The HCMC Public Passenger Transport Management and Operation Center has announced the fourth bidding for bus advertising, which is expected to take place on March 8, after the previous tenders failed to attract participants, Thanh Nien Online newspaper reported.

The center will divide the bidding into 11 packages and set the flexible contract period for one to three years, instead of a fixed period of three years, as in previous tenders.

Those winning the bidding will have the right to advertise on 50% of the surface of buses, except for the front, back and areas of bus identification.

The tender will be held at the HCMC Property Auction Service Center on Hoang Viet Street in Tan Binh District.

The HCMC Department of Transport, on September 12, 2018, announced the first auction for bus advertising, which was divided into four packages on 2,082 buses. Only one firm, Koa Sha Media Vietnam Co., Ltd, submitted a bid and won an auction package to place ads on 492 buses over three years. The remaining packages failed to attract participants, and the second auction also received no bids from advertising firms.

Therefore, the department then divided the remaining packages into eight smaller packages for the third auction. Each package was arranged to have different amounts of buses and starting prices, with an aim of meeting the various demands of advertising firms.

The third tender featured 79 routes with 1,570 buses, including along routes B40, B55-B60 and B80, as well as on two-storey buses. The lowest price of packages started at some VND10.5 billion, while the highest price was VND36 billion per year, exclusive of value-added taxes.

However, no enterprises registered to attend the auction.

Tran Quang Lam, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Transport, said that the behaviors of advertisers have changed, which is evident in the rise in advertising on social media and other online platforms. The traditional means of advertising, such as placing ads on buses, is gradually declining in attractiveness. In addition, packages of bus advertising rights lasting three years have also discouraged firms from purchasing them.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Quy Cap, chairman of the HCMC Advertising Association, attributed the lukewarm responses to auctions for bus advertising to the high charges and unreasonable methods of execution.

SGT