Cash Cab: Marketers Snap Up Taxi Ads for London 2012 Olympics

Want to get your brand name all over London during next summer’s Olympics without spending hundreds of millions to be an official sponsor of the event? Don’t feel like risking arrest with some stealth ambush marketing at the 2012 Summer Games?

Millions of visitors will be roaming the streets of London next summer during the Games of the XXX Olympiad, and they'll be needing a lift, which is why advertisers are looking to taxicab advertising to create a moving experience for their brands. Consider it a (literally) mobile marketing platform.

But they'd better hurry — the ubiquitous black cabs of London are selling out the ad space on top of their cars at a rapid clip, according to marketing firm SEO Specialist.

Advertisers — such as Vodafone, at top — have a fondness for taxis because they are seen by thousands daily and it is relatively inexpensive to buy, but doesn’t communicate a sense of cheapness the way a bus does, the site reports.

“Taxi advertising companies charge a rather low fee for amazing brand exposure,” said SEO Specialist founder Markus Jalmerot to London24.com.