Digital Posters really do captivate London Underground travellers

London’s commuters have been enthralled by Viacom Outdoor’s ground-breaking Digital Escalator Panels (D-EPs) at Tottenham Court Road Tube station.

Research initiated by Viacom Outdoor after the launch of the digital posters, has found 80% of Londoners thought the advertising carried on the sites was enjoyable to look at and 61% said it made their journey through the station more pleasurable.

British Airways, O2, Direct Line, Transport for London and 20th Century Fox were amongst the first advertisers to use this new digital poster technology on the London Underground.

Viacom Outdoor’s research found that 73% of travellers watched the ads all or most of the time as they travelled up or down the escalators – just 1% said they didn’t look at the ads. London travellers described advertising on the sites as “entertaining” (78%), “engaging” (73%) and “innovative” (85%).

Meanwhile, 81% thought digital poster advertising really captured the attention of Tube users and 66% said they had noticed other Underground users looking at the ads carried on the D-EP sites.

The vast majority of Londoners (87%) thought the D-EPs brightened up the London Underground environment and 74% said the introduction of digital advertising fits with London’s image as a leading city. 58% said it made them feel positive about using the Tube and 66% said they’d like to see more digital poster advertising on the London Underground.

Viacom Outdoor is working in partnership with London Underground and its technical partners to trial the sites at Tottenham Court Road Station, which has the busiest escalators on the network.

Advertisers can use a combination of 5” and 10” spots on the 66 digital posters on both sides of the escalators at the station. The individual advertisements rotate on a 60” loop running throughout the day over a two week period.

Because the sites are linked together electronically, advertisers can use all the sites on the escalators in unison. Images can ‘transfer’ from screen to screen travelling up or down the escalator. Advertising on the sites is controlled remotely from Viacom Outdoor’s offices.

Although advertisers are initially being offered air time on the sites for fixed periods, it is anticipated advertisers will ultimately be offered day-part advertising, allowing brands to tailor advertisements to reach consumers on the move during the day and at different times during the week.

Stephen Fuller, Head of Consumer Insight at Viacom Outdoor comments: “London Commuters are bombarded by advertising messages and therefore have high levels of ad avoidance. However, our TLC research demonstrates that this is not the case with Tube users. Not only do they welcome ads on the Tube but in the case of the Digital Escalator Panels, it actually makes their journeys more pleasurable.”