TRANSIT ADVERTISING

Transit advertising is advertising placed in or on modes of public transportation or in public transportation areas. Using this method of advertising, ads can be placed anywhere from on the sides of buses, trains and taxis, to inside subway cars, inside bus stations and near train or bus platforms. The main purpose of transit advertising is to reach riders and acquaint them with your brand. 

Importance

Transit advertising is important because it can provide high visibility for your product on a daily basis. Also, your audience may not necessarily be able to ignore your ads as they would, for example, by fast-forwarding through a television commercial or radio advertisement, or flipping past a magazine ad. Many times, it may be hard for a person to ignore an ad they are sitting across from on a train or bus, simply because it's in their direct line of view. Also, transit advertising guarantees your small business a varied audience by age and income.

 

Definition

Advertising that appears inside and outside on public transport vehicles, in waiting areas, and at stations and terminals.

• Transit is targeted at the millions of people who are exposed to commercial transportation facilities, including buses, taxis, commuter trains, elevators, trolleys, airplanes, and subways.

• The increased number of women in the work force, audience segmentation, and the rising cost of TV advertising

Types of transit advertising: 

• Transit advertising is typically advertising placed on anything which moves, such as buses, subway advertising, truckside, and taxis, but also includes fixed static and electronic advertising at train and bus stations and platforms. 

•Airport advertising, which helps businesses address an audience while traveling, is also included in this category. Municipalities often accept this form of advertising, as it provides revenue to city and port authorities.

•Transit advertising is a great value that gives a high visibility with a consistent daily audience. It’s economical and instantly effective without wasted circulation.

Transit provides a number of advantages to advertisers and, although still a small medium by total advertising standards, has grown at a significant rate in the past several years. Estimated revenues for transit are approximately $300 million.

The popularity of transit advertising are due to a number of factors: 

Transit prices have low overall cost and CPM levels. Transit prices are even lower than traditional outdoor.

Transit reaches prospects in the market place and is attracting an increasingly upscale audience as public transportation becomes more popular in many cities. In the case of interior signs, advertisers are reaching a captive audience of riders who average almost 20 minutes per trip. The nature of transit audience allows somewhat longer messages than outdoor signs.

The repetitive nature of the transit audience quickly builds high levels of frequency over relatively short periods.

Transit advertising provides a low-cost option for reaching a mobile, urban audience. With likelihood that mass transit will be more popular in the coming years; the growth of transit advertising is assured.

Added to its ability to reach this audience is the fact that municipal governments are seeking new sources of revenue and transit advertising rental space is one that is readily available.

Types of Transit advertising: 

1. Shelter advertising

With traditional out of home media facing falling revenues and legal restrictions, shelter advertising is a major growth area. Shelter advertising is normally used as a complementary medium to outdoor posters. It has the advantage of being able to be used in areas where zoning regulation ban outdoor.

In addition, shelter messages reach not only bus riders but vehicular traffic. In fact as much as 90- percent of the total shelter audience is vehicular.

Shelter advertising has three major advantages:

a. It is an extremely inexpensive medium. CPM levels are among the lowest of any advertising medium. It is also similar to other out-of –home media in that it generates high reach and frequency in a short time.

b. Advertisers can use shelter advertising to target specific markets. For example, a packaged good may use shelters in front of supermarkets or jeans wear on the college campus.

c. Shelter advertising is illuminated for 24- hour reach and provides maximum exposure and awareness. With 4x6 signs, shelter advertising provides stopping power for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Unlike other media, it rarely suffers from clutter from other competing messages.

It is obvious that shelter advertising, although accounting for a small portion of all advertising revenues, will continue to grow at a faster rate than overall advertising expenditures.

As new product categories come into the medium, we may even see larger increases in the shelter sector.

Finally, rather than facing the regulatory problems of outdoor, the revenues generated by shelter posters are often shared with municipal transit companies, making the medium a revenue producer to many cities facing tight budget

2. Interior cards or car cards

Buses and subways usually have overhead and wall mountings for advertising. Local trains also have advertising space on their walls. These are especially useful when catering for specific target group such as women. The ads can be placed inside the women’s compartments of the local trains.

Unlike the posters which cannot be read at length commuters in train have ample time to reach the ad. And therefore a longer copy can be used. Situational-specific advertising can also be used, for instance Godrej has used car cards very effectively. Car may be spoilt and disfigured by mischievous youngsters. The train route is drawn and below that the product is advertised. This ensures that commuters referring to the map will notice the product for its marvel soap.  Godrej used the ad line “After the hot sticky journey you need the creamy freshness of Marvel.” The main disadvantage of this medium is that the ads environment is not pleasing for most commuters and is not a very pleasurable experience. This may put them in hostile frame of mind.

3. Exterior Posters. Buses also have display ads on the outside space.

BEST buses rent out the entire bus that can be attractively painted with the ad message. Dipy’s Jams was the first product that used the BEST as an advertising medium. Since then several products have used this medium effectively.

This medium is not useful during the rainy season as maintenance cost increases. It has also not succeeded in rural areas and semi-urban areas where the state transport buses ply. This is because the roads are so dusty that the buses get very dirty and the advertised message loses its appeal.

4. Station and Bus shelter and Bus and Railway Ticket

Points similar as above

Ref: Dr. H. Lakdawala's Media Planning and Buying Notes