Request ID: FOI-0379-2324 Date published: 01 June 2023
You asked
I request a list of ad campaigns on the TfL network from 2000 to now (or earliest records).
For each ad campaign, please provide:
- campaign name
- campaign description
- text in the ad itself (if held)
- organisation buying the campaign
- market sector
- target demographic (if known)
- start and end dates
- price paid to TfL
- network modes on which it was hosted
- quantity of adverts by format (e.g. station posters, bus wraps etc.) and subcategories (e.g. poster size, digital/printed etc.). Please explain any unclear terms.
I want data for all modes, but buses and London Underground are enough if that is not possible.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0379-2324
Thank you for your request which we received on 7 May 2023, asking for information about advertising campaigns on the TfL network from 2000.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy.
I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. Our retention period for information is 7 years and therefore some of the information you asked for would be archived or not held.
Unfortunately, to provide the amount of information we do hold, would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
This information is not recorded centrally so we would have to locate and collate all of the information requested. On the London Underground alone we accept over 12,000 adverts per year. In addition, we would have to look at all the bus routes and stations, for the last 23 years, to determine what stock/vehicles were running and what advertising sites were available on the stock as well as at our stations.
Furthermore, some information, such as price we pay, would be commercially sensitive, because each campaign is subject to negotiations with the relevant advertising partner. Therefore this information would be exempt from disclosure.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. I would recommend you reduce the expected data volume by limiting your request to a shorter period of time and/or geographical area. I would also advise you to look at our Annual Advertising Reports which summarise the performance of our advertising network, available via this link; https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/commercial-media
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, TfL does not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Eva Hextall FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
