Some purists were sceptical of the old TX taxi when it was first launched in 1997 despite its modern styling, increased comfort and greener credentials. Advertisers came to appreciate the sleeker lines and over 17,000 TX taxis now work the streets of London alone*. The TX paved the way for ad formats which replaced the quiant ‘Double Door’ format which was all the rage at the time.
History is now repeating itself, only this time it’s the Mercedes Vito taxi that’s new on the block. Passengers will no doubt approve of the Vito people-carrier styling, although media planners will be more interested in its ad-carrying potential. Officially approved**, the Vito is now establishing itself on the London scene, and Taxi Media have launched the first fully wrapped Vito ad campaign.
With the 2012 London Olympics very much in mind, we upgraded our Operations Centre to accommodate Vitos alongside our TX taxi fitting bays. The first full livery Vito was fitted this month for the Grosvenor House Hotel as part of their launch programme for the opening of the JW Steakhouse on Park Lane.
Richard Blackburn, Commercial Director at Taxi Media witnessed the first posting. “It’s big. The first thing that strikes you is how much more surface area there is to play with on the Vito. It takes almost 20% more vinyl to wrap one, so creatives will love it. They’ve even got an extra TipUp seat to advertise on too, as Vitos can carry six passengers”.
Taxi Media are now assembling their Vito fleet in time for the London Olympics. “They’re new but are becoming more visible and more recognisable. Cabbies and fleet owners like the new Vito so, assuming our advertisers follow suit, it’s destined to become an important advertising vehicle”.
Paul Hallett and Raoul de Souza of JW Steakhouse pose in front of the first ever Vito taxi to carry a full livery ad, and their more familiar TX taxi,
both part of the campaign booked with Taxi Media.
* Source: LTI figures April 2010
** The TfL Public Carriage Office regulates taxis and taxi advertising in London. Since approval, approximately 500 Mercedes Benz Vito Taxis have been added to the London taxi fleet which now totals 22,000 vehicles
Posted on the 3rd of June 2010 by Guilaine in News
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Holiday Autos
Leading leisure car hire fleet boosted by over 250 taxis
Holiday Autos is the world's largest and leading leisure car hire broker. Launched in 1987 they revolutionised the car rental industry and became part of lastminute.com in 2003.
Manning Gottlieb OMD worked with Posterscope to plan the Holiday Autos campaign which has just launched in London. The fleet of 250 SuperSide taxis will make a huge impact in their four-week boost campaign which also features two flagship FullLivery taxis which will be used for special PR duties when they’re not fulfilling their regular daytime duties.
The bright yellow campaign ads feature distinctive graphics to illustrate their “We go further” message that ties in with other treatments in the multi-platform campaign.
Posted on the 2nd of June 2010 by Guilaine in Taxi campaigns
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Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse reveal Grand Slam Wimbledon tactics
Credit Suisse Group, one of the world’s leading investment banks, operates three global divisions – Private Banking, Investment Banking and Asset Management. Their new taxi campaign promotes their long-term partnership with Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer.
The Credit Suisse FullLivery taxis and their drivers have been selected to capitalise on the publicity surrounding the Wimbledon tournament and the brands prominence in and around their London HQ at Canary Wharf. 35 of the 45 drivers are City-based, maximising Credit Suisse exposure in the financial district. The remaining ten drivers are yellow badge Wimbledon drivers. They are expecting to be in great demand throughout the tennis championships.
The campaign was booked by MPG and Posterscope. All 45 taxis are from the modern Taxi Media black TX fleet. They’ll be carrying FullLivery and TipUp Seat ads, and will be attending a series of PR photocalls and special events during the campaign.
As well as the standard Taxi Media PoP (Proof of Posting) photographic record, special framed shots of the taxis in action in London will also be provided, as will 1:18 and 1:35 Replica Scale Models of the branded taxis.
Posted on the 2nd of June 2010 by Guilaine in Taxi campaigns
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Manchester City FC Hospitality
Manchester & England football legend kicks off taxi campaign
A fleet of five FullLivery taxis have now been launched by soccer legend Mike Summerbee for his former club Manchester City. Club owner, His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Manager Roberto Mancini have spent vast sums on star players as they strive to break into the Premiership elite, but investment in the club isn’t limited to players.
Marketing the club, raising its profile amongst the fan base, sponsors and the media is a high priority for the management team as they prepare for next season after all the excitement of the World Cup has passed. Club legend Mike Summerbee, was on hand for a photo call with the distinctive blue taxis at The City of Manchester Stadium. Summerbee won four trophies in three seasons from 1968–70 and made more than 400 appearances for City, and eight for England.
