mediaweek - Inside Outdoor 30th May 2011

Rova Media

Not surprisingly airports are the #1 destination for taxis in all capital cities, and if you want to be on taxi backs Rova Media is your best friend. "We capture 75% of passengers entering and leaving the airport," said Matt Byrne, the managing director of Rova Media, which sells ad space on all taxi back panels in all metro markets except Melbourne, plus many other major regional centres. Originally called Taxi Media, it was part of a division for APN in the 10 years prior to it breaking away. Rova Media was then part of Network Outdoor, but split six years ago to run under it's own brand. Byrne told us that around 60% of all domestic passengers use a taxi, and about 35% internationally.

"There are around 9,000 taxi movements at Sydney Airport daily." It's not only airport numbers that are important, with taxis combing the capital cities, and anywhere there is a crowd, so the ads have an impact. Byrne said that Rova Media was more than pleased with the results of the recent APN Outdoor study (see Mediaweek May 23, 2011) that indicated moving ads have more impact than stationary ads. "I was thinking of sending them a thank you letter," joked Byrne, himself a former APM Outdoor executive. "That was great news for us. We have been doing quite a bit of work ourselves researching who comes within range of our signs within a 24-hour and 14-day period." Rova Media is looking at a range of additional creative options for ads elsewhere on taxis. "Despite the fact we are a privately owned and operated industry, we have the strictest bylaws restricting what we can do on a state-by-state basis." Those state laws actually keep Rova Media out of Victoria completely where no taxi back advertising is allowed.

"Victoria is the only state in the western world to prevent taxi ads like ours. We are working with the State Government on trying to change that." Rova has attracted an impressive cross-section of clients. We were considered the entertainment and leisure format for many years. That largely consisted of stage shows because those advertisers wanted to get the A-B audience with a small budget. That has grown to everything from automobile to insurances to government messages. Entertainment and leisure has grown to include sporting events, opera, television and concerts. We have many FMCG advertisers, significantly McDonald's who have shown a lot of faith in the business by running 52-week campaigns nationally."