Network Rail opens £100m pitch for outdoor ad account
Network Rail has put its £100m contract to sell advertising space on its roadside advertising hoardings out to pitch.
The incumbent on the account is Titan and the account is estimated to be worth £20m.
Network Rail has more than 3,000 outdoor advertising sites at 2,000 locations nationwide, including London’s mainline rail stations.
The appointed agency will work on the Network Rail account for five years initially. Along the line, the winning agency may be able to extend it for a further two years.
Network Rail commercial property director, David Biggs, says: “We are looking for the right partner to help us develop innovations for our roadside advertising business so that we can generate ever greater commercial return.”
The company runs, maintains and develops Britain’s tracks, signalling system, rail bridges, tunnels, level crossings, viaducts and 18 key stations.
It is estimating that it will secure over £1bn from commercial activities in the next five years, and says the contract will cover about 8% of all “large format advertising within the roadside sector”.
The pitch comes as Network Rail also looks for an integrated marketing agency to work across a variety of campaigns. Recent advertising developed by the body includes safety campaigns warning of the dangers of level crossings and of trespassing on railway property.
A number of agencies have worked on recent Network Rail marketing, including Golley Slater, Clinic and Iris.
