Viacom Signs Lastminute For First Moving Bus Ads
Viacom Outdoor has announced the next phase of its digital technology investment plan, with the trial of Britain’s first full-colour digital LED screens on the sides of buses.
Twenty-five London buses have been adapted to carry the state-of-the-art screens, which occupy half of the “Superside” advertising space on each of the buses.
The first advertiser to employ the new technology will be lastminute.com. Commenting on the deal, Stuart Parish, media planning & purchasing manager at lastminute.com, said: “Developing both new and innovative ways to reach our customer is always at the forefront of thinking for lastminute.com and this opportunity certainly fits the bill.
“The sites will offer us a stand out and impact that will be hard to ignore and I’m confident they will be a huge success for us. While we can’t give any more detail at the moment, it goes without saying that when lastminute.com paints London buses pink with it’s cheeky advertising messages, it’ll be hard to miss.”
The new screens are equipped with mobile data technology to allow advertisers to remotely update their content. The new technology allows different messages to be displayed at different times of the day, or as often as advertisers wish.
The digital bus sides follow Viacom Outdoors installation of digital escalator panels at Tottenham Court Road Tube station (see Electronic Billboards See Positive Response), and will sport a similar look, able to show animated images and moving text.
The digital bus sides will be positioned on the pavement facing side of the 25 specially equipped London buses, with Viacom planning additional upgrades to the technology to install Global Satellite Positioning (GPS) systems so that advertisers can run different adverts depending on the location of the bus.
Lastminute.com will launch the first campaign to use the new technology in October, running for twelve weeks on buses operating in central London. Viacom will make further advertising opportunities available to brands on a two or four-week basis.
Viacom Outdoor: 020 7482 3000 www.viacom-outdoor.co.uk