CBS Outdoor - Digital Advertising and the London Underground

I think I am at an age now where I am really starting to notice the constant developments that are occurring in technology. I remember when my parents told me stories like "I remember the first time I watched a TV programme on a colour TV - it was amazing!" I feel like I am beginning to store up stories like this myself now; having grown up through the huge developments that have been made by mobile phones, portable music players, computers - that it fascinates me to wonder what sort of thing will be around in 10 years if this is how far we've come since 10 years ago.

Living only a short train ride away from central London, I am very familiar with the London Underground and the advertising situations that are present in the stations: up and down the escalator walls, on the sides of the corridors, on the trains, on the walls across the tracks. There is a lot of waiting involved when traveling on the tube, whether it be waiting to get to the bottom of the escalator, waiting for the train to arrive, waiting for one's stop whilst traveling on the tube or waiting to get to the top of the escalator in order to exit the station upon arrival, so you can imagine that advertisements placed in tube stations are observed by thousands, and welcomed to help pass the time during the wait. In fact, according to CBS Outdoor, 87% of commuters welcome Tube advertising - more so than any other form of advertising (TV: 26%, roadside 6s: 37%) The London Commuter Research 2005.

If that many people welcome static advertising i.e. posters, banners etc, imagine how many people welcome it now that much of it is becoming digital! It was only a matter of time really, until this happened, and I'm sure it was envisaged and expected by a huge amount of people, but still it is a big change when something you are you used to - in this case Underground static advertising - makes a big step in development. Last time I was on the Tube, I didn't see people just glancing at the adverts, but rather staring at them, addicted to the moving images on the screens as people now are so used to digital pictures and entertainment in so many aspects of their lives: television, mobile phones, computers, iPods, games consoles - the list goes on.

As commendable a step in the technological world this is, it still makes me a little sad, and makes me wonder if in future years still images just won't be enough for people anymore. There's so many fantastic pieces of static advertising out there, really clever stuff that doesn't need moving images to make it effective. Posters and banners also save a lot of electricity which is something these advertising companies should probably be thinking about, but I guess that digital advertising saves the trees so it's hard to know who to root for. Anyway I'm it's only another matter of time until we'll be able to watch TV on the Tube screens, or interact with them somehow, but what will be after that? The future is an exciting and scary thing and I guess we just have to enjoy the ride!