Bus advertising

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Bus advertising" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

New Routemaster double-decker buses with a full side surface vinyl wrap (left) and a side banner advert (right) in London

In bus advertising, buses and their related infrastructure are a medium used by advertisers to reach the public with their message. Usually, this takes the form of promoting commercial brands, but it can also be used for public campaign messages. Buses may also be used as part of a political or promotional campaign, or as a tool in a commercial enterprise.

## History

[edit]

A mule-drawn streetcar at Lafayette Square along St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans in the early 1890s. The front apron of the streetcar displays an advertisement for a performance of Trovatore! at the French Opera House.

Bus advertising descends from similar methods used on streetcars in the early 20th century.[citation needed]

## Infrastructure

[edit]

Adverts are placed in bus shelters. These can be static posters, or back illuminated displays, or rolling displays allowing many messages on one shelter. Technology has also been used to create interactive adverts.

Adverts may also be installed on associated street furniture such as the backs of benches at stops. Sized at approximately 2.5 by 6.5 feet, bus bench ads tend to be cheaper per unit than other forms of outdoor mass advertising.[1]

## Tickets

[edit]

Often, the paper bus ticket is used as an advertising space. The ticket rolls for the ticket machines are pre-printed on the rear with a particular company's advert.

## Bus interiors

[edit]

A common location for adverts is inside the bus. Adverts are attached to the corners between the walls and ceiling overhead to catch the eye of passengers, in the same manner as used in rapid transit systems.

Increasingly, companies are using interior television systems to advertise. The most common technology is the LCD-TFT systems in different resolutions: 18.5" (also side-by-side panels 18.5" + 18.5"), 21.5" and stretched monitors in 29.4".

The LCD-TFT were originally installed to show route information to passengers (next-stop, path, maps, intersection with other routes etc.), then additional public information (messages from bus company, the Public Administration, etc.) and entertainment, which is known with the neologism infotainment. It common to use this space for both public information and advertising, providing both a public service but also a regular income for the different players involved in the public transport.

## Bus exteriors

[edit]

A bus with a side panel advert fitted in special guides A BEST Bus with advertisements on its body. The bus is supplied free of cost in exchange for advertising rights.[2] A bus in Singapore with an advertisement for Amazon, with 2D billboards and 3D boxes on the roof of the bus.

### Panels

[edit]

Adverts are often placed as basic rectangular motifs on the side or front of a bus. These may be applied directly to the bus. Additionally, adverts may be printed on placards known as boards, which are slotted into special guide fittings attached to the side of the bus.

### Partial and full adverts

[edit]

Occasionally, the entire surface of a bus is turned into an advertisement. This can be a whole side or rear of a bus, or a scheme applied to the entire exterior, known as an 'all-over advert' bus.

A variety of formats are available to marketeers, although the most commonly used media formats are:

* T-sides
* Supersides
* Streetliners
* Rears and Mega Rears (Bus backs)
* Full Wraps

There are different options available to these formats in London because of the city's iconic double-decker buses.

Advertisers looking to promote a message can also make use of these formats which include:

* London Gold Frame
* Route Master

Depending on the size of the bus and its location, further creative can consist of:

* Coving Panels and Bulk Heads
* Super Squares
* Upper Bus Rears

In some jurisdictions, such as Singapore, advertising agencies offer advertisements on 2D billboards which extend upwards from the bus, as well as 3D concept advertising on the roof of buses.[3]

## Technologies

[edit]

Vinyl decals allowing use of windows, on a side and rear advert for alcohol on a Berlin bus

Some panel and full side and all-over adverts were traditionally painted on if the length of application warranted it. This would require a reasonable longevity and cost implication for advertisers, due to the requirement to take buses out of service to apply and remove paint schemes. Frequently changed panel adverts would use replaceable boards.

With the advent of adhesive vinyl technologies, this allowed adverts to be rapidly applied and removed over the top of the buses exterior paint as decals, reducing the cost and time.

