BrightMove Media bring digital advertising innovation to London's black taxis

BrightMove Media bring digital advertising innovation to London’s black taxis

Digital taxi-top advertising comes to London’s street with Magnum, MasterCard and Billy Elliot among the launch brands

LONDON, June 24th, 2013 – BrightMove Media has become the first innovator to deliver digital taxi-top advertising onto the streets of London, creating a new media opportunity that embraces 3G technology to bring relevant and timely brand messages to consumers.

BrightMove Media’s development, TaxiCast, launches in collaboration with Ubiquitous, the leading UK taxi advertising operator with over 30 years’ experience in this market, and works by using dual-sided, roof mounted LED screens positioned at eye level.

The first fleet of 25 black taxis will be released onto the streets from Monday and will feature advertising by Unilever’s Magnum, the hit West End show Billy Elliot and MasterCard. Other brands will be revealed later this week as BrightMove continues to work on media and creatives with Saatchi & Saatchi, Mindshare, Talon Outdoor, Kinetic and AKA.

TaxiCast has been created after an extensive TfL regulated and approved research and development programme, which not only included rigorous safety and electrical testing, but also took into consideration the general public’s admiration of the iconic shape of the London taxi.

Commenting on the new media opportunity, Andrew Barnett, Managing Director of Ubiquitous said: “For over 30 years the team behind Ubiquitous has lead the taxi advertising industry, so we are thrilled to be partnering with BrightMove to bring this exciting new format to the UK Outdoor advertising market.  Brands have long been attracted to the iconic black taxi as an effective and appealing way to reach urban audiences in large numbers. With the advent of TaxiCast, brands will now be able to deliver illuminated eye-level messages that are location (GPS) and time targeted, enhancing consumer relevancy and brand budget effectiveness.”

The carbon-neutral taxi innovation has a powerful centralised media platform that has been entirely developed in house using BrightMove Media’s extensive experience of enterprise systems development, enabling effective campaign management and accountable reporting for all the featured brands.

Piers Mummery Chief Executive Officer at BrightMove Media added: “We have worked behind the scenes for some time to ensure we deliver a technically excellent product, one which delivers flexible and accountable opportunities for advertisers. On bringing this innovation to the market in partnership with Ubiquitous, we have a collaboration with a proven track record of success in the taxi advertising market and one which will enable us to retain our leadership position. We are very excited to see our first fleet on the streets of London today, featuring our launch partner brands.”

MEDIA Q&A

TaxiCast’s Preferred LED Screens and Geo-Located Ad Posts

TaxiCast works by using dual-sided, roof mounted LED screens positioned at eye level on the top of licensed London Hackney Carriages . This preferred technology, also used by digital billboards in Piccadilly Circus and Time Square NY, provides a vibrant and visually arresting display in all weathers, including brilliant sunshine. 

The system maintains location awareness via GPS, allowing advertisers to tailor their campaigns to specific locations or areas of London, and to collate information on when, where and how often their adverts have been seen.

For example, a restaurant chain may only want their messages to be shown within 100m of their venues, or a bank may wish their messages only to be shown when the taxi is within the Square Mile. This ability to target a campaign so precisely by area, as well as by time of day, ensures maximum relevancy for the advertiser and the consumer on the street.

Carbon Neutral

This London innovation has been developed and built exclusively in the UK. It complies with the government’s Clean Air Act, using a combination of weight, design ergonomics and power management to ensure neutral carbon emissions. The system also has the ability to operate even with the engine turned off with no detriment to the vehicle.

ConnectaCast  Media Platform

The ConnectaCast Media platform uses a private and secure IP to IP link via 3G cellular networks to stay in constant contact with the TaxiCast platform. This enables new and updated content to be delivered in near real time. The ad serving deployment allows the system to be used for time sensitive advertising, such as marketing the last remaining tickets before a show, or to respond to current events within minutes.

