Ride with a slogan
A taxi driver describing to passengers the benefits of IKEA furniture during a journey might seem as a step too far, but Germans have already introduced the idea and claim it works. An in Poland, two companies have launched American-style lit billboards on taxi roofs, though it may be a while before the drivers are converted to the marketing cause.
This is just the latest trend in Polish advertising. With viewers' and readers' attention indexes dropping for TV, radio and press, marketing gurus are looking for new ways to catch consumers' eyes.
In TV, according to surveys by market researcher Ipsos, 47 percent of viewers change the channel as commercials appear, almost a three-fold increase over the last decade. This means advertisers are switching to outdoor marketing, with mobile outdoor advertising the current industry favorite.
"You have to buy two, three times less mobile outdoor advertisement than stationary space," says the co-owner of Alwi TaxiLight, Marta Sułkiewicz. The company, after a year spent on designing and testing the taxi-top banner, has 40 cars in Kraków, some in Warsaw and more in two other cities. Sułkiewicz, whose company invested some zł.200,000 before banner production could start, admits that breaking fresh ground is never easy.
Despite other hurdles, both Alwi TaxiLigh and its rival Taxi-Ad, have expanded their offers. Rooftop information can be supplemented by brochures inside the car and the driver may provide additional information on request. In a few months time, passengers fleeing the ad-dense high streets might find themselves riding with a human advertising medium, akin to the German IKEA campaign.
This is just the latest trend in Polish advertising. With viewers' and readers' attention indexes dropping for TV, radio and press, marketing gurus are looking for new ways to catch consumers' eyes.
In TV, according to surveys by market researcher Ipsos, 47 percent of viewers change the channel as commercials appear, almost a three-fold increase over the last decade. This means advertisers are switching to outdoor marketing, with mobile outdoor advertising the current industry favorite.
"You have to buy two, three times less mobile outdoor advertisement than stationary space," says the co-owner of Alwi TaxiLight, Marta Sułkiewicz. The company, after a year spent on designing and testing the taxi-top banner, has 40 cars in Kraków, some in Warsaw and more in two other cities. Sułkiewicz, whose company invested some zł.200,000 before banner production could start, admits that breaking fresh ground is never easy.
Despite other hurdles, both Alwi TaxiLigh and its rival Taxi-Ad, have expanded their offers. Rooftop information can be supplemented by brochures inside the car and the driver may provide additional information on request. In a few months time, passengers fleeing the ad-dense high streets might find themselves riding with a human advertising medium, akin to the German IKEA campaign.
