Connect to Spotify and listen to music, connect to your Hailo App and pick up new business, browse the internet whilst parked up at a rank…CabWifi is a fast and free connection, to reward drivers and passengers for their time on the road. CabWifi also gives the public another great reason to ride in a London Black Taxi and not any other!

But “whats the catch” I hear you cry! Nothing at all, in fact the service couldn’t be simpler. Eyetease Media are operating an ‘Ads-for-access” model for passengers travelling in the back of the CabWifi enabled taxi. Passengers will be greeted by stickers inside the vehicle, informing them of free access to wifi. Once they select the CabWifi network on their device (mobile phone, laptop, iPad, Kindle etc…) they will be prompted to watch a short advert – lasting anywhere between 15-30seconds. Once finished, the internet is unlocked and they’re ready to surf the web! Note, drivers will be able to access the internet at all times, using a unique and separate login.

Notoriously, wifi access in public hotspot areas have been plagued by lengthy login processes and a request for credit card payment before allowing you to proceed. Eyetease Media believe the future is free…the future is CabWifi. Its time for a new and exciting way to bring internet access to the masses!

CEO, Richard Corbett, admits “this is the first service of its kind in the UK taxi market and we’re trying to break new boundaries with the service! Using a model that works well for successful brands such as Youtube and Spotify, the ads-for-access model gives us the opportunity to fund a high speed free wifi service for taxi drivers and the public. In addition, brands will be presented with a new high impact narrow-cast opportunity to passengers travelling in a London taxi – watch an ad, play an interactive game, download a voucher – the choice is yours!”

As of the date of this article, the taxi trade have voted with their hands and tweets with over 100 new followers in less than 24 hours!

Top tweets of the day:

1. @LondonTaxi – “Want free WiFi in your cab? Follow @CabWifi for more information #taxidriveressentials”
2. @skkthfc61 – “@CabWifi At first glance seems like a winner”
3. @andycannell – “Looking forward to finding out more about @CabWifi could help us guys using Hailo”

If you’re a taxi driver and would like to receive more information regarding CabWifi, please follow us @CabWifi or email our colleagues on taxis@cabwifi.com.

In honour of this great sport and great evening of entertainment, we’ve selected a few adverts which caught our eye over here at Eyetease HQ.

Dannon – When Harry met Sally’s fist (Eyetease Rating: 4 / 10)

Dannon uses a helping of humour and domestic violence to portray the love for their new yoghurt enjoyed by the American public. With close to 800k hits on YouTube this week, the feedback from the public is ‘hard hitting’ to say the least (pardon the pun). Also, further rumours that the backing track (John Butler’s Zebra song) was used without the consent of the artist or management company are starting to build up on the Youtube page. Viewers of this advert will be pleased to know that no models, actors or animals were injured during the making of this video. See what you think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y59VUQxX3Dk (<–right click link and open in new tab).

Fiat – The seductive powers of the new Fiat Abarth (Eyetease Rating: 8/10)

Fiat do an excellent job of introducing a generous helping of sex appeal to the new Fiat 500 Abarth. The advert, appropriately named ‘Seduction’, clearly demonstrates the powerfully flirtatious (yet aggressive) seductive powers of the new Fiat – depicted by a rather charming looking Italian woman. For those young boy racers out there, this advert will make you sit up, pay attention and entice you to want to buy a new Abarth. Mine is already on order! Check out the full advert here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cpi2IAec9Ho (<–right click link and open in new tab).

ACURA – Seinfeld versus Leno (Eyetease Rating: 9/10)

For those Seinfeld fans out there (and basically anyone with a sense of humour), you’ll love this short commercial from Acura which uses lines from previous Seinfeld shows to tell a story of one man (i.e. Jerry Seinfeld) fighting to be the first man to buy the new Acura NSX sports car. The commercial includes the ‘last living Munchkin’, a ‘Soup Nazi’, an Alien, ziplines, speedboats, dirty limericks in front of Gran…oh and Jay Leno in a jet pack flying squirrel suit! All under 1 minute. Very entertaining! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YOL22euixuA (<–right click link and open in new tab).

To watch all the 2012 Super Bowl Ads, click here!

Several hundred children and teams of support workers made their way to Grosvenor House, Park Lane to attend the highlight in their social calender. With lots of yummy party food, clowns, music, dancing and entertainment from live acts including Diversity and The Cheeky Girls, the event was a great success – enjoyed by all!

Eyetease Media’s CEO added “working with the team at the LTFUC was a very humbling experience. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard, with such dedication, energy and enthusiasm as the members of the LTFUC…these taxi drivers are unsung heroes in my opinion and I would relish the opportunity to work alongside them again for such a worthwhile cause!”

A special shout out goes to Alan Cohen MBE (the project organiser) for finding Eyetease Media online and contacting us! We wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

And of course, we couldn’t go to such a great event without getting involved in some of the festivities….

