Put your client in a New York taxi

Put your client
in a New York taxi

Or plaster him on the outside for everyone to ogle

Kathy Prentice

   Taxis continue to be an attractive out-of-home option for advertisers targeting passengers traveling for business and pleasure, both inside in the passenger area and on the exterior.
   Since Media Life last wrote a taxi round-up 18 months ago, there are some new players in New York City, the taxi capital.
   To find out how to get your client on the outside or inside of 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
Static, moving and interactive ads placed on the outside and inside of taxicabs.

Who
For this update, Media Life spoke with Targeted Media Partners, headquartered in New York City and Adapt Media, also headquartered in New York.

How it works
Advertising options include wraps and digital displays on taxi exteriors.
Fixed, full-motion and interactive video are available on interior screens.

INTERIOR:
Three levels of advertising are available on the interior screens:

Static images run full-screen until passengers use the interactive feature to research advertisers like restaurants and movie theaters. Once the content window is engaged, advertisements are resized to 2/3 size.
Video is interspersed with static ads.
Interactive ads include an on-screen button for taxi passengers to press for connection to further on-screen information.
"For instance, GM runs a Hummer ad, and the passenger can press on the screen logo to open up an area including how much it costs, horsepower, all the features," says Corey Gottlieb, president of Targeted Media Partners.

   Advertisers can change copy throughout the day.
    "They can have two types of creative, one for morning and one for evening," Gottlieb says.
   Content sponsorship is also available.
   Full-screen ads are interspersed with news, weather, sports, guides to New York’s movies, plays, restaurants and nightlife.
   "A drop-down menu lists every hotel, restaurant and bar in the city," Gottlieb says. "We carry everyone’s listings, like the Yellow Pages."
   Businesses can tie their ad into the listing by having a button window to display their menu or a map.
   "The 13-minute loop corresponds with the average ride time in New York City," Gottlieb says.
   The loop is continuous and not tied into the cab door opening, Gottlieb says. Screens are 12.1 inches.
   Any length of video can be run within the 13-minute format. Many advertisers choose to run their standard 30-second creative, Gottlieb says, though some are developing new creative. "Static, flash, motion, sound, animation--we develop any type of ad they want.
   "The beauty is that advertisers can include as much content as they want," Gottlieb says. " They can buy an interactive window to show store locations. It just depends on what they’re trying to do with their campaign."
   The advertising loop might start off with a standard 30-second commercial, then go to a PSA, and then to a static or flash ad, Gottlieb says. "It’s not talking to you constantly."
   There are two basic loops – morning and evening – that are switched at 5 p.m. when taxi drivers change shifts.
    An on-screen mechanism for selling tickets to Las Vegas shows is in the works in that city, Gottlieb says.
    "Riders will see all the shows that are available, then touch the screen, swipe their card and buy tickets." And in Chicago there are plans to run a welcome-to-the-city message, as well as tourism information at the beginning of the loop.
   "The beauty of this is that nobody can turn the commercial off," Gottlieb says. "You can’t channel surf."
   National advertisers outnumber local and regional, and Gottlieb expects it to stay that way.
   Maximum separation on the video loop is provided to competing advertisers.

EXTERIOR:
    The New York Taxi & Limousine Commission also gave the thumbs-up a year ago to Adapt Media to place its "adrunners" atop city cabs.
   Each 60-inch, double-sided display contains a computer and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, enabling it to display ads in precise locations.
   The time and temperature are automatically displayed on each unit.
   Ads can be targeted for display when a taxi enters a pre-determined location. For example, a financial institution could flash its ad downtown with the ad changing to a software company when the taxi travels in a convention-center zone.
   Ad display can also be time-targeted. For instance, restaurants can display their hours, locations and specials during mealtimes and brokers can display stock quotes during trading hours. Locations can also be targeted or citywide.
   Content is decided by advertisers. For instance, when ESPN runs a campaign, sports scores will likely be run during its time allotment.
   When several advertisers are sharing the network or loop, each campaign is shown in blocks of two to three minutes, says Lance Goler, sales manager of Adapt Media. However, there is no set standard for the loop and it can be configured to meet advertisers’ needs.
   Category exclusivity is always provided, Goler says.
   Advertisers buy time on all the cabs in a fleet, but the geographic location where their ad is displayed can be designated.
   National companies comprise the largest share of advertisers, though some local advertisers use the displays.
   Advertisers use the displays as stand-alone campaigns as well as part of a media mix, Goler says. "In the case of ESPN we fit so well into their strategy that we were one of their only buys in outdoor, along with a couple of big billboards to update sports scores. On the other hand, when the lottery is launching Mega Millions, they use us as part of a bigger campaign."
   Creative is provided by the advertisers.
   The display is made up of one LCD screen and one LED (Light Emitting Diode) on each side. The LCD screen is 15 inches by 15 inches and displays logos and graphics. The LEDs are ultra-bright displays, which automatically alter their intensity to allow sunlight readability.
   Messages flash, they don’t scroll. The LCD screens are full-color and the LED displays contextual messages in lights.
   The text messaging could tie into a promotion or be a call to action," Goler says. "It can run the gamut from streaming information to generic branding."

