The Taxy Advertising Scorecard Advantage

A taxy advertising scorecard should include all metrics that would best measure and evaluate the response of target customers towards their advertising messages.

Advertising is commonly defined as the communication relayed to potential customers on products and services coming from different suppliers. Organizations, both profit-oriented and non-profits, spend large amounts of money on advertising for different reasons. In 2006, advertising spending in the United States was pegged at $155 billion according to TNS Media Intelligence.

It is widely acknowledged that advertising campaigns have positive as well as negative repercussions. Nevertheless, millions of companies recognize its effectiveness in generating sales revenues and increasing brand awareness.

Because of the millions of advertisements that people are exposed to, advertising companies are always on the look-out for innovative advertising media. Today, advertisements are no longer limited to newspapers, television or radio. They are seen in just about any nook and cranny in the city. Bus stop benches, shopping carts, roof mounts, passenger screens, town criers, mobile telephone screens and sides of buses and airplanes are now used as advertising media.

One of the more recent advertising trends is out-of-home advertising (OOH). This encompasses all advertising that reaches the customer while he or she is not confined in his or her home. These outdoor advertising products are categorized into three namely, street furniture, billboards and transit. The most common of these are billboard advertisements.

However, taxi and train advertisement are now starting to gain ground. This developed as the customers or audiences of these advertising communications are captive audiences. These people are not on the move and are stationary. Because they are, their attention span is lengthier and their mindsets make them readily access and absorb advertising messages.

Taxi advertising, in particular, has now gained immense popularity not only in the United States but also in some of the most successful European cities. More and more have advocated this type of advertising because cabs can provide local, national and regional advertising as they can go to different areas in the city. In fact, studies show that taxis roam in city centers and towns 90% of the time providing a wider market reach.

Moreover, a regular taxi spends an average of 8 hours on the road daily providing more exposure for advertisers. This advertising strategy also allows direct contact as leaflets can be made readily available for taxi passengers. Taxi advertising is also flexible since advertising campaigns can be replaced within a few months to cater to whatever is the customer response. A taxi advertising campaign may not always be effective especially if the advertised product or service is still unknown. Other forms advertising activities may be used in conjunction with this to achieve desired impact.

Firms that utilize taxi advertising should continuously and regularly evaluate campaign effectiveness. A taxy advertising scorecard has to be developed to help company managers determine the success or failure of their advertising campaigns. This scorecard should take into account different aspects of promotional activities launched not only the financial perspective.