Transit Advertisement And Why Is It Right For Your Brand?

Transit Advertisement And Why Is It Right For Your Brand?

In the information era, winning consumers' attention has never been more challenging. Ever wondered why tech companies like Facebook, Netflix, and Google – the kings of online advertising, if you will – turn to out-of-home advertising when introducing their newest product or feature?

The reason is simple: If you want to spread the word and get people talking about your brand, you go with out-of-home. OOH is one of the oldest and most enduring forms of advertising for a reason. You can't ignore it. It includes everything from transit vehicles like fleet branding, cab branding, auto branding, auto-rickshaw branding, etc.

Now, let's talk about one of the most impactful forms of out-of-home media – not billboards but transit advertising. According to the Indian Public Transit Association (IPTA), transit advertising generates over half a billion rupees reaching up to 83% of commuters on weekdays and 89% on weekends.

Transit advertising is an efficient and effective way to make a significant, memorable impact. Commuters on public transport are looking for a distraction. Transit audiences are more cohesive than online; they enjoy transit ads and respond to them, giving brands the unmatched opportunity to go viral on social media.

Let's look at transit advertising in detail, breaking down why this lucrative form of out-of-home advertising should be an integral part of your media spend.

What is Transit Advertising?

Also called advertising on transport, transit advertising is outdoor media placed in or on any mode of public transportation. It's advertising media we experience in trucks, buses, trains, taxis, subways, cars, bus shelters, and train stations. Transit advertising is about leveraging the moment when commuters are waiting, looking to be engaged.

Transit advertising helps you reach the masses in a powerful way that builds brand recognition. It's localized advertising that is visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and gives you the ad exposure to amplify your brand message.

There's plenty of transit real estate in today's fast-paced world. Your audience can be found everywhere on public transportation and the streets of urban and rural cities. Transit advertising offers a unique opportunity to reach your audience on their everyday commute.

The best part is: the demand for out-of-home advertising grows as digital advertising proliferates the world. People are looking for a distraction, and you can capture their attention on their way to work.

Types of Transit Advertising

Transit advertising targets the millions of people who use or come across public transport facilities daily. It offers unparalleled ad exposure to drive greater frequency and impact for your marketing campaigns.

And with various media types, transit advertising is flexible, creating countless opportunities to layer your messaging and marketing campaigns. Here's a breakdown of all forms of transit media.

• BUS MEDIA

Bus advertising includes ad displays placed in or on public buses. Bus advertisements are available everywhere you can find commercial buses. Depending on how far you'd like your messaging to reach, you can rent ad space on both local and national buses.

For the masterminds of advertising, buses are the perfect moving canvas. Some of the most creative ads can be found enveloping city buses. In an advertising-dense world, bus advertising can help you give your messaging an original twist that gets tongue-wagging.

When done right, bus advertising can go viral, going beyond the scope of street viewers to reach a much wider audience on social media.

Exterior bus advertising helps garner the most impressions possible, while interior advertising keeps your audience engaged.

• COMMUTER RAIL

As with bus advertising, rail advertising presents an opportunity to break up commuting monotony with interior and exterior branding media. Commuter rail advertising is one of the most effective ways to reach commuters in major, busy markets.

Whether you're a big national brand or a small business, rail advertising is an opportunity to connect with your audience on their daily rail rides.

Want to get your brand story heard? Rail advertising is the perfect media for you. You can advertise your brand on trains, platforms, and waiting areas.

Commuter rail reaches a captive audience that includes everyone from lunchtime shoppers to professionals on their way to work.

With large, colorful media, you can intersect with consumers at various points of their commute. Rail advertising is placed on trains near station entrances, exits, and platforms. It's a great way to get close to your audience, and considering the time people spend on trains, it's a chance to interact with your target demographic.

• SUBWAY MEDIA

Subway advertising gets your brand in front of your audience when they need a distraction. Take the Indian subway, for example; with some of the longest commuting times in India, it keeps the city going by moving millions of people anywhere. An ad placed on the NYC subway garners millions of impressions multiple times a day.

No matter the city, the daily commute gives you ample time to illustrate your brand story and connect with commuters. Whether through car cards, digital units, or posters, subway ads get you noticed and provide enough frequency of exposure to make an impact.

• TRUCK-SIDE MEDIA/MOBILE BILLBOARDS

Delivery trucks are full-blown billboards on wheels. Truck-side advertising offers the opportunity to saturate a market with a fleet of roaming billboards. Truck-side ads are easy to notice as they flow through traffic. Trucks present creative, eye-catching ads at eye level as they traverse significant interstates and thoroughfares, targeting your customers wherever they are.

They combine the mobility of transit advertising with the high-impact power of billboard advertising. With large-format ad space, branded trucks provide great visual space for your message in any market (even with no billboards). It's a chance to couple the commanding presence of billboards with the reach and targetability of transit advertising.

In advertising, bigger is always better. And moving ads are more likely to be recalled. Are you looking to drive results and heighten awareness? Mobile billboards go directly where your target demographic lives, works, and plays. With real-world behavioral targeting, you can dominate an entire market or narrow your marketing campaign to a hyper-local level.

• TAXIS

Cabs are some of the most popular forms of transportation, especially in major, crowded cities. Taxi ads include advertising on top, inside, or wrapped around a taxi. Its advertising targets those who see the taxis rather than those riding in them.

Taxi ads are a cost-effective yet impactful way to spread your message across a city. Buying ad space on a fleet of taxis can help you dominate a market. Unlike buses, taxis don't have predefined routes taking your message to the hottest spots within towns. From airports and entertainment spots to city centers, taxi advertisements are high-frequency ads that bring your brand along for the ride.

What about rideshare advertising? Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft dominate the taxi market. Like regular taxis, you can advertise on car tops and interiors or wrap the car with your branding. Since individuals own these cars, you'll have to work with ad vendors who have agreements with drivers. Rideshares is an evolving industry that can offer excellent ad space traversing your messaging in cities, big and small.

Transit Ads: Paving the Way for Brand Engagement

Why go for transit advertising? Transit advertising gets massive audience exposure and has a geographical advantage other forms of outdoor media can't match. Please think of the millions of people who use public transit in any major city; transit media allows you to reach them at opportune moments.

Buses and trucks are India's most common transit channels, providing your audience with repeated exposure to your ads. You can localize your ads and hyper-target a particular demographic or market segment. More importantly, transit ads demand attention.

When it comes to transit advertising, you're limited only by your imagination. Today, technology has enabled a new level of creativity in transit advertising. Digital transit ads allow brands to interact with commuters in all the ways that matter. You can create dynamic and flexible content to reach your desired audience. And you can synchronize the displays to deliver the right message to your audience every step of the way.

Combining traditional media with innovative technology makes transit ads powerful digital tools. Transit advertising is a win in every aspect – it's cost-effective and comes with high engagement and impression rates. When creative enough, they can entice, engage and accompany your audience throughout their commutes.

Want to see if Transit advertising is a good fit for your brand or next campaign?