Cabvertising in Toronto
A company called Showcase Media Group Inc. announced today a network of screens popped in between the front seats of some Toronto taxicabs.
There are 100 on the street, according to a press release, playing a mix of content and ads.
A first to Toronto, the interactive touch-screens offer a number of advertising opportunities including full-motion flash & video spots, static banner ads & a scrolling ticker, boasts the press release. The screens feature an interactive city guide with a business directory. In addition, a printer beneath each screen enables cab patrons to print a coupon relating to the ad. GPS-activated ads allow advertisers to play specific ads corresponding to the location of the cab within the city.
Showcase has plans for other markets and wants to get the Toronto screen count up to 250 by year end.
There may be something that Showcase is doing that is a first, but the company is certainly not the first to do ads screens in cabs around Toronto. These guys were doing this a year ago, and I don’t think they were the first.
It’s a tough technical go, with all the vibration and the inevitable abuse to the screens laid on by 2 AM drunks heading to another bar. And cabs have an audience profile that’s all over the place.
Nonetheless, best of luck with this.
October 23, 2007 at 11:57 am
[...] As Digital Signage serves as a great “in between” medium for advertisers to help support campaigns, I’ve found that these cab networks do a great job at hitting interesting targeted audiences. They had some tough times in early days with limited advertiser acceptance but the attitudes seem to be changing. [UPDATE: Oct 23, 2007 - Not everyone is so taken with the cab networks. My buddy Dave Haynes has his own take here] [...]