TfL trials online sponsorship strategy

Transport for London is trialing limited sponsorship on its website for the first time. It is also believed to be the first time a public sector organisation has used sponsorship online.

The trial will see Yell.com content used on high traffic, relevant pages of the TfL site. The second phase of the deal will see an interactive Yell.com banner, with in-built search functionality, introduced onto TfL’s homepage.

The decision to deliver content from Yell is part of a wider partnership with the international directories publisher, which started with the inclusion of TfL content in Yellow Pages directories in 2005.

Giles Bailey, TfL’s Head of Group Marketing Strategy and Integration, says: “The trial sponsorship partnership between Transport for London and Yell.com is a good fit for both parties and will add useful functionality for our passengers.

“There are over 7 million visits to www.tfl.gov.uk every month, and this trial will help us appraise the potential revenue generation opportunities for TfL as we consider online sponsorship offerings. This is revenue that will be ploughed back into improvements to the capital’s transport system”.

TfL will analyse the commercial viability of continuing to allow online sponsorship, as well as customer reaction, before extending the strategy.