London Underground Advertising

Advertising on the London underground (or Tube Advertising as it is commonly known) is hugely popular with many advertisers and used by companies from all over the country, not just London based ones, in order to promote a wide range of products, companies and services.

Tube advertising offers the potential to reach out to London's diverse potential of over 8 million people, as well as visitors from all corners of the UK and indeed the whole world.

With such mass reach it's easy to see why underground advertising is so popular with businesses; ranging from small local start-ups through to UK wide and established international companies.

In this London underground advertising section, we will explain the many options and benefits of tube advertising and cost factors whilst answering many of the typical questions we get asked here at PromoMEDIA about this popular form of outdoor advertising. Alternatively for more information and FREE quotes on all types of tube advertising, simply drop us a message and we will give you a call to chat through the options available.

We look forward to hearing from you.

What is Tube Advertising?

As the capital of the United Kingdom, London not only has lots of residents but many business people visiting for work, as well as those on holidays from overseas. This potential exposure to lots of different people makes tube advertising a profitable and popular investment for many businesses. With London Underground advertising options both varied and proven, there are lots to consider for any advertiser and company.

Tube advertising has certainly stood the test of time and has been around for over a hundred years, but as with the tube network itself, there are constantly both new stations and therefore new tube advertising options to consider; London Underground advertising is like the capital itself, ever-evolving and exciting!

Tube Advertising Options

They are a variety of options to consider when advertising in London underground.

The main types of tube advertising for you to consider are listed below:

Escalator Panels (these are also known as London Escalator Panels or LEPS) – these are the posters that you see at the side of the escalator panels as you travel to and from the train/tube platforms. They are the most popular form of tube advertising. Traditionally they are printed on paper but there are more digital options in the bigger stations which are wonderfully impactful and effective. London Escalator Panels are an exceptionally popular form of London underground ads with advertisers as they are seen by people standing on the escalators as they go up and down – they, therefore, have high-impact with the majority of passengers. With lots of escalator panel ads on every line, it is important to think about your artwork – strong and clear messages work best especially as “dwell” time is short. With this type of underground advertising, you can also select key stations to target, which can make the return on investment even better.
Tube Tunnels Ads – these are much larger than LEPs and therefore have a greater impact. They are the large posters on the tube walls and are seen by people who are stood on platforms waiting for the trains to arrive. They are a favoured form of tube advertising with large brands and international advertisers. They are fantastic at building brand awareness and as passengers are often a few minutes on platforms it means messages are properly absorbed and taken on board. Check out this video of what tunnel advertising can look like:

Large format posters on the station platforms - these are typically 4 or 6 sheet sizes and they hold the similar benefits of Tube Tunnel Ads (in that they target waiting passengers) but as they are smaller they are cheaper. Advertisers and businesses tend to buy these in packages and have more than poster one. The benefit of this is that this form of advertising in London underground can be spread over different platforms and also different stations, increasing your reach and impact with potential customers.
Walk-way branding – this form of tube advertising is rare with smaller business as it is expensive - but it’s popular for those with big budgets. Basically, there are options to brand whole walkways or take over all the posters sites in one section of the station. The benefit of this is your potential customers can’t escape it! You literally have to walk-through the ad to get to your destination. They are often good for product launches or niche type events and become talking points with potential customers. A few years there was a famous “cat” take-over in Clapham North. It got everyone talking!

Adgate advertising – this is basically the gates that you have to put your ticket through or where you present your bankcard/Oyster card. Again as every customer has to go through the barriers to travel this type of ad gets a lot of attention and exposure. This form of advertising is a popular form of underground advertising, it is also commonly teamed with advertising at other train stations - https://www.promo-media.co.uk/type-of-ads/train-station/aberdeen-city/aberdeen/ - where commuters may be travelling into London from outer areas.
Concourses/ticket area/entrances – as well as options in the walkways and on the escalators, simple poster sites in the concourses, are often popular, targeting people who are buying tickets, waiting for friends etc. There are various sizes of posters to choose from in these areas, for more info drop us a message.

Inside the tube trains/tube coves (sometimes known as tube seat advertising) – these are the small poster sites you see above the seats. They are often eye-catching and are seen by passengers as they are travelling. As you can't use mobile phones (or usage is restricted) these are a popular and more affordable form of tube advertising than other options. Passengers often have little to do, or look at, when travelling so this form of tube advertising is very effective and reaches every stop along each tube line!

How Much Does it Cost to Advertise on London Underground?

Costs of advertising on the London tube varies depending on a number of factors, these are briefly outlined below:

1. The time of year (Christmas, Easter, key dates - Valentines Day Mothers Day etc are busy). As with any form of outdoor advertising we always recommend that you book as far in advance as possible. This will allow you to get the best rates and more importantly top underground sites.

2. The type/format of advert you are looking for as outlined above. In general, the larger format posters (the tube ad tunnels etc) are more costly than smaller posters.

3. Which stations you want to advertise in - those more central and with greater daily footfall eg. Oxford Circus, Waterloo are more expensive than those on the outskirts. Again it's worth thinking about your target market if you specifically want to target certain parts of the capital.

4. Length of the advertising campaign - the longer you want posters up, the more expensive, however, it is proven that longer campaigns have a better return on investment. Most tube advertising is a minimum of 2 weeks, whilst the majority of advertisers tend to do a month or more.

To find out more info and for specific costs on London underground advertising give us a bit of info about what you are looking to promote, timings and also any stations you are particularly interested in. We will work up a bespoke campaign for you to consider based on these factors.

Which Companies Advertise on The Underground?

Lots of major national and international companies advertise on the tube (including car companies, supermarkets, clothes, fashion and luxury brands - https://www.promo-media.co.uk/projects/luxury/aberdeen-city/aberdeen/) - whilst small local companies also choose stations nearby to target people in their neighbourhood (local hairdressers, independent bars, cafes, gyms, restaurants etc.).

London underground advertising is, therefore, a popular choice with a wide range of companies and is more affordable than many imagine. If tube advertising is something you are interested in for your company we can provide you with costs and lots of suitable options to consider (including 4 sheets, 6 sheets, 48 sheets, tunnel advertising and escalator panels).

With the tube network covering over 402km and serving 270 busy stations - carrying a total of 4.8 million passengers a day - there is a multitude of tube advertising options.

If adverts on the tube are of interest to you and your company contact us today for more specific information and find out about how tube advertising can work for your business on either a local London, national or even international level.

Don't miss your stop and get on board with tube advertising today with PromoMEDIA!

Tube Advertising Benefits for My Company

There are many benefits to tube advertising as outlined above but at PromoMEDIA we would say the main ones are;

Massive exposure
Ability to target stations
Potential to seen by people from all over the UK (and indeed the world) - not just people in London
Options to suit various budgets
Great at establishing and maintaining positive brand perceptions

Tube Advertising Rate Card

Tube Card Panels

Escalator Advertising Cost

London Underground Advertising Posters

Advertising in London Underground Summary

Tube advertising can initially seem an expensive form of outdoor advertising, however, when weighing up the positives and proven results it is clear why it is so popular with a whole range of businesses. It is a common misconception that tube advertising is only used by London based companies but this is not the case, it's effective for international brands as well as local businesses in the locale of the stations.

As the London underground network is ever-growing it means that tube advertising is also often new and exciting too, with new digital options, tunnel take-overs ever-evolving well as more traditional poster advertising options.

Contact Us

If London Underground advertising is something which you are interested in contact us today. We will then put together a bespoke campaign based on your aims, ambitions and budgets.