Since you’re on this site, you probably use taxis on a regular basis. And if you use them in big metro cities, then you probably have seen some cool advertisements on the outside of the taxis.
In recent years, advertisers have become really creative with taxi ads. These days, you see ads ranging from static backlit displays on top of the taxi to full wraps that cover the entire taxi. Taxi ads are one form of outdoor advertising.
Taxi top ads are the traditional illuminated two sided displays on taxi tops. You’ve probably seen them on taxis in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and other metro cities. They have been around for a long time, and advertisers love them.
Taxi trunk ads are on the rear of the taxi (usually the trunk) and are geared towards the pedestrian, passenger or driver who views the ad from behind the taxi.
Full taxi wraps are complete wraps of the entire taxi – both sides, the front and the rear. They are usually more expensive to print and install, so you will see less of them. But when they are out on the street, they look fantastic. Fashion brands love to wrap the taxis with their newest designs – and sometimes even stage the taxis outside of fashion shows.
Digital taxi tops are a relatively new thing. Flat screen displays are installed on taxi tops, and each advertiser’s ad rotates in a pool with other advertisers. So you may see one ad for 8 to 10 seconds, and then another ad for 8 to 10 seconds and so on. And because of the ability to change creative easily, you may see one ad in the morning and a different one in the afternoon.
Finally, taxi TV displays have brought the advertising inside the taxis. While different people may have different opinions about the appropriateness of taxi TV ads, they are here and hot. The displays are on the backs of seats in major cities and play a combination of news, sports, weather and entertainment segments. Between the segments, you may have seen 15 second or 30 second ad spots.
And now that you have a full primer on taxi advertising, check out these cool taxi ads from different cities.
As you can see, there are various types of taxi ads and they can be very creative. They range from taxi tops to full taxi wraps to the brand new digital ones. Advertisers will continue to experiment with creative as the technology improves. Which ad formats do you think are most effective? Have you seen any cool ones? Share in comments.
