Update: Train Spotting

Subway Motion Picture ads are catching on primarily among automotive manufacturers. The still images lined up to become moving pictures when a subway train speeds by are now also offered for pedestrians walking along them.

Trend Description
Our Trendscout in Japan spotted one of the first “moving pictures” from a subway train in Tokyo in 2005 (please read our trendpost “Train spotting”). The adds consist of a sequence of still images which are illuminated from behind and create the illusion of a short motion picture ad when a subway car speeds by. The idea is based on the 19th century zoetrope, which is basically a large scale, rounded flip-book, which creates the illusion of moving images when spun around.

Underground ads can now be seen in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Bucharest, Istanbul, Paris, Munich, and Moscow. Submedia, a company specializing in these kinds of ads, has now even created “moving picture” ads for pedestrians, often mounted on scaffolding or indoors in public areas of office buildings. These street-level ads are about 60 ft long adding up to a 15-second spot. So far, they are available in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

Cases:

Lincoln Zephyr – New York
The upcoming Lincoln Mercury Zephyr campaign will use subway motion pictures and street-level ads in New York. Placed on existing scaffolding in high-traffic areas, the street-level campaign alone will capture over 400,000 pedestrians daily, according to Fuel Outdoor, the company that owns the space. Indoors, Lincoln plans to use escalators, malls, airports and movie theater lobbies. The campaign will start in November and costs about $150,000 for all five New York locations plus $10,000 for production.

Star Wars – Tokyo
The “Star Wars” campaign in Tokyo was an example of motion picture tunnel advertising mixed with guerilla marketing . Using footage that wasn’t in the movie, the spot created huge interest in fan circles. It was easy enough to find a number of Star Wars fanatics, dress them up, and send them underground to watch the moving picture ad.

Honda
Honda will introduce its new 2006 Civic via motion picture tunnel ads, running from October through November. As the car manufacturer signed up with both Submedia and Sidetrack, the two big companies specialized in moving picture ads will work together for the first time. The ads will be seen in New York, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.

Trend Impact
Since it first launched in 2001, the motion picture ad has gained a lot in popularity. They didn’t seem to get much attention in the very beginning, but since last year, the new medium is catching on fast. Car advertisers seem to be particularly interested. Car manufacturers are the biggest category, according to Submedia CEO Peter Corrigan. Advertisers have included BMW, Renault, Lamborghini, General Motors, Hummer, Infiniti, Nissan Ultima, Corvette and Cadillac – and now Honda and Lincoln. The reason is simple. Moving picture advertising is able to show the car in motion, which was previously only possible on a computer or TV screen. The concept also works well for movie trailers or fashion. Chanel, for example showed a model walking down the runway.


Submedia

SideTrack

Video link Cadillac (source Submedia)

Rate this post:

No rating yet