Piccadilly open to new campaigns

One of London’s brightest branding landmarks, the Piccadilly Lights Complex in London, is going to become available to brand owners for short-term leasing for the first time in almost a century.

Launching on 1 December, ‘Piccadilly Lite’ will make it possible for UK and international brands to advertise on short-term contracts, to the audience of one million who pass through Piccadilly Circus each week.

Land Securities has owned the iconic site since the 1970s, and has decided to change the traditional long-term lease period – dominated by super-brands such as Coca-Cola and Sanyo – to respond to demand from shorter-term TV, film and music advertisers.

James Birkett, asset manager for Land Securities, says: ‘We are excited that we can make it possible for UK and international brands to advertise in this unique location on short-term contracts and at short notice.’

Piccadilly Lite uses LED signs to run digital sequences that can be regularly changed and updated, offering brand owners the opportunity to advertise tactically around specific product launches.

Birkett says: ‘Piccadilly Lite is a prime example of how recent technology enhancements are shaping how we communicate to the consumer.’

MT2 is the agency responsible for booking and running the advertisements for the new site.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135352/Piccadilly+Lite+switches+over+.html

This should be an interesting development to watch and observe which brands opt to take this route. It would seem to me that Land Securities stand to make a hell of a lot of money from this even with the assumption that the current adverts pay them quite a bit anyway. The move should increase competition and break the monopoly the current brands have in this location.