Outdoor advertising.
Built around your brief.

Choose the format around the place, time and action your campaign needs. The Bike Ads arranges street-level activity and wider outdoor media across the UK, combining direct campaign experience with specialist operators and media-owner inventory where required.

Talk through your brief

MoneyGram campaign team with a human billboard and promotional materials — MoneyGram · human billboard and promotional activity archive

Choose your outdoor.

Street-level activity, mobile screens and fixed or transport media. One brief can bring several formats together.

Ad bikes

Local routes, operating sessions, display format and campaign team

Hire ad bikes

Human billboards

Displays carried by people at agreed pedestrian locations

Plan a Human Billboard campaign

Promotional staff

Distribution, directions, participation or other defined tasks

Brief a street team

Advertising trikes

A specific equipment configuration for the proposed activity

Discuss trike options

Digital ad vans

Mobile LED display, road route, operating hours and creative

Explore digital ad vans

Billboards

Available fixed sites, print formats and display periods

Explore billboard advertising

Digital outdoor screens

Available screens, scheduled playback and creative versions

Explore digital outdoor

Bus advertising

Exterior or interior formats, fleet area and booking period

Explore bus advertising

London Underground

Stations, lines, printed formats and digital inventory

Explore Tube advertising

We coordinate the agreed campaign and work with specialist operators and media owners where required. Your proposal identifies the available equipment or inventory and delivery responsibilities.

One format or a coordinated campaign?

A fixed placement can maintain a message while bikes or staff support a specific moment nearby. A digital ad van can serve a planned road route while a separate team handles a participation task. Give each format a clear role, with its own locations, timetable and reporting.

Use the comparisons below to assess street formats and the wider outdoor mix. There is no universal winning format; the useful choice is the one that fits the brief and can be delivered as agreed.

Equipment for your own team

If you need temporary kit or equipment to keep, follow the managed, DIY and buying comparison. Equipment hire and purchase are different scopes from booking a staffed campaign.

Bring us the brief

Start with your locations, dates, audience and objective. Add the preferred formats, creative status and budget range if known. We will discuss the available options and set out what the proposal includes.

Request a campaign proposal · Read the planning guides.

Bikes, human billboards & staff Compare all outdoor formats

Ad bikes, human billboards or promotional staff?

Start with what you need to happen on the street. An ad bike carries a display along an agreed route or between locations. A human billboard puts an advertising panel on a person working on foot. Promotional staff carry out agreed tasks such as leaflet distribution, directions or a campaign introduction.

These formats can work together, but the people, locations and tasks need to be planned separately.

On a small screen, scroll the table sideways to compare every column.

Your priority	Format to consider	What to put in the brief
Take one clear message around a local area	Ad bikes	Priority streets, locations, timings and the message people should remember
Put a visible message at selected pedestrian locations	Human billboards	Positions or walking routes, working hours and access arrangements
Give people a leaflet or explain their next step	Promotional staff	Materials, approved talking points, handover arrangements and the action you want people to take
Combine a moving display with face-to-face activity	A planned mix of formats	Separate roles, staffing numbers, operating areas and reporting for each task

Choose the job before the format

Ad bikes: plan the route around the message

An ad bike campaign needs more than a list of busy streets. Identify the audience and the moment the message will be useful: a college information event, a gym opening or a local shop promotion. Give the operator the priority locations and times, then agree a workable route.

Keep the main artwork clear. A location, date or short next step may matter more than a long list of features. Match the display specification to the equipment being booked; an electric-assisted bicycle does not automatically have an LED advertising screen.

Explore ad bike campaigns.

Human billboards: plan the positions and the people

Human billboards can support a local message on foot, including near the places where people make a relevant decision. Agree where the team can work, whether they will move between positions, and what they should say if approached.

A display carried by a person does not automatically include leaflet distribution, sampling or a detailed sales conversation. If those tasks matter, include them in the staffing brief and the quote. A historical MoneyGram booking planned AdWalkers across Birmingham and Coventry, illustrating a staffed campaign brief rather than a poster-print order alone.

Explore human billboards.

Promotional staff: define the interaction

“Engage the public” is too broad to brief consistently. Specify the task: hand out a leaflet, point visitors towards an event, introduce an approved offer or direct someone to a booking page. Explain how to handle questions outside the agreed brief.

Confirm who supplies the materials, how they reach the team, what happens if stocks run low and how any counts will be recorded. A count of leaflets distributed is different from a count of conversations or completed enquiries.

Explore promotional staffing.

Can the same person do everything?

Do not assume that they can. Cycling, carrying a display and stopping for longer conversations place different demands on a shift. Discuss the tasks and whether separate staff are needed. In The Bike Ads’ JustPark Birmingham campaign, ad bike activity and promotional staffing appeared together in the campaign scope.

Which format is most effective?

Choose the format that fits the job, then agree how you will assess it. Photographs and operating records show delivery. Leaflet counts, tracked visits or enquiries answer different questions. None of these formats comes with a universal conversion rate.

Send your locations, dates and objective. Include the action you want people to take, and whether you need display, distribution, conversation or a combination.

