HÖRMANN Kommunikation & Netze upgrading advertising facilities at underground railway stations
Digital advertising in public spaces has more and more to offer, from moving images with an added layer of entertainment to online campaigns and advertising tailored specifically to the observer. Passers-by often take inspiration from out-of-home advertising, reaching for their smartphones and searching for products, ideally leading them straight to making purchases.
Out-of-home advertising at underground railway stations in Munich and Hamburg is set to give people even more to look at. Digital advertising facilities are replacing analogue posters and billboards. Ströer SE & Co. KGaA, a leading German company that operates internationally and works on marketing for online and out-of-home advertising, is handling this project. The company manages around 300,000 units of advertising space. Ströer commissioned HÖRMANN Kommunikation & Netze GmbH to carry out the extensive electrical and metal construction work involved in upgrading advertising facilities at numerous underground railway stations in Munich and Hamburg.
Advertising totems in Munich and Hamburg
The team from HÖRMANN Kommunikation & Netze began installing the first Infoscreens with projectors and backlit posters at the Max-Weber-Platz, Odeonsplatz and Rot-Kreuz-Platz stations in Munich and at Hamburg’s Gänsemarkt station in 2018. Work was recently completed at the Marienplatz station in Munich. An additional facility is due to follow at the city’s Karlsplatz.
Installing the Infoscreens meant first drawing up design drawings and then manufacturing special steel structures. The stainless-steel mounting brackets were designed in house and comprised square tubing and metal sheets. The projection screen was carefully painted matt white, while the cover for the supporting frame was painted matt black.
Technical work included removing analogue posters and replacing them with digital equivalents. The advertising totems provided by the client, each weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, were transported to the underground stations in special transport frames before being mounted on the walls and ceilings of the stations with the aid of special tools.
In-depth steelwork expertise required
The experts from HÖRMANN Kommunikation & Netze installed the suspended projector mounts on the ceilings directly above the platforms. This involved drilling holes in the existing structure and installing new cable trunking as well as subsequently laying the necessary cables to provide electricity and data connections for the advertising facilities.
‘One particular challenge was manufacturing, delivering and installing the Infoscreens on the tunnel walls on the other sides of the tracks, facing the platforms,’ said Günter Seufzger, managing director of HÖRMANN Kommunikation & Netze. Each screens is 4 metres wide and 2.5 metres tall and weighs 350 kilograms. ‘Owing to the enormous amounts of passenger traffic passing through the stations, most of the work had to be done overnight during the brief periods when no services were running, which called for staff to be very flexible and willing to work night shifts,’ said joint managing director Johannes Antoni.
