Being relatively new to the world of out of home it has quickly become clear to me that digital OOH is the darling of the Outdoor world, not least because of how much money is being invested in the opportunity. With Ubiquitous being the market leader in taxi advertising, a classic OOH opportunity, I have had to think smart - using industry data to establish how best to position taxis alongside DOOH, in such a way that delivers unique benefits for brands.

There are obvious reasons why a brand might be attracted to spending money on DOOH. The larger formats, which we’ve named Premium Roadside DOOH (Prem. RSDOOH), capture the attention of consumers who are generally ‘on the go’; many of the large Prem. RSDOOH sites are on busy arterial roads, reaching those who drive into cities – often in locations where no other OOH is available. Besides the obvious size and illumination, DOOH has opened creative options for advertisers that classic billboards could not achieve, such as the flexibility to endlessly tailor creative to suit time, occasion and day and to update it with fresh content dynamically, achieving a brand impact that has greater contextual relevancy for the target audience. The impact of DOOH is not only being seen in the nation’s capital but right across the UK, in all major cities.  

In the UK’s regional cities, the presence of DOOH is growing fast, as media owners swap classic sites for dynamic frames and new operators, such as 8Outdoor, make an impact on the DOOH landscape. Much of the Prem. RSDOOH is placed along the main roads into city centres, in areas of high traffic; however, some media owners are being more strategic with their locations, using the opportunity to optimise sites for audience.  

The city centre audience is very attractive - the UK’s key cities are hives of activity and magnets for the most economically active people. It’s not just London into which millions of people commute daily; 7 million people live within a one-hour commute of Manchester city centre. Birmingham has the highest number of business HQs and the largest conurbation outside of London. In two-weeks OOH in Birmingham has the potential to reach 8% of the GB population. The desirability of Edinburgh’s audience is well known; to be frank it’s small and wealthy, with the highest average disposable (gross) income of all UK cities, it’s a popular choice for those wishing to target the ABs.  

The increase in DOOH sites in these (and other cities) is heralded as a great advancement for the OOH industry, which of course it is. Where there once stood a classic poster site, there is now a slick-looking digital roadside or mall dynamic panel in its place, which can sometimes display as many as eight ads in under a minute. With its eye-catching display, creative flexibility, and contextual messaging, who wouldn’t want to book a campaign here? You may ask yourself, what’s the catch? However, there are some who lament the loss of opportunity to dominate a city through ‘classic’ sites that deliver 100% share of voice, at a cost-efficient rate. As I have mentioned, there are definite (and proven) advantages of DOOH, but the non-exclusive SOV means that the overall number of people who see your campaign, and the impacts delivered, will be significantly lower than that which was achieved through classic sites. Packs that were once booked for audience reach are now sold by impacts delivered and for ‘wow’ factor, rather than reach of individuals; reach is significantly impacted once sites are shared by brands.  

Here lies an opportunity then for the remaining classic reach formats to make a pitch for some media budget, by adding good old cost-effective reach. Outside of London the first-choice reach format is a classic 6-sheet, however these are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. Once all the long-term holdings or national packs have snapped up the sites, brands may have little choice but to book D6s or not book space at all. This inventory squeeze, combined with a strong reluctance by some brands to share space at premium prices, has presented an opportunity for Ubiquitous and the extensive city-centre reach delivered by taxi advertising. Using Route data I’ve explored the reach of the Prem. RSDOOH sites in the key cities and have seen an opportunity for brands to double the audience reach of a Prem. RSDOOH campaign, with the cost efficient addition of taxi advertising. On the basis that taxis cover off the middle of the donut and Prem. RSDOOH the ring, they make a great complement that delivers ‘wow’ and reach.  

With a little help from Route we can demonstrate that by adding £10,000 of taxis to your high investment DOOH campaign you quickly double your reach, achieving significant additional brand exposure in key regional city centres. Not only is the incremental reach delivered by the taxis huge, due to the locations of the Prem. RSDOOH screens, the taxis deliver unique reach in many cases, being seen by those in your audience who would otherwise miss the campaign entirely.

