Lamar Advertising Company Renews Transit Ad Contract With BC Transit
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Lamar Advertising Company, one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in North America, and BC Transit in Canada have renewed their transit advertising contract for an additional 10-year term as of Aug. 1, 2015.
Exterior bus ads on a BC Transit double-deck bus
“Lamar’s high quality transit advertising displays on BC Transit buses provide unparalleled coverage for advertisers,” says Byron Montgomery, Lamar Advertising regional vice-president. “We look forward to successful execution of the new contract and maximizing revenue growth for the transit system.”
BC Transit’s inventory includes 590 buses, connecting commuters across more than 130 communities in the Kootenays, North, Okanagan, South Coast and Vancouver Island regions of British Columbia. On average, BC Transit carries more passengers per hour of service and is used by a higher proportion of residents than their peer systems in other Canadian communities, providing excellent visibility for advertisers. Lamar displays advertisers’ messages on the interiors and exteriors of BC Transit’s conventional and double-deck buses.
Lamar also handles the city of Vancouver under a separate contract which it holds to year 2020. We asked Montgomery what happened with the digital screens on 20 bus sides that the company installed in Dec., 2009, in time for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
“We had them until the end of 2012, and they were totally sold out for three years,” says Montgomery. “They were the size of king posters, 30” x 139”, and the revenue was good. But the actual product didn’t stand up to the environment and the wear and tear, the dings and potholes, even though Vancouver basically has milder winters than the rest of Canada.
“Lamar was forced to change them almost yearly, so the capital expense was high, and finally decided to remove them, even though the market and advertisers really liked them. The partnership saw the amount of money it was costing.”
Would they come back?
“We’re waiting for a better mousetrap to be developed,” Montgomery says. “If we had a stronger, more robust product that had a good warranty and could stand up to the environment and the wear and tear the buses take, we 100% would put digital signs on the buses again. Technology has to catch up for the structure to do well. It needs more engineering fine-tuning.”
However, Lamar is in the process of several new developments in B.C., and Vancouver itself. It put WiFi into six buses six months ago with partner Telus and those buses are wrapped for the advertisers. Now it plans to put WiFi in subway stations and the inner harbour ferry system known as the SeaBus in Sept.-Oct..
The subway stations will have advertiser station domination with vinyl printed material. The Expo line and Canada line already have 168 LCD screens that were installed between 2006 and 2009. The ferry terminal also has two digital screens.
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