The LTFUC is completely funded through the donations made by the public and the taxi drivers involved in the charity. Please help the LTFUC keep doing what they’re doing by making a donation through their website: http://www.thelondontaxidriverschildrenscharity.co.uk/?p=Make+a+Donation.

Thank you!

Eyetease Media exhibiting at the Screen Media Expo, Earls Court, in May 2011:

Eyetease Media’s iTaxitop is shortlisted for the EMEA inAVation awards 2012 under the category ‘Most inAVative Digital Signage Product’, November 2011. Eyetease and other finalists have now been entered into an online voting poll, where the industry and general public can vote for their favourite digital signage proposition. Voting will close on Sunday 15th of January 2012…so get your votes in now! VOTE HERE:

Eyetease Media tweeted, blogged, videod, photographed and featured in over 50 websites and newspapers worldwide, including: the Evening Standard, Yahoo News, Yahoo OMG, MSN News, Le Parisien, Global Best Awards, Output Magazine, Output Magazine (Video), The Hindustan Times, The Brunei Times, Connessioni Magazine, Relay, Hailo, The New Age,  to name but a few:

World famous West End Show, Billy Elliot, and the team at AKA trial the iTaxitop in November 2011:

Eyetease Media acquires taxitop.com in October 2011:

Eyetease Media introduces the iTaxitop to US markets in December 2011:

Eyetease partners with Ogilvy Digital Labs in January 2011:

Eyetease Media are proud supporters of several charities, including, ‘Help For Heroes’ and ‘The London Taxidriver Federation for Underprivileged Children’ (LTFUC). See images below of Eyetease Media supporting ‘Help for Heroes’ Charity in August 2011. To make a very worthwhile donation, please click on the following links [DONATE LTFUC] and [DONATE HFH]:

See you next year!

As another year draws to an end, we look back at 2011 and reflect on what has been a great year filled with lots of cheeky ‘eyeteasing’ with a little help from the iTaxitop™.

In January, Eyetease Media kicked off the year by being featured in two articles in the DailyDOOH. The first article titled “Dude What Have You Done With My Mini Cooper” introduced the iTaxitop to international DOOH. The second article, “Are We Gonna See this At ScreenMedia Expo?” brought to light Eyetease Media’s meeting with ScreenMedia’s Mark Pigou and speculated whether the iTaxitop™ would be on display at the upcoming Screen Media Expo 2011 at Earls Court. As we all know, Eyetease Media was most definitely at the Expo, which helped establish the company as the world’s number one manufacturer of digital rooftop advertising solutions for taxis. To read a full report on the expo from Eyetease Media, click here!

 

2011 also saw the invitation by Ogilvy to become a partner in their Digital Labs – a relationship that will see the iTaxitop showcased in the far corners of the globe in 2012!

The iTaxitop was fortunate to enjoy a great deal of interest, both in the UK and abroad. Throughout 2011, the iTaxitop was tweeted, blogged, videod, photographed and featured in over 50 websites and newspapers, including: the Evening Standard, Yahoo News, Yahoo OMG, MSN News, Le Parisien, Global Best Awards, Output Magazine, Output Magazine (Video), The Hindustan Times, The Brunei Times, Connessioni Magazine, Relay, Hailo, The New Age,  to name but a few! The iTaxitop captured the imagination of the general public with its ability to not just target digital ads by time and location, but also to provide free wifi hotspots in-cab!

Throughout the month of November, Eyetease Media had the pleasure of working with AKA and the team at Billy Elliot to trial the iTaxitop. The trial provided both Eyetease Media and AKA with the opportunity to test the iTaxitop and gauge impact of this new advertising medium. Simon Delany, Client Services Director at AKA mentions: “As the leading marketing agency for live entertainment, we are always looking for new and exciting ways to promote our clients and shows to the largest possible audience. A large part of this challenge is finding new platforms and media to provide the maximum impact for our clients, and the iTaxitop is one such fantastic opportunity. We’re delighted that Billy Elliot was able to be there first with this new initiative, and we will continue to consider the iTaxitop as a part of our outdoor campaigns throughout the year ahead.” A spokesperson from Eyetease Media mentions, “we are writing the rule book with the iTaxitop as we launch a new and disruptive advertising medium to the UK market…this form of digital broadcast medium has not been done before with taxis in the UK and working with prestigious brands, such as Billy Elliot and the team at AKA, will help us move one step closer to defining a robust and compelling proposition, for brands and agencies to enjoy for many years to come.”