The invention of see-through graphics, most commonly applied as a self-adhesive perforated window film, allowed the creation of more elaborate designs that could be applied over windows (although for safety reasons not the front window), moving away from the traditional square box design approach to adverts.[citation needed]

With the advent of partially transparent window coverage techniques, all over adverts have been applied as a full vehicle advertising wrap windows and all. The transition from screen printing to digital printing has seen an increase in the color range and complexity of advert designs.

The latest bus advertising campaign by Adidas for the Brazil World Cup 2014 made use of full wrap and window coverage techniques.[4] Transport for London launched the new formats as part of its ‘year of the bus’ celebrations, which commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Routemaster bus and the 100th anniversary of the first mass-produced motorbus.[5]

## Campaign and promotion buses

[edit]

A campaign bus

See also: Campaign bus

In addition to public transport buses, all-over advert buses are often privately hired specifically for a special promotional use, such as a political campaign or specific product promotions. These will often make use of open top buses to allow the interaction of the campaigners/promoters with the public.

## Legal issues

[edit]

In Norway, the use of wrap advertising on buses was prohibited by the road authorities. The reason behind the ban was that in an emergency the windows might need to serve as an emergency exit, and that the advertising would make the window harder to break with the emergency hammer. Gaia Trafikk argued against the ban, pointing out that their tests showed that the thin wrap had no impact on the breakability of the window, but did remove the advertising which covered the windows.[6]

## See also

[edit]

* Driven media
* Fleet media
* Mobile billboard
* Out-of-home advertising
* School bus advertising
* Truckside advertisement
* Wrap advertising

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Overview Of Bus Bench Ads". busbenchads.com. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
2. ^ Deshmane, Akshay (28 November 2010). "BEST to induct Volvo buses in fleet on Monday". Daily News and Analysis. Mumbai. Retrieved Mar 19, 2015.
3. ^ "Commercial Advertising on Bus Contracting Model Buses | Land Transport Guru - Part 2". 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
4. ^ Swift, James. "Adidas takes over London buses for World Cup campaign". Campaign Magazine. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
5. ^ Macleod, Ishbel. "Adidas takes to streets of London with 32 painted buses by Exterion Media". The Drum. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
6. ^ Livsfarlig reklame ("Life-threatening advertising") Dagbladet, 5 July 2001, retrieved 17 April 2007

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Advertisements on buses at Wikimedia Commons

* Buses portal

* v
* t
* e

Buses

List

Chassis|

* Articulated
* Bi-articulated
* Bruck
* Coach
* Combination
* Cutaway van chassis
* Double-decker
* Lowbridge double-deck
* High-floor
* Low-floor
* Midi
* Mini
* Open-top
* Single-decker
* Snow coach
* Trailer
* Transit Elevated

Roadway|

* Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit
* Bombardier Guided Light Transit
* Guided
* Rapid transit

Uses|

* Advert
* Airport
* Armoured
* Campaign
* Express
* Mobile lounge
* Party
* Police
* School
* by country
* Shuttle
* Sleeper
* Transit
* Train replacement
* Training
* Tour
* Tourist trolley

Power|

* Dual-mode
* Electric
* Battery electric bus
* Capacitor electric bus
* Charging
* Ground-level
* Inductive
* Overhead
* Fuel cell
* Gyro
* Hybrid electric bus
* Solar
* Trolleybus

Manufacturing|

* Electric bus
* School bus
* Trolleybus

* Buses portal
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Public transport

Bus service|

* Bus
* driver
* list
* Bus rapid transit
* Express bus
* Guided bus
* Trackless Tram
* Intercity bus
* Open top bus
* Charabanc
* Public light bus
* Rail replacement bus
* Share taxi/Taxibus
* Marshrutka
* Pesero
* Shuttle bus
* Transit bus
* Trolleybus

