Subway Communication

Description
While on the way to a museum after class today, I came across this interesting tool being used in at Friedrichestr station to communicate with travelers. On the underground train platforms I saw several TV screens on the walls. These TV screens featured different advertisements as well as news content.

Why I Selected This
I selected this because I believe it is a new and interesting positioning of a communication tool. It is something that grabbed my attention as soon as I got off the train. The position of the flat screen TV which was on the wall alongside the train line caught my attention as I did not expect to see this type of communication underground in the subway.

Applying IMC Concepts
I believe that this is interesting from an IMC perspective because it is yet another modern way that technological improvements have given advertising and PR professionals to connect with an audience. I have never seen this kind of communication on an underground train platform. I believe it is a perfect place to make messages connect with people, they are there waiting for their trains and have nothing to do, so will be likely to pay attention to what is being shown on the screens. I thought it was interesting that not only was the screen being used for a wide variety of advertising (from an advert for Life and Style magazine to an advert for Tibet), but that it was also used to display international news content (as you can see from in the video below)

Cross Cultural Analysis.
I have used the subway in London, Chicago and New York and I have never seen televisions on the subway platforms. I do not know if this technology is being used in the US in metropolitan areas but I do not believe it is because I would think that New York would be the first place in the US to make use of the technology and this new positioning and up to a few months ago it was not being used there to my knowledge.
I believe that it is interesting that because Europe is much more centralized than the US with more metropolitan areas that have this type of public transport. Communications professionals here have more opportunities to connect with the public while they are travelling than their counterparts in the US. In the US many areas do not have a good public transport system with subways etc so people drive their cars. This means that opportunities to connect with a captive travelling audience are much fewer.

Key Points

1. Interesting positioning of a video screen to communicate with travelers
2. Used to communicate a range of messages- varied adverts as well as news content
3. Enhanced ability in Europe to communicate with users of public transport, these methods cannot be used in much of the US.

By Camille Backer 6/7/08