In short, a Prem. RSDOOH campaign looks great, and no one can argue with the benefits that come with this innovation opportunity, but if you’re a brand that needs to sell products, change minds or grow share, you need to reach a lot of people. With decreasing numbers of classic city-centre 6-sheets, perhaps brands and planners should trust the Route numbers and explore the iconic black taxi as it might just be the best way to cost-efficiently deliver city centre reach of the most desirable target audiences.

Jennifer Schooling.  Media Analyst, Ubiquitous.  

Standard Life is a long-term savings and investment company, providing workplace pensions to UK employers. For large employers with workplace pension schemes, business life after auto-enrolment is a journey; one of constant movement and monitoring. Large employers are looking for a reassuring presence that can take them on that journey.

Challenge - The UK is entering a new workplace pensions market where large employers who have invested a lot of time and money in complying with automatic enrolment legislation are asking: ‘Where next?’ Standard Life saw their experience in delivering workplace pensions for some of the UK’s largest employers as providing an opportunity to shape this new market and drive thought leadership. Having spent 2012 and 2013 focused on supporting employers through automatic enrolment, in 2014, a year after the largest employers had automatically enrolled, the brand needed to re-launch their proposition as the new ‘post automatic enrolment’ as the needs of the market developed.

Traditionally, Standard Life had taken a sales-led approach to engaging with large employers, with account managers servicing clients on a one-to-one basis. To be market-leading they needed to take a more marketing led approach to their activity, but without undermining the one-to-one relationship that exists with their clients. Large employers are looking for a reassuring presence that can take them on a journey, a guide who offers advice, direction and the quickest route. That is why the business chose the iconic Hackney carriage taxi as a symbol of that partnership, the right vehicle to help navigate you through this complex world and get you to your destination in a safe and speedy manner.

The taxi network plays a crucial part in the travel plans for the majority of business people on a regular basis; some 56 per cent of company directors will use a taxi between one and three times during the week. It developed a series of activities that would bring this concept to life. This included two key initiatives: The first part of the campaign, ‘Two-way thinking’, included: webinars, an exclusive LinkedIn Group and a face-to-face event for a select group of clients and prospects. The focus of this activity was to encourage collaboration and deliver quality thought-leadership from Standard Life and other industry experts. To do this, Standard Life developed a new taxi advertising creative using the phrase: ‘Two-way thinking’ to imply working in partnership and project an impression of gravitas and strategic robustness.

Finally, the company branded a London taxi with the new creative and used this to transport clients and prospects to a key industry awards ceremony. In the second stage, ‘The knowledge’, the branded taxi played a central role in bringing Standard Life’s new creative and message alive. It conducted a series of ‘on the go’ interviews in the back of the cab as it drove around various UK cities with Standard Life’s main spokespeople and key industry experts. Plus, the company interviewed employers, to create dynamic case studies, showcasing their pension schemes. These films will be used across digital and social channels to extend the reach of the brand’s thought-leadership material as well as provide employers with ‘best-practice’ advice from other employers.

The ‘Two-way thinking’ campaign launched in May and in the first month alone it had successfully re-engaged with over 30 per cent of Standard Life’s target audience. It has activity planned for this campaign until the remainder of 2014. ‘The Knowledge’ campaign launched at the end of June and looks at using new social channels to extend the reach of thought-leadership activity.Vicky Hope, Head of Marketing, Workplace at Standard Life, explains: “It was important for us to engage with large employers but we also needed to ensure we were not damaging any existing relationships.

Our branded London taxi enabled us to communicate a continuous message throughout the campaign and supported key events where our clients were present. “After their door-to-door service, the main advantage of the traditional London taxi is the driver’s extensive knowledge of the city streets; the driver, (and therefore Standard Life), will know the route whenever they are hailed and this is where the taxi becomes an interesting metaphor for Standard Life post auto-enrolment. They offer security for business people to be able to travel around large and confusing cities with ease.”