This private network also provides a steady stream of logging information from each TaxiCast taxi ,  used to provide comprehensive reporting for each advertiser on where and when their campaign has been delivered..

The powerful centralised media platform has been entirely developed in house, using BrightMove Media's experience of global system development, delivery and operation. This has resulted in a unique approach that is focussed on rapid deployment of new materials across the fleet, and is ideally placed to keep ahead in the ever changing environment of digital out of home (DOOH).

The mobile network environment is a demanding one, and rigorous testing has been undertaken with thousands of operational hours and miles covered. The technology is proven, reliable and robust, having received comprehensive technical compliance for deployment in any UN and EU country.

Of particular note are the innovative dual sided LED screens that have low power requirements, coupled with a proprietary power management system to guarantee the vehicle's safety and operation.

The screens have been designed within a low profile shape for maximum height clearance, negligible impact on fuel consumption, and to look an integral part of one of London's most iconic shapes.

-Ends -

For further information, interview requests and photography for BrightMove Media please contact Kirsty Leighton/Sophie Lister on 020 7796 4133 

For London: BrightMove Media is a hot new entrepreneurial company started in 2012. Innovators in taxi advertising for London, TaxiCast is a new digital advertising service from BrightMove Media. It is the first commercial roll out of digital taxi top advertising which is fully approved by Transport for London and Transport Research Laboratory for black taxis.  It broadcasts digital real time messages from a dual-sided LED screen mounted on the roof of a licensed black taxi. All advertising has the ability to deliver time and geo targeted messaging to ensure greater relevancy and impact.

For Taxis: For drivers and taxi operators, BrightMove Media’s TaxiCast offers a slick design which complements London’s black cabs iconic shape. This new taxi based digital advertising service offers a new source of revenue and a further incentive to join the licensed taxi network. It is a carbon neutral service that is power efficient as well as London Clean Air Act compliant.

For Advertisers: TaxiCast offers a unique opportunity to provide a measurable digital outdoor advertising service, visible day and night and with the ability to use geo-fencing technology to deliver ads at a certain time, in a specific location and to the right audience. TaxiCast delivers the ultimate in delivering the right message, to the right person at the right time and in the right place; the Holy Grail of advertising!

About Ubiquitous

Founded in 2005, Ubiquitous is at the forefront of the UK’s taxi advertising industry and is an important stakeholder in UK outdoor advertising.

Ubiquitous has played a pivotal role in the development of the UK taxi advertising industry and passengers’ in-cab experience.  In 2013, the company launched CabConnect, bringing free Wi-Fi to a network of branded taxis and London passengers, as well as one-on-one brand communication opportunities for sponsors via Wi-Fi web hubs and NFC touchpoints. Ubiquitous was also responsible for the creation of many other well recognised taxi advertising formats.

The company’s leadership team boasts over 75 years of combined industry experience. Through a philosophy founded upon delivering first class service to advertisers and taxi drivers, Ubiquitous has experienced sustained and positive growth since its founding and today operates a national fleet of black taxis that carry advertising from a wide variety of valued clients, including Microsoft, BlackBerry, Virgin Airlines, Monsoon, QuidCo, Vodafone and UGG.

Taxi Facts

·       The audience is active shoppers, business influencers and leisure visitors

·       77% of Londoners agree that taxis are an eye-catching place for brands to be seen

·       40% of business commuters use taxis for travelling to meetings during the day.

·       98% of London adults see the black taxi as an iconic part of the city landscape

·       80% agree that they are a vital service for busy people

·       59% of Londoners have seen black taxi advertising in the past week.

·       A average black taxi travels 126 miles every day in London

·       30% of consumers recall a taxi ad more than a TV ad

·       77% - of ABC1s often notice new taxi advertising campaigns

·       70% of people who live or commute into London agree that black taxis are the most iconic form of London transport

Source:. GB TGI, Kinetic, Dipsticks, London Authority.