Rail|

* Passenger rail terminology
* glossary
* Airport rail link
* Commuter rail
* Elevated railway
* Funicular
* Heritage railway
* Heritage streetcar
* High-speed rail
* Higher-speed rail
* Inter-city rail
* Interurban
* Maglev
* Monorail
* Narrow-gauge railway
* People mover
* Railbus
* Metro/Rapid Transit
* Medium-capacity rail system
* Rubber-tyred metro
* Regional rail
* Street running
* Suspension railway
* Tram
* Cable car
* Horsecar
* Light rail
* Tram-train

Vehicles
for hire|

* Auto rickshaw taxi
* Boda boda
* Combination bus
* Cycle rickshaw
* Demand-responsive transport
* Microtransit
* Paratransit
* Dollar van
* Dolmuş
* Hackney carriage
* Jeepney
* Limousine
* Motorcycle taxi
* Marshrutka
* Nanny van
* Personal rapid transit
* Pesero
* Public light bus
* Pulled rickshaw
* Share taxi
* Songthaew
* Taxi
* Tuk tuk

Carpooling|

* Car jockey
* Flexible carpooling
* Real-time ridesharing
* Slugging
* Vanpool

Ship|

* Cable ferry
* Ferry
* Gondola
* Hovercraft
* Hydrofoil
* Ocean liner
* Vaporetto
* Water taxi

Cable|

* Aerial tramway
* Cable ferry
* Cable railway
* Elevator
* Funicular
* Gondola lift
* bicable
* tricable
* Inclined elevator

Other
transport|

* Airline
* Airliner
* Carsharing
* Bicycle-sharing
* Scooter-sharing
* Elevator
* Escalator
* Horse-drawn vehicle
* Hyperloop
* Inclined elevator
* Moving walkway
* Personal transporter
* Robotaxi
* Shweeb
* Slope car
* Trackless train
* Vactrain

Locations|

* Airport
* Bus bulb
* Bus garage
* Bus lane
* Bus stand
* Bus station
* Bus stop
* Bus turnout (bus bay)
* Dry dock
* Ferry terminal
* Hangar
* Harbor
* Interchange station
* Kassel kerb
* Layover
* Metro station
* Park and ride
* Port
* Queue jump
* Taxicab stand
* Train station
* Tram stop
* Transit mall
* Transport hub

Ticketing
and fares|

* Automated fare collection
* Bus advertising
* Contract of carriage
* Dead mileage
* Exit fare
* Fare avoidance
* Fare capping
* Fare evasion
* Free public transport
* Free travel pass
* Integrated ticketing
* Manual fare collection
* Money train
* Paid area
* Penalty fare
* Proof-of-payment
* Reduced fare program
* Transfer
* Transit pass

Routing|

* Circle route
* Cross-city route
* Network length
* Non-revenue track
* Radial route
* Transport network

Facilities|

* Checked baggage
* First class
* Sleeper
* Standing passenger
* Travel class

Scheduling|

* Bus bunching
* Clock-face scheduling
* Headway
* Night (owl) service
* On-time performance
* Public transport timetable
* Short turn

Politics|

* Airport security
* Complete streets
* Green transport hierarchy
* Farebox recovery ratio
* Rail subsidies
* Security
* Street hierarchy
* Transit district
* Transit police
* Transportation authority
* Transportation demand management
* Transportation planning
* Transit-oriented development (TOD)

Technology
and signage|

* Destination sign
* Passenger information system
* Platform display
* Platform screen doors
* Smart cards
* CIPURSE
* Calypso
* Ticket machine
* Timetable
* Transit map

Other topics|

* Boarding
* Bus rapid transit creep
* Crush load
* Dwell time
* Hail and ride
* Land transport
* Outline of transport
* Passenger load factor
* Planka.nu
* Public good
* Request stop
* Service
* Sustainable transport
* Timing point
* Transport economics
* Micromobility

Transport portal
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template