The City taxis will run for 36 weeks in Manchester, and will carry TipUp Seat ads and Branded Receipts. Booked by PHD North through outdoor specialist Posterscope North, the taxis will also be making personal appearances at more PR events to support the Manchester City marketing team and help to spur them on to greater things next season.
Posted on the 2nd of June 2010 by Guilaine in Taxi campaigns
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Taxi Media officially opens state-of-the-art new nerve-centre
Taxi Media have unveiled a new state-of the-art Operations Centre at 100-102 Dunbridge Street, Bethnal Green. Having been extensively redeveloped, the double-fronted drive-thru site incorporates a driver lounge, impressive taxi fitting bays, an operations centre, driver services team and in-house vinyl printing and cutting facilities.
Former driver Asher Moses was instrumental in establishing taxi advertising in the 90s, built Taxi Promotions UK and has been Chief Executive at Taxi Media since acquiring the company last April. The new site occupies 10,000ft2 of floor space with a further 1,500ft2 for parking outside. There are over 20 staff based there, including operations and fitting teams, fleet coordinators, graphic designers, production technicians and vinyl printers. Since the acquisition, Moses felt it was important to unite the two companies. “Our teams now work more effectively together, they’re more productive, there are economies of scale and the speed and quality of our work has increased significantly. They’re happier too. The same happened last year when we relocated our sales & marketing teams to the West End. Fortunately for the drivers, our Accounts Department are happy in their Golders Green office and there are no plans to unsettle them!”
Taxi Media Operations Manager Bino Rocha reveals that over 1,000 cabs passed through the new Operations Centre for fitting in the first month since it opened just before Christmas. “We planned to wean ourselves on by diverting cabs from Kennington and our old Dunbridge Street sites gradually, but the increased capacity at the new site has been a real blessing as we’ve been so incredibly busy”.
Asher Moses explains “Taxi Media is the leading taxi advertising contractor and had outgrown the old operations centre in Kennington. The industry nowadays relies on modern technology and sophisticated application materials and techniques. The old site was becoming increasingly unsatisfactory, and the majority of taxi drivers were never particularly happy about the SE5 location anyway. We were determined to find a new site that met our needs and the needs of our drivers. The move is a great place to work and enabled us to recruit key new staff including Bino who’s come in to run the Operations Centre”
According to Bino “We have a huge incentive to turn around cabs quickly. The drivers don’t want to be off the road for one moment longer than necessary, and we need to work efficiently as ad revenues have been squeezed very hard in the past year. The site has been kitted out to meet our needs right now, and has been ‘future-proofed’ to ensure it can expand and adapt to new opportunities. I’ve inherited an exceptional team and the best facilities in the industry. We’re able to fit more cabs, more quickly and professionally than our competitors, but we’re not complacent. We still have ambitious plans for the future. Watch this space!”
Posted on the 6th of May 2010 by Guilaine in Operations
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Richard Blackburn joins Taxi Media as commercial director
Outdoor media owner Taxi Media had appointed Richard Blackburn, the former managing director of Kinetic's regional division, Zone, as its first commercial director.
At Taxi Media, Blackburn will be responsible for leading the sales of outdoor media on Taxi Media's fleet of taxis. He will work with the sales and marketing teams to develop exciting plans and report to chief executive Asher Moses.
Blackburn has 28 years of media experience and most recently has been working as an independent media advisor, helping media companies to understand the value of their assets and advising on sales strategy.
After joining WPP out-of-home agency Kinetic as UK regional director in 2007, Blackburn launched Zone, Kinetic's agency for regional and local advertisers, in March 2008. He left Kinetic following a restructure of the business in May last year.
Prior to his time at Kinetic, Blackburn worked in outdoor media sales, first at British Transport Advertising and then as regional sales director at Maiden Outdoor.
Blackburn said: "Taxi Media is a great brand and the opportunity to lead the next phase of its development was too compelling to miss. I aim to build on the momentum that Asher and the team have developed and ensure that our offering continues to be best in class."
Fellow taxi media owner Taxi Promotions bought Taxi Media from outdoor media owner Clear Channel Outdoor in April last year for several million pounds. The combined company is known as Taxi Media.
In November, Andre Coetzee, the general manager of Taxi Media and the person responsible for driving the sales division, left the company to pursue other interests. Coetzee was not replaced and Moses has led the sales operation since then.
Posted on the 14th of December 2009 by Admin in Recruitment
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