Ad bikes and other outdoor advertising: choose the format around the job

An ad bike gives you a display that can move between agreed street-level locations during a campaign session. A roadside billboard gives you a fixed position for a booked period. A digital screen adds scheduled creative playback, while bus and Underground advertising place the message within a transport network.

The choice depends on where the audience is, when the message matters, the creative you want to use and the evidence you need afterwards. A campaign can combine formats: a fixed display may provide continuity while bikes or staff support an opening day nearby.

Compare the role, not just the headline price

On a small screen, scroll the table sideways to compare every column.

Format	What you can plan	Creative	What shapes the cost	Delivery evidence to agree
Poster ad bikes	Agreed streets, positions and operating sessions	Printed panels with a clear message; a new version needs production	Bikes, riders, hours, print, transport and additional tasks	Operating record, locations, photographs and any changes
LED ad bikes	Agreed route and sessions with screen-based creative	Stills or motion supported by the booked display; confirm specifications and playback	Screen configuration, riders, duration, transport and creative preparation	Operating record, proof images and any available route/playback records
Digital ad vans	Road routes and suitable stopping positions for a mobile LED display	Screen-specific stills, video or animation, subject to operating restrictions	Vehicle/display, driver, campaign days, routing, travel and production	Route and timing records, proof photographs and available playback information
Static billboards	A named site for a booked display period	Printed artwork fitted to the site’s specification	Site, size, duration, production, posting and removal	Posting confirmation, site list and installation photographs
Digital out-of-home screens	Named screens or a defined network and booked schedule	Screen-specific assets, with still/motion rules set by the media owner	Location, screen package, time, slot length, share of voice and production	Booked schedule, proof of play or delivery report where supplied
Bus advertising	A fleet, operating area or available route package	Exterior panels or wraps, or interior placements	Format, vehicles, area, display period, production and fitting	Fleet/placement confirmation and photographs under the booking terms
Tube and station advertising	Selected stations, lines or network packages	Printed posters, carriage panels or digital placements	Sites, format, booking period, production and digital schedule	Placement confirmation, posting or playback information
Taxi advertising	The licensed operator’s available fleet and operating area	Exterior or interior formats offered by that operator	Vehicle quantity, format, period and production	Vehicle/placement confirmation; movement varies with journeys

Outdoor formats compared

Taxi advertising is included here as a format comparison. Ask about the specific fleet and availability if it is part of your brief. It should not be treated as a vehicle you can route like a dedicated ad van.

Moving campaign or fixed location?

Choose a moving format when several nearby locations or a particular sequence matter. A college might brief different areas on different days; an opening campaign might work around the neighbourhood before focusing on the venue at a set time. The route still needs to be practical, with access and stopping arrangements checked.

A fixed site can suit a message that needs a consistent presence over a longer period. Its value depends on that location and viewing context. Compare the actual available site and dates, rather than assuming every billboard in a city offers the same opportunity.

Transport media follows a different pattern. You buy the available fleet or network package; you do not normally direct a scheduled bus to circle your event. Ask what is guaranteed about the operating area and what can vary.

Printed display or digital screen?

Print can suit a consistent message that remains relevant throughout the booking. Digital can support different creative versions or scheduled playback, subject to the screen’s capabilities and approval rules. Full-motion creative is not permitted or appropriate on every digital placement.

An electric-assisted bike is not necessarily a digital advertising bike. Confirm the display separately from the vehicle’s propulsion. For every format, request the actual artwork specification before commissioning the final design.

Keep the viewing context in mind. A moving street display, a bus interior and a station screen offer different reading conditions. Match the length of the message and the next step to the way it will be encountered.

Compare complete costs on the same basis

A three-hour staffed activation, a six-hour bike day and a two-week billboard booking are different products. Compare the required outcome and scope before comparing totals. List the media or equipment, people, campaign time, artwork, production, logistics and reporting. Confirm VAT and any additional charges.

For digital placements, ask how much screen time is included and whether your creative shares a loop. For printed media, check production and fitting. For a mobile campaign, check whether travelling between locations is part of the quoted operating time.

See ad bike packages and quote details, or request a combined plan across formats.

Decide what the report needs to answer

Photographs and operating records establish different aspects of delivery. An audience estimate needs a stated source and method; it is not a count of everyone who noticed the advert. A digital playback log records playback, not individual attention.

If the campaign aims to generate enquiries, visits or sales, agree the response route before launch. Tagged links, codes and the advertiser’s own enquiry data can help, but other marketing and local activity may also influence the result. There is no universal winning format or conversion rate.

Can The Bike Ads arrange a wider outdoor campaign?

Yes. Alongside ad bikes, human billboards and promotional staff, we can arrange digital ad vans, billboard and digital screen campaigns, bus advertising and London Underground placements. We coordinate with specialist operators and media owners where the brief requires them. The proposal identifies the format, scope, responsibilities and available delivery evidence.

Tell us the audience, locations, dates and budget. You can name a format or ask us to compare suitable options for the job.

Plan by location Outdoor campaign guides Compare outdoor formats

Built around your
kind of campaign.

Education, retail, property, transport, fitness and public information: selected examples from our wider work with brands, agencies and organisations.