Bus advertising in Berlin

Bus advertising in Berlin is, next to billboard advertising, a very popular medium for out-of-home advertising. Berlin is growing steadily and so is the fleet of vehicles for bus advertising in Berlin. In Berlin, the current vehicle fleet consists of 153 double-deckers, 336 single-deckers and 922 articulated buses. So that’s 1,572 mobile advertising vehicles available for your advertising needs on the road in Berlin. 

The most famous bus lines in Berlin are the 100 and 200 line (also called the Sightseeing Line) because it passes many tourist attractions via Alexanderplatz, Unter den Linden and Berlin-Zoologischer Garten. Trade fair exhibitors, on the other hand, love the M49 bus line, which perfectly connects the trade fair grounds at Messe Berlin with the City west at Zoologischer Garten station. 

Bus advertising in Berlin fulfills many advertising wishes at a favorable CPM price and offers brands plenty of space for colorful and creative designs. Bus advertising is particularly popular with local companies, as they can use mobile advertising on the streets of Berlin to generate lasting visibility and thus more customers at their location. But international brands or tourism associations also rely on bus advertising in Berlin because complete branded buses attract attention successfully! 

Bus advertising formats in Berlin

Bus advertising in Berlin offers different formats for large and small designs. Since different formats for bus advertising are allowed in different cities across Germany, we will gladly give you a brief overview of the formats and where they are possible. You are also welcome to ask us with the specific city or cities, then we will send you the formats with the prices directly. 

Let’s start with the biggest and most impressive format of bus advertising: the Full Cover branding. Whether on a normal bus, articulated bus or double decker, the full cover design offers the largest possible advertising space in bus advertising. All sides of the bus except the front can be covered. Therefore, the full cover is also called complete branding. For safety reasons, the front area around the bus driver may not be included in the design. In the case of full cover, however, there are many differences across Germany as to which areas are included and which are not allowed to be covered. In Berlin, window stickers are only allowed with surcharges and can only cover up to 25% of the window. In Munich window adhesives are not possible at all, but in Hamburg and Frankfurt window surface can be integrated into the design. 

A good alternative to the full cover is the bus advertising as a Partial Cover. Depending on the city in which it is booked, it consists of one or two strips that run under and/or over the windows all around the bus. In Berlin, this format is very popular because it offers a cost-effective alternative to full branding and still ensures visibility from every side. With partial design, no windows are pasted. Since it is a relatively narrow strip, it is advisable to limit the partial design to the most important advertising messages such as product name, slogan or key visual. 

Furthermore, bus advertising offers some smaller formats in Berlin and other cities, which can be booked for short or longer periods. The 18/1 Traffic Board is a 9m² poster, which is placed on the side of the driver and acts as a mobile large-scale poster. This format is not allowed in Berlin or Munich because windows are covered. In Hamburg and Frankfurt, however, the 18/1 Traffic Board is very popular.

Bus advertising as Super Rear describes the foiling of the complete back of the bus. This format appeals to all road users, but especially to those driving behind the bus, i.e. car drivers. Super Rear is also allowed in Hamburg and Frankfurt, but unfortunately not in Berlin and Munich. 

Finally, there is the small Backboards. This is a rectangular stripe. Since it is not stuck on the windows, this format is allowed in most cities, including Berlin and Munich. 

In addition to these five common formats of bus advertising, in some cities there are other formats, such as side strips of about 1.5 m in length, or posters as interior advertising in the vehicle. Just tell us your desired cities and we will send you the possible formats.  

Campaigns or long-term advertising – booking bus advertising

If you want to book bus advertising, we distinguish between two types: booking as campaigns or as long-term advertising. The designation is linked to the booking period. Bus advertising for periods of at least 12 months is called long-term advertising. The formats full cover and partial cover are formats for longer terms, thus intended as permanent advertising. It is actually logical: the effort and costs for large-area filming are most worthwhile if the foils are then also in use for a long time. If the advertiser is prepared to accept surcharges, however, these formats can also be booked for shorter periods. 

Bus advertising from 1-11 months is called campaigns. The formats Traffic Board, Super Rear and the Backboard can be booked regularly from 1 month running time and are therefore classic campaign media. Bus advertising formats as campaigns are very popular for advertising special offers, for test campaigns or for events and trade fairs. But these formats can also be booked as long-term advertising upon request. 

Bus advertising costs 

Depending on the format, duration and city, the costs for bus advertising are somewhat different. Of course, because different visibility and contact numbers are generated depending on the size of the city and the size of the advertising space. Bus advertising costs are combined into one full-service price and include the three factors of media, production, and service (installation & removal).

Price example: 

* Plus VAT. 

To give you an overview, we have already compiled a presentation of the costs for bus advertising in Berlin. For an overview of costs for other cities, please contact us. 

Presentation bus advertising 

Advertising on sightseeing buses

In many cities there are also sightseeing buses in addition to the normal buses. Advertising on sightseeing buses offers a very good alternative to conventional means of transport advertising. On sightseeing buses similar formats are possible as on normal buses. The full cover and the super rear are among the most popular formats of advertising on sightseeing buses. Since sightseeing buses are always double-deckers, advertisers have plenty of room to express their creativity and enjoy great visibility. In addition, the so-called hop-on hop-off buses travel on fixed routes through the city center, as they only stop at sights and hot spots. Thus, Sightseeing Bus advertising enjoys particularly high contact numbers from city dwellers and tourists. Furthermore, Sightseeing Bus advertising can be booked for as little as 2 weeks, regardless of the format. This special feature makes bus advertising on sightseeing buses very attractive for advertising events or trade fairs. 

Buses on selected lines 

If the buses are to run on selected lines, we speak of line binding. In Berlin, such a line commitment can only be agreed upon if you decide for an annual booking and accept the surcharges. If you don’t want to pay for a line binding, you can still influence the district in which your mobile advertising will travel. By choosing one of the 6 bus depots in Berlin, you automatically occupy the bus lines located there. This applies to both permanent advertising and advertising campaigns. 

When booking sightseeing buses, you have line binding right at your fingertips, because advertising on hop-on-hop-off buses only travels on a specific route through the city center. 

Would you like to see more examples?

Click here for examples of our implementations for bus advertising in Berlin. 

For concrete prices of bus advertising in Berlin click here on our presentation: Bus advertising in Berlin 

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