Markets
Interactive video screens in taxi interiors are currently available through Targeted Media in New York City. Chicago and Las Vegas will both be online within six months, Gottlieb says.
Taxi-top displays are currently available through Adapt Media in New York City. They’ll be launching in Boston and Philadelphia first quarter, Goler says.

Numbers

How measured?
   Passenger numbers are provided by each cab company.
   Additionally, screen touches are counted for interior ads. "After three weeks (since the launch) out on the streets of New York, we’re averaging 1,000 plus touches per screen per day," Gottlieb says.
   Pedestrian traffic estimates can be calculated into taxi top numbers.

What product categories do well?
   Restaurants, bars, entertainment, lodging, airlines, museums. "I can’t think of something that wouldn’t work," Gottlieb says. "The rule is it has to be tasteful advertising that a customer would be comfortable viewing with a five-year-old child."
"TV stations are using us to promote fall sweeps with time-sensitive commercials and interactive so passengers can find out what’s on tonight," Gottlieb says.
   Cigarettes are excluded.
   On the taxi-top, displays for entertainment, retail, fast food, financial services, pharmaceuticals, media and travel do well, Goler says.
   Wraps work especially well for tourism, financial, consumer electronics and entertainment, including theater, Gottlieb says.

Demographics
"We know it’s an upscale demographic," Gottlieb says. "They can afford to take a taxi in New York instead of riding a bus or the subway. We also know it’s a slightly younger audience out at night."

Making the buy
   Adapt Media is provider of adrunner taxi top displays.
   Lead time is 48 hours from when creative is submitted.
   Advertisers can purchase the network exclusively or a slot of the "shared network."
   Factors that affect pricing include how much time is bought, how many vehicles and which locations are targeted as well as length of the campaign.
   Targeted Media Partners is provider of interior screens and exterior wraps.
   Lead-time for interior screens can be as brief as a day, Gottlieb says.
   Packages include:

Basic package is 30 seconds, without sound, broken up into any combination of segments that the advertiser requests. The cost is $10,000 for a four-week flight.
Dynamic package is the same as the basic, but including sound. The cost is $11,500 for 100 cabs for four weeks.
Interactive package runs 30 seconds of creative plus an interactive window at $14,250.
Real-time interactive package includes all features of other packages plus the ability to update in real time. For example, airlines can update arrival and departure times and gates and financial institutions can update interest rates, Gottlieb says. The cost is $16,250.
Broadcasters package is all of the above plus the addition of a loop that can add real-time updates. For instance, an update can advertise what’s going to happen on a television episode that’s going to air a few minutes after the ad runs. The cost is $20,000.

Creative development is available at additional cost.
Lead-time for wraps is three weeks. Cost is approximately $2,000 per wrap.

Who’s already on and in taxis?
American Express, CBS, hotjobs, Fox News, Apple & Eve, North Fork Banks, Toufanan Bakeries, NY 1 News and Shecky’s are inside cabs.
The New York State Lottery, NBC, MTV, VH1 and MSNBC are on taxi-top displays.

Web site info
Targeted Media Partners at www.targetmediapartners.com
Adapt Media at www.adaptmedia.net

Etc.
Links to previous Media Life out-of-home articles, Taxi! Taxi! I have a message for you! Parts 1 and 2, April 16 and April 23, 2001

Updates:
Jerry Kutner at TaxiVision reports that they are currently in 500 cabs in Las Vegas and planning expansion into other U.S. markets.
Vert is alive and thriving, shipping out their third generation of taxi top displays, primarily to markets in Europe.

-Kathy Prentice writes about out-of-home advertising for Media Life, penning her stories from the resort town of Traverse City, in the upper reaches of Michigan.

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