And last but not least, on the 24th November 2011, Eyetease Media’s iTaxitop was shortlisted for the EMEA inAVation awards 2012 under the category ‘Most inAVative Digital Signage Product’. Eyetease and other finalists have now been entered into an online voting poll, where the industry and general public can vote for their favourite digital signage proposition. Voting will close on Sunday 15th of January 2012, and the winners announced on Wednesday 1st February at ISE 2012 in Amsterdam. For those who have yet to vote or are still undecided, the Eyetease team have pulled together a TOP 5 list of reasons why we think the iTaxitop should win:

1. Introducing and championing a highly disruptive advertising medium to an established UK OOH market.
2. Adding value to an under-utilised and potentially high impact medium, the taxi, which spends over 95% of its time in city centres.
3. Integrating the latest high brightness screen technology, 3G and GPS into a vehicle based / broadcast environment to deliver high impact, relevant and targeted campaigns.
4. A robust and fit-for-purpose mobile digital broadcast solution for mass inner-city transit, which introduces new and fresh thinking to previous technical obstacles associated with vehicle based solutions, such as weight, power consumption, thermal management, vibration, moisture ingress, security and vandalism, road safety and legislation.
5. The iTaxitop plays adverts with time specific and geographic accuracy. Schedule adverts remotely from your computer and deploy using 3G connectivity.

And as the great Steve Jobs used to say, theres just “one more thing”…free in-cab wifi for the public travelling in the Taxi, providing a new high impact narrow-casting opportunity for brands – which will talk to their own digital screens (i.e. mobile phones, laptops, iPads, Kindles, etc…). For more information or to cast your vote, please click VOTE HERE. You will find Eyetease in group 5!

Today, the iTaxitop is fully tested and certified to UK and International safety and technical standards for a vehicle based application. Throughout the year, Eyetease Media has championed a new advertising medium for the UK OOH market. The company has pushed for change in UK regulations to enable rooftop advertising to be approved in the City of London. Introducing digital technology to an outdoor / vehicle based environment has been a momentous task, which many companies have tried and failed in the past. The iTaxitop introduces new and fresh thinking to previous problems, with its market leading vibration mounting, thermal management and power management system to ensure the product has a minimum 5 year lifespan. Developing a new and disruptive advertising medium in a harsh vehicle based environment has not been without its challenges. The company has had to overcome significant technical obstacles and limitations including weight, height, power consumption, thermal management and heat dissipation, vibration, moisture ingress, security and vandalism, road safety and legislation, to produce the world’s most advanced mass city transit broadcasting medium.

Eyetease Media are proud supporters of several charities, including, ‘Help For Heroes’ and ‘The London Taxidriver Federation for Underprivileged Children’ (LTFUC). Watch out for us supporting the LTFUC at the upcoming ‘Madhatter Tea Party’ event at Grosvenor House, Mayfair, on 16th January 2012. To make a very worthwhile donation, please click on the following links [DONATE LTFUC] and [DONATE HFH].

As we look at the year ahead, we look forward to working with the TFL and LTI to complete final trials of the iTaxitop in London ahead of the Olympic Games in July / August 2012. Further afield, watch out for further updates on www.Eyetease.com as we launch the iTaxitop across major cities in Europe and North America.

Thank you again to everyone who made this year a great year. I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Eyetease Media. See you soon and keep eyeteasing!

Richard Corbett,
CEO Eyetease Limited

Eyetease and other finalists will now be entered into an online voting poll, which goes live today, where the industry and general public can vote for their favourite digital signage proposition. Voting will close on Sunday 15th of January, and the winners announced on Wednesday 1st February at ISE 2012 in Amsterdam. Each finalist has been invited to write a short description of why they think they are ‘innovative’, or should we say ‘inAVative’,  in the true sense of the term – click here to view Eyetease’s profile.

Like any proud parent, Eyetease of course believe their baby (‘the iTaxitop’) is number 1. To help you form your own opinion on the iTaxitop, the Eyetease team have pulled together a TOP 5 list of reasons why the iTaxitop should win:

1. Introducing and championing a highly disruptive advertising medium to an established UK OOH market.
2. Adding value to an under-utilised and potentially high impact medium, the taxi, which spends over 95% of its time in city centres.
3. Integrating the latest high brightness screen technology, 3G and GPS into a vehicle based / broadcast environment to deliver high impact, relevant and targeted campaigns.
4. A robust and fit-for-purpose mobile digital broadcast solution for mass inner-city transit, which introduces new and fresh thinking to previous technical obstacles associated with vehicle based solutions, such as weight, power consumption, thermal management, vibration, moisture ingress, security and vandalism, road safety and legislation.
5. The iTaxitop plays adverts with time specific and geographic accuracy. Schedule adverts remotely from your computer and deploy using 3G connectivity.

And as the great Steve Jobs used to say, theres just “one more thing”…free in-cab wifi for the public travelling in the Taxi, providing a new high impact narrow-casting opportunity for brands – which will talk to their own digital screens (i.e. mobile phones, laptops and iPads).

