What are subway ads? Why Subway Advertising Works?

What are subway ads? Why Subway Advertising Works? Ever ridden on the MTA in New York City or the Underground in London?

If you have, you may have noticed all the different kinds of posters placed around the station and the subway cars. Utilizing subway advertising is a very unique way to promote a product.

Unlike other forms of digital advertising or physical advertising such as billboards, subway advertising receives a lot of acknowledgment.

People are diligent while taking and waiting for the subway. They look around the subway stations and pay close attention to make sure they get on the right train.

It is a different experience than billboards or digital marketing because you have to pay attention while on public transportation. Let’s discuss why subway advertising works.

What exactly is Subway advertising? Subway advertising is a popular form of OOH advertising, also known as Out of Home advertising.

It can take shape as advertisements physically placed inside train cars or around subway stations. Think of an interior train car ad as a mini billboard.

Subways are a great way to advertise your product because it utilizes any particular citt’s commuter base. This process creates better brand awareness and recognition since the same group of people are seeing and reading your ads either once or sometimes multiple times a day going to and from work.

Subway advertising promises a brand that their campaign will be seen by a diverse and massive audience in a short amount of time making subway ad campaigns an extremely efficient and effective way to advertise products and services.

Subway ads are more than just a poster inside a train car. There are so many options for subway ads.

The main forms of subway ads can be found as car cards, platform posters, exterior placements, and station domination. What is a car card?

If you have ridden any subway before you have definitely come across a car card. They are posters that are placed inside the train. They are just like mini billboards.

Typically they are small horizontal graphics placed at the top of the subway car. Sometimes they can be designed as larger vertical posters placed on larger wall spaces of the train car.

What are platform posters? Platform posters are larger posters that are displayed around the subway station.

They can be plastered onto the entryway to the station or hung on the walls opposite the train tracks. These can either be physical printed posters or digital posters.

These are a great option because every commuter will see them despite whichever train line they will board. Another option is exterior placements.

Exterior placements wrap alongside the entire side of a subway train with a single advertisement. The final option is station domination.

Another name for this style is station takeover. This is where one brand holds every advertisement space at the subway station.

There are so many benefits to utilizing subway advertising. Subway advertising works because of its consistency.

Local commuters will see your ads multiple times a day on their everyday route. Seeing one ad twice a day over the course of a full workweek will instill strong brand recognition in commuters.

Consistency is key! Statistics show just how effective subway advertising can be.

Take New York City for example. Millions of people are still using the subway every day in 2022.

According to a survey conducted by NY DMA, 49% of people believe the subway is the easiest and quickest way to get around the city.

Out of the 1000 people who completed the survey, 41% of the participants use the subway throughout the week using it for their work commutes during the week and for social events on the weekends.

The MTA provides many options for advertisers to utilize the millions of daily MTA riders to capture their attention.

It is reported that more than two million people ride the NYC subway every weekday. How can these numbers benefit your brand?

Take Jennifer Lopez’s recent subway campaign as an example. Reportedly throughout her new brand’s MTA advertising campaign, JLo Beauty reached more than 137 million people. Another popular brand, Function of Beauty, reported a 48% increase in website hits and a 28% increase in online orders through their MTA subway campaigns. The numbers speak for themselves!

If your brand is working on an OOH ad strategy you and your team need to highly consider investing in subway advertising!

If you already have an out-of-home ad strategy, ads throughout a city’s subway network can work as a microcosm of your existing ad strategy.

Think of it this way. Commuters who use the subway typically have long commute times.

New Yorkers will walk their commute if they can, so most who use the subway have long commutes. It is a rule of thumb on public transit to not stare and make eye contact with other passengers.

To avoid eye contact commuters will look anywhere else on the train to avoid an awkward situation. This means millions of people will stare at your ad in a train car for a good ten minutes. Use this social status quo to your advantage!

Subway advertising has historically been an effective marketing technique. It can be traced back to London in the 1800s with very simple advertisements at train stations.

Advertisements have evolved over time due to innovation and growth through technology, but it is undeniable just how reliable and effective subway advertising still is to this day! These are the reasons why subway advertising works.