Viacom Breaks New Ground With Digital Tube Posters
Viacom’s digital poster sites will go live for the first time this week, with Tottenham Court Road tube station the first underground site to feature the digital billboards.
The 66 digital sites, either side of the escalators at the station, will enable advertisers to create animated posters that move or feature changing text and images. All the sites will be linked together electronically, allowing advertisers to use all the sites on the escalators in unison, with images transferring from screen to screen, travelling up and down the escalator.
Viacom Outdoor has created the new technology in partnership with London Underground management and technical partners, working for some time to create the sites, which will be used initially by British Airways, O2, Direct Line and 20th Century Fox. Transport for London, Dewynters and Total Media will also become the first advertisers to use the new digital posters, which promise many advantages over their paper-based predecessors.
The posters will revolutionise the way that advertisers can use poster sites to reach consumers on the move during the day, and at different times during the week, giving local retailers the opportunity to promote their latest offers throughout daylight hours, while local entertainment venues can promote their nights out in the evening.
Commenting on the posters, Richard Parry, director of strategy and service development at London Underground, said: “We are pleased to be working with Viacom Outdoor on this exciting new technology. It will be a fantastic medium with which to communicate to our customers.”
Tim Bleakley, joint managing director at Viacom Outdoor, continued: “This is a fantastic glimpse into the future and a reminder of the unique power of the London Underground environment in reaching a highly valuable captive audience in an engaging and captivating way.”
He added: “The combination of branded visual imagery in close proximity to mobile consumer point of sale will in time be proved to be one of the most effective mediums in London.”
During the initial launch period, however, Viacom will sell air-time on a two-week basis, with posters on both sides of the escalator carrying the same ads in rotation. Advertisers using the sites will also be required to work within guidelines drawn up by Viacom and London Underground to ensure travellers safety is maintained while using escalators.
Viacom’s plans to install the new technology on London’s tube network were announced in March. The new technology is the first in the world to bring dynamic digital images to escalators, the company claims, with staircases able to work together to provide advertisers with easily organised site “takeovers” or images that follow travellers as they rise or decend on escalators throughout stations (see Viacom To Install Digital Posters On Tube).
Viacom Ourdoor: 020 7482 3000 www.viacom-outdoor.co.uk