more interactive content coming on that would be designed to take much of the boredom out of cab rides.
Ganguli is betting on increasing the footprint quickly and says the company hopes to break even in 2025. He has to get many more cabs on board for that and he is betting that the Rs 1,200 or so a month he is offering the cabbies for carrying the device will get more of them to plump for it. This is after all a numbers game, and the game is on.