Big Names Sign Up To Major Digital Outdoor Network

The first five advertising partners to launch campaigns on Viacom Outdoor’s high definition London Underground ad network have been announced, with big names Virgin Atlantic, Magners, Pioneer, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and GuestInvest being the first to sign up.

In addition to the Digital Escalator Panel (D-EP) sites at Tottenham Court Road station in London, four major interchange stations – Bond Street, Charing Cross, Euston and Paddington – will see D-EP panels on exit escalators introduced from this week.

This first phase of the transformation of the London Underground into the world’s largest digital advertising network (see Viacom Tube Contract To Lead Digital Ad Revolution) will be followed by the phased introduction of hundreds of further D-EP panels and large LCD screens in ticket office sites as well as cross-track projection (XTP) sites at stations across London’s Zone One during 2007.

Campaigns for all of the launch advertisers will run for six weeks until January 15 and each brand has category exclusivity in the run up to Christmas. Viacom Outdoor is now also offering day-part packages, allowing brands to target specific times of the day.

Nicky Cheshire, sales director of Alive at Viacom Outdoor, said: “Our new digital proposition will quite simply revolutionise advertising on the Tube and provide an exciting new route to market in the heart of London.

“Our advertising partners are true media pioneers connecting with consumers on the move across the capital through the most dynamic media technology of our time. We’ve experienced unprecedented demand for exposure on our new and fast growing digital network and we are already talking to an exciting range of brands about options for LCD screens as well as our cutting edge XTP sites.”

The company, which will change its name to CBS Outdoor in the New Year (see Viacom Outdoor To Rebrand In New Year), recently published some new research, which indicated that the longer a person spends with an advertisement, the more likely they are to remember the brand, the ad message and buy the actual product (see Viacom Outdoor Release New Advertising Research).

Viacom Outdoor: 020 7482 3000 www.viacom-outdoor.co.uk