With a better-than-expected Black Friday, one driven by steep discounts, this holiday shopping season could do better than many have predicted, and one way to reach city shoppers out hunting for bargains is by advertising in and on the taxi cabs that cart them from store to store.

The standard of taxi advertising has long been roof top signage, which has the key advantage of being visible to a wide audience: People getting in and out of cabs but also pedestrians and people in buses and other vehicles.

But each year there seems to be a new taxi cab venue that comes along, or at least a new wrinkle on an old one, and for taxis the new wrinkle is digital signage.

To find out how to get your client’s message in and on taxis, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Advertising in and on taxi cabs.

Who
For this article, Media Life looked at Clear Channel Taxi Media, Show Media and VeriFone Transportation Systems and the opportunities they offer for taxi advertising in the New York market. But there are many vendors offering taxi advertising in a range of markets, and media buyers would do well to check local directories to see what's offered in individual markets.

How it works
What makes taxis attractive to advertisers is their ability to circulate ad messages on a near-constant basis on city streets that during the day reach both shoppers already in a mood to spend and typically hard-to-reach office workers out for lunch or on their way to business appointments. And at night they reach folks out on the town.

Numbers
New York taxis average 57 passengers per day each, with the average ride running 12.5 minutes, according to Bruce Schaller Research, a New York research firm.

How it is measured
Interior impressions are measured by passenger counts, as well as number of clicks on on-screen banner ads.

Exterior impressions are estimated based on pedestrian and vehicular traffic data collected by local retail and government agencies. The typical New York cab averages about 10,986 daily impressions, according to Clear Channel.

What product categories do well
Top categories include restaurants, clothing, retail, TV networks, fast food and financial services such as credit cards and insurance.

Demographics
Among taxi riders in New York, 40 percent are ages 18-34, 56 percent are female and 43 percent earn $75,000 or more annually, according to Schaller Research.

Making the buy
Clear Channel Taxi Media offers taxi advertising in 30 markets, including taxi tops on about half of New York’s 13,000 cabs and video screens inside 5,500 taxis. A four-week campaign on 200 taxi tops costs around $65,000, or $325 per cab.

Show Media has runs taxi ads in Los Angeles and New York, with about 3,000 taxi tops in New York. A four-week taxi top campaign on 200 cabs starts at about $40,000.

VeriFone operates video touch screens in about 6,500 cabs in New York. Pricing varies on whether ads are video, banners, or a combination of both, but CPMs average about $18.

Who’s already in taxi cabs
Recent taxi cab advertisers include Victoria’s Secret, Discovery Channel, Levi’s, Sean John, HBO, Elle magazine, Spike TV, Jose Cuervo and State Farm.

What they’re saying
"Clients like that it’s a medium that takes people to where they’re shopping. In many cases we’re interacting with the customer right before they walk into the store." – John Amato, president of Show Media

Web site info
Clear Channel Taxi Media
http://www.clearchanneltaximedia.com

Show Media
http://www.showmedia.com

VeriFone
http://www.verifonets.com