Taxi advertising - the modern medium

As companies scramble for new channels to communicate commercial messages, what can be more innovative than advertising on the side of an iconic British cab?

With 10.5 million people seeing taxi adverts every week and 38.4 million trips taken in one every month, it is understandable why taxi advertising is taking off and reinforcing the idea that the medium is the message.

Traditional media is becoming less favoured in light of the increasing amount of noise; more channels, more forms of media and most importantly a more cynical target market which ignites the burning question for companies that are increasingly asking "how do we reach people?" Whether as a single advertising platform or as part of an integrated marketing campaign, taxi advertising reaches areas that cannot be reached by other media and most importantly, at eye-level.

These world famous black cabs wrapped in a decorative brand are guaranteed head turners.

And it seems that it's not just taxi advertising that is on the increase but outdoor advertising as a whole.

Outdoor advertising spend was up by 4.6 per cent year-on-year in 2007, according to new figures released by the Outdoor Advertising Association.

Outdoor has been demonstrating consistent growth since 2000, up from GBP697m in that year to GBP975.7m in 2007.

And it seems taxis stretch beyond their advertising uses also with attractive PR uses.

Companies such as Agent Provocateur and Beefeater have been stretching their advertising campaigns and using branded taxis for PR.

Beefeater, using cabs supplied by taxi advertising specialists Cabvert Media, caused gridlock in France when travelling back from a promotional appearance in Les Embiez.

Cabvert Media operations manager Steve Hale, who was driving one of the taxis, said: "A lot of the locals had never seen a London cab before - people were following us, there were horns beeping, it was crazy.

"The full Beefeater livery, under the streetlights of Lyon, proved a huge head turner and demonstrates the added effect that taxi advertising can have".

Lee Dentith, MD of Cabvert Media, said: "This year we are working with a diverse range of clients in all sectors; from finance and law to airlines and lingerie companies, we have been shaping campaigns to suit the needs of the client with regard to design, location and PR uses.

"At Cabvert we constantly aim to revolutionise taxi advertising and we have done that very recently by becoming the first carbon-neutral taxi advertising company".

Back to top