For more information or to cast your vote, please click VOTE HERE. You will find Eyetease in group 5. Thank you!

Eyetease Media CEO, Richard Corbett tells us: “With the iTaxitop now ready for roll-out in international markets, our team are starting to think about new ways to be heard in a fast moving, competitive and noisy market. We have a market leading product and we want to tell the world about it!” He later goes on to admit, “we want to extend the momentum we have created in Europe and target key strategic markets – namely the USA – where the taxitop concept is common place in major cities.”

The Eyetease senior management team plan to visit key potential roll-out partners in the USA later this month, in an effort to launch the iTaxitop in major US cities by next year. Watch this space for new and exciting updates coming soon!

With a quoted circulation of 700,000 copies and reaching over 1.7milion Londoners (according to recent NRS data), the article on Eyetease Media’s new and sexy digital rooftop advertising pod for taxis, was read by many on their travels in and around the city.

The online version of the article, titled ‘The video screen coming to a cab near you”, was written by Mark Prigg, the Science and Technology Editor for the Evening Standard. Mr Prigg said, “this is a really exciting product and definitely the type of thing the City of London like to read about”. The printed version of the article, on page 22 of the newspaper titled ‘Video thrills for radio cars”, was a more summarised version of the online article. Nevertheless, the team at Eyetease Media still had their work cut out for them as the phone calls / emails / tweets were flooding in from taxi drivers, media companies and other interested parties.

Richard Corbett admitted “this was a great opportunity to give the City of London a sneak preview to the iTaxitop…although, as John Mason [Director of Taxi and Private Hire at Transport for London] rightfully points out in the article, we still have a long way to go, and discussions are still ongoing”. Richard goes on to say that “We are working in collaboration with the TFL, DFT and LTI to ensure that the iTaxitop meets all UK and international safety standards and technical specifications. With additional support from the taxi trade and media agencies, the iTaxitop will be more than just a great piece of technology but a common feature in our cities that we can all be proud of.”

If you read the article in the London Evening Standard and are interested in finding out more about the iTaxitop, please contact info@eyetease.com.

And don’t forget, during the month of October, Eyetease Media want your opinions on the iTaxitop in London. Love it or hate it, let us know by contacting taxis@eyetease.com. If you’re a taxi driver, please check out our previous news article titled “Calling all Taxi drivers!” and answer 5 short questions on the iTaxitop to be in with a chance to win an iPod Nano. Thanks and good luck!

To access the full article on the evening standard website, please click here.

If you drive a black cab, we want to hear from you. Simply answer the 5 questions below about the iTaxitop and you will be entered into a prize draw to win an iPod nano complements of Eyetease Media!

1. How do you feel the iTaxitop will change the look of the London taxi? Rate 1 to 10. (1 = it will look worse,  10 = it will look much better!)
2. What do you think Londoners, tourists and passengers will think of the iTaxitop on the London taxi? Rate 1 to 10. (1 = they will hate it,  10 = they will love it!)
3. What would be your main concerns about having one of these fitted to your taxi? (List your concerns, if any!)
4. Would you have an iTaxitop on your taxi? (Yes / No)
5. If not, what would persuade you to take one of these new iTaxitops? (List your response)

Please send your answers to taxis@eyetease.com. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.

If you would also like one of our team members to talk to you in more detail regarding the iTaxitop, please send us a message and we will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you,

The Eyetease Media Team

The Fair kicked off at 12pm and ran on well into the night. A great day filled with Belgian beer tents, DJs, live music, pole dancing classes, chocolate fountain, pooch parades, raffles and auctions, bungee runs, bouncy castles and much more!

Eyetease Media donated the Teasemobile for the day, enabling event’s organisers the ability to advertise live news, event information and key announcements throughout the day to the general public, using our very own digital taxitop advertising sign – the iTaxitop. Broadcasting to thousands of onlookers attending the event, the Teasemobile created quite a spectacle! In an interview with Jill from Essex, she said “its brilliant! such a good idea…cant wait to see it hit the streets of London”. Brian from Bow mentioned “I’ve been a cab driver for over 15 years…if I could get one of these on my cab I’d make more than double what I’m making today from vinyl…this is going to be good for the cab trade!”

And if that wasn’t enough, the Eyetease Media team were out in force making fresh fruit juices and Grey Goose Watermellon Martinis for passers by. Although…we understand that some of these drinks were consumed by our team members, however we are assured this was for “quality control” purposes only.

All in all, a great day was had by all vendors and visitors at the Fair and, more importantly, a great deal of money was raised for the Help For Heroes charity.

A special thank you also to 5th Avenue Foodhall, Oliver Jacques, Marlborough Trust and Love My Dog for their support and contributions on the day!

To find out more about how you can make a donation to this excellent cause, please click on this link to Help For Heroes.