Insights into TFL Advertising 

The main aim of running an Out-of-Home advertising campaign is to create brand awareness and consumer interest and generate new customers and sales conversions.

Public transport usage in London is back to pre-pandemic levels. There are now around 5 million bus journeys per day, and according to the Transport for London authority, in the week 19-25th of November 2023, there were 24.78 million tube journeys completed. 

So, if you come up with creative OOH TFL advertising campaigns that connect with London audiences, that’s a lot of attention and potential customers you will attract. 

At Drovo Media, we run taxi campaigns, providing brands and advertisers with the largest street-level audience in the UK. 

We have a thorough understanding of the OOH transit advertising space we operate in. We have experience running successful campaigns with major brands in London, including Malone Souliers, Paco Rabanne, American Express, Uniqlo, and many more. 

Here we go through our insights in our summary of TFL advertising.

TfL Advertising on London Buses 

Not only are London’s shiny red buses iconic to the city’s landscape and identity, but TFL advertising on London buses captures the gaze and attention of passengers, motorists, pedestrians, and commuters daily.

Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of Out-of-Home advertising on London buses. 

The Benefits of TfL Advertising on London Buses

High Reach

London doesn’t only have a population of 9 million residents, there are also approximately 20 million tourist visitors to London every year.

Transport for London operates one of the largest bus networks in the world, with over 19,000 bus stops and around 700 routes with 8000 buses running daily in London. 

So, one of the benefits of running TfL advertising campaigns on London buses is their scope and reach. 

Increased Brand Awareness

Are you looking to raise brand awareness in the big smoke? TfL advertising campaigns on London buses is one way to do that. 

However, having billboards on buses may not be enough to engage modern audiences. That’s why many advertisers combine on-bus advertising with bus shelter and bus stop advertising formats where you can use rotating digital displays, interactive touch-sensitive screens, and QR codes. 

Improved Brand Recall Amongst Outdoor Audieces

OOH advertisements are everywhere in London, so you want to do all you can to make you maximise their impact on audiences. Having a good quality advertisement with compelling imagery across a London bus should help to make your product or service stick at the front of urban on-street audiences’ minds. 

Brand recall and members of the public remembering your brand from your campaign is an important part of OOH that feeds into elevated brand awareness. 

Move With Your Audience 

Another benefit of TfL advertising on buses is the ability to move with your audience, which is a different approach from static bus stop advertising billboards and helps to boost your reach.

Our taxi campaigns at Drovo do an even better job of moving with your audience and making an effective impact on them. Why so? Well, buses follow certain designated bus routes, sticking to main roads, whereas our full taxi wraps go anywhere and everywhere in London, including A roads, side streets, and into all the corners of residential areas that buses can’t access. 

We also offer eyecatching on-vehicle digital advertising screen campaigns! Our high-resolution LED screens captivate the attention of street-level audiences.

The Cons of Advertising on London Buses

There are some limitations that come with advertising on London buses, let’s venture into them. 

Lack of Transparency Over Campaigns

When running an Out-of-Home advertising campaign in the capital, you will want to track it and have transparency over its progression. Unfortunately, you cannot get this with campaigns on London buses, which can be frustrating. 

Here at Drovo, our live vehicle tracking dashboard provides you with detailed real-time data on impressions, distance driven by each vehicle, and the locations visited. 

Are you after more accountability and transparency for your OOH transit campaigns in London? The Drovo dashboard provides you with that in abundance. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can organise a taxi campaign for you in London.

Difficulty Seeing Bus Advertisements in the Winter Months 

Highly placed bus billboards can be difficult for audiences to pick out in dark winters, especially if there’s a problem with the bus’s lighting. 

Fortunately, Drovo’s LED dynamic car top screens are pretty hard to miss and shine bright during the winter months for OOH audiences.

London Underground TfL Advertising 

We’ve looked at TfL advertising on buses, now we need to discuss advertising on the London Underground, a different setting entirely. 

London tube stations are typically dark places with nothing too interesting for passengers to look at, they are situated underground after all! Therefore, advertising on the tube can be an easy win for brands by capturing the imagination and attention of passengers and commuters with little else to look at.

The Benefits of London Underground Advertising

Tube advertising is a unique environment, it helps you connect with hard to reach audiences and drives more people towards recognising your brand. In a survey of regular tube passengers, 7 out of 10 said they have time to take notice of advertising on the tube, 2 in 5 actively seek out ads to read on their commute, and 6 out of 10 said ads provide them with a welcome distraction.

So, TfL advertising on the London underground gets the public’s attention and stimulates brand engagement. 

The Downsides of London Underground TfL Advertising

Advertising on the London underground will mean you miss out on the opportunity to make an impact on street-level audiences in your Out-of-Home campaigns. Just think of the number of pedestrians, motorists, and passersby you are able to reach through on-street OOH advertising. 

What’s more, the daylight outdoors makes your OOH advertisements stand out better and get the attention of audiences, which is something that is difficult to achieve in more poorly lit underground stations.

Hopefully, you now understand much more about TfL advertising in London. Our taxi campaigns are available in 13 UK cities, including London, and they provide brands and advertisers with significantly higher levels of reach and brand awareness.