A 40m LED screen – said to be the largest indoor display of its type in Europe – has been launched at London, UK’s Waterloo railway station. The first glimpses of the AOTO 8K LED display used in the installation emerged more than a year ago and the original launch was due to be held last summer. Despite the delay, the screen is now up and running and has been heralded as a "new era" according to multinational advertising corporation JCDecaux who delivered the project.
The first advertiser displaying content on the screen is German car manufacturer Audi. Project designers did not just rely on the commanding presence of the screen and have put plenty of thought into the content. The 'Audi Dashboard' features live statistics and contextual messages about "One day in the life of Waterloo"- a series of statistics about the station which are tied in with the Audi range being shown. If the 31,451 cups of coffee bought at the station every day was petrol, viewers are told, an Audi A3 could drive as far as the moon.
A real-time LED control system and Twitter feed keeps commuters up to date and entertained. They are also encouraged to participate in the conversation on the display. "For Audi, it is important we use opportunities to support the brand’s ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ philosophy," said Matt Doman from content designers and creators BBH London.
"The challenge with Waterloo Motion is to keep such a vast audience engaged for the campaign period. As a result, we came up with a dynamic concept where the data on the Audi Dashboard is never the same twice."
The AOTO display installed has a 6mm pitch and resolution of 6720px x 480px, or 3.2 million pixels, boasting 4.4 trillion colours. It is estimated that two million commuters will potentially see the screen as they pass through the station each week.
"It is fantastic that Audi has chosen to be our partner for the launch of Waterloo Motion," said Spencer Berwin, MD of Sales at JCDecaux UK. "This marks a new era in rail advertising, underlining the importance of rail as an environment for brands and the ability of digital to create powerful, immersive experiences that engage millions of consumers."