How much does mobile billboard advertising cost in Dubai?

It is the first question every brief arrives with, and the honest answer is that nobody can give you a single number without knowing six things. What follows is what those six things are, so you can brief accurately and compare quotes that are actually comparable.

Mobile billboard advertising is priced per vehicle per day, but the day rate is only the starting point. Two campaigns with the same budget can look nothing alike.

1. How many days, and how many hours a day

A vehicle booked for eight hours costs more than one booked for four, and a week-long run usually carries a better daily rate than a single day. Short, intense bursts around a launch behave differently from a slow month-long presence. Decide which you need before you price it.

2. The type of vehicle

A printed mobile billboard truck carries one message and is the most economical format. An LED truck costs more because of the screen, the power and the operator, but it carries video and the content can change by the hour. A 3D display or glass truck costs more again because people interact with it and it needs a build inside.

3. The routes and the emirates

A single Dubai loop is cheaper than a tour that covers Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates in the same week. Driving time between emirates is time the vehicle is not in front of your audience, so the route plan affects both cost and value.

4. Production

Printed panels have to be produced and fitted, and that is a real cost on a short campaign. If the artwork already exists and only needs adapting, it is cheaper. If the creative has to be made from scratch, budget for it. On an LED truck, production means the video, not the panels.

5. Parked slots and approvals

Driving a public route and parking at a mall or venue are different things. A parked slot usually needs permission from the landlord or the authority, and sometimes a fee. Outdoor advertising in the UAE is regulated, so build approvals into the timeline as well as the budget.

6. Whether you need people on the ground

A truck that drives past is advertising. A truck with promoters handing out product is an activation, and the staffing is a separate line. Decide whether you want impressions or conversations.

What a good quote looks like

• The vehicle type and the screen or panel size
• The number of days and the hours per day
• The routes, named, not just “Dubai”
• Whether production is included or extra
• What happens if a day is lost to weather or a breakdown
• What you get back afterwards: routes, photographs, reporting

If a quote does not say what the routes are, you are buying a day rate, not a campaign. Send us the dates, the areas and the message and we will come back with the route, the hours and the production, priced. Start with mobile truck advertising.