Neo Advertising secures lion's share of Zurich VBZ's OOH inventory

According to a statement, Neo Advertising will thus take over the marketing for VBZ for the next seven years. The only exception is the advertising space on Bahnhofplatz, which will go to Livesystems.

For VBZ, the tender is a further step in the "Smart Stop" project, in the context of which VBZ, as the second-largest provider of outdoor advertising in Switzerland, also wants to develop technologically.

The new tender would result in revenue of at least 14.9 million Swiss francs per year, spread over the seven-year contract period and benefiting the city of Zurich and the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV).

Neo Advertising, which thus replaces Clear Channel, had submitted the best bid in terms of both quality and quantity. "It is the successful conclusion of a complex, fair and correct tender according to all the rules of public procurement," says a delighted Martin Suter, Head of Stops and Commercialization at VBZ. The great interest on the part of the marketers also shows the attractiveness of the advertising spaces at VBZ stops.

As was already the case with analog poster sites, the invitation to bid was based on a market- and demand-oriented concept that divided the poster sites put out to tender for marketing into different lots. These lots could be bid for individually or en bloc.

Because they believe in the future and the great potential of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, VBZ placed less emphasis on a minimum guarantee and more on the highest possible rate of delivery in the tender. This goal was achieved with 81.25 percent in Neo Advertising's bid.

Additional power consumption is overcompensated

VBZ wants to compensate for the additional electricity consumption caused by the digital advertising spaces: The electricity required for this comes exclusively from renewable sources. In addition, the existing bus stop lighting will be converted by the electricity company of the city of Zurich (ewz) - LEDs with motion sensors will replace the fluorescent tubes in the future. This will save VBZ so much electricity that the eco-balance of the advertising spaces will not only be balanced, but that additional electricity savings totaling 55,907 kWh per year would be generated. In addition, the latest technologies of digital advertising spaces are installed, which consume significantly less energy. At the same time, VBZ would like to remove one analog advertising space for every digital advertising space.

DOOH: 21 percent in Zurich

The digitization of 21 percent of all VBZ advertising space is unprecedented in Switzerland, the statement continues. This will make Zurich a leader in the field of DOOH, according to VBZ. This is another reason why the project has a certain significance for the entire advertising market in Switzerland. The conversion of the analog to digital surfaces will start as early as the beginning of 2022.