4-sheet posters advertising
The smaller station poster, placed in the high-footfall parts of the station to build frequency cheaply.
From £750 per panel, per 2 weeks
Specification
- Format type
- static
- Creative size
- 1016 x 1524 mm (w × h)
- Typical duration
- 2 weeks
- Dwell time
- At eye level, in high-footfall positions
- Where it appears
- Platforms and passageways, in high-footfall positions
- Best for
- Coverage on a small budget
- Indicative cost
- £750 per panel, per 2 weeks
- Availability
- Network wide. Sold in packs, so coverage is spread rather than concentrated.
- Booking conditions
- Includes print and production. Minimum 5 posters per booking.
Example rate from our own campaign pricing, excluding VAT. Actual cost depends on station, dates, availability, volume and campaign requirements.
What it is
The smallest printed poster on the network at 1,016 by 1,524mm, placed in high-footfall positions on platforms and in passageways. It is sold in packs of at least five, and the rate includes print and posting.
At the lowest panel rate we hold, it is the format that makes a small budget viable on the Underground at all — which is the job it is bought to do.
Why advertisers use it
A 4-sheet is bought for frequency rather than for impact. Five panels distributed across the busy parts of a station, or across several stations, put the same message in front of the same commuters repeatedly over a fortnight for less than a single site in most other formats.
It also reaches the outer network. Because the panels are small and the positions are numerous, a campaign can cover stations that carry none of the large formats — useful when the audience is defined by where it lives rather than where it works.
Cost
£750 per panel, per 2 weeks. Rates move with zone, station footfall and trading period: January and August are the softest, the Christmas run-in the hardest. Print and posting are included, and the five-poster minimum sets the entry point rather than the single-panel rate.
Weighing this against another format? All fifteen compared on cost, dwell and creative.
Booking and lead time
Six to eight weeks ahead is the sweet spot: it protects both the price and the quality of the sites you get. Station dominations and peak trading periods need longer. Copy clearance sits ahead of the on-air date, so leave room for it in the schedule.
Artwork is supplied to this specification and cleared before it runs — what gets rejected, and the deadlines that matter.
What the small format cannot do
It will not carry a campaign that depends on being seen. A 4-sheet occupies a modest amount of wall among other things competing for the same glance, and no amount of creative solves that: if the brief needs presence, the money is better spent on fewer, larger sites.
The buy is also spread rather than concentrated. Packs distribute coverage, so a 4-sheet campaign builds familiarity across a network rather than owning a location — the opposite of what a domination or a cross-track buy does.
Stations to consider
Our inventory records show 4-sheet posters at these stations. Individual sites and availability are confirmed with the media owner when we plan the campaign.
- Zone 1 · King's Cross
King's Cross St Pancras
6 lines
70.3m entries and exits (2023)
- Zone 1 · West End
Oxford Circus
3 lines
66.9m entries and exits (2023)
- Zone 1 · South Bank
Waterloo
4 lines
65.9m entries and exits (2023)
- Zone 1 · Victoria
Victoria
3 lines
63.4m entries and exits (2023)
- Zone 1 · City of London
Liverpool Street
5 lines
61.9m entries and exits (2023)
- Zone 1 · London Bridge
London Bridge
2 lines
50.2m entries and exits (2023)
Campaigns using 4-sheet posters
Related formats
- static
Tube car panels
Interior panels above the seat line, read across a full journey by an audience with nowhere else to look.
From £18 per panel, per 2 weeks
- static
16-sheet cross-track
Facing the platform from the opposite wall, read across the track for the whole wait.
From £2,250 per panel, per 2 weeks
- static
48-sheet posters
Cross-track large format, facing the platform from the opposite wall and read for the whole wait.
From £6,000 per panel, per 2 weeks
4-sheet posters questions.
£750 per panel, per 2 weeks. That is indicative planning guidance including print and production but excluding VAT, and it moves with zone, station and trading period.
2 weeks is the standard booking, running Monday to Sunday. Longer flights are available and usually attract a volume discount.
1016 x 1524 mm. Artwork goes through copy clearance before the on-air date, so allow time in the schedule for it.
Platforms and passageways, in high-footfall positions. Network wide. Sold in packs, so coverage is spread rather than concentrated.
Get 4-sheet posters costs.
Send the brief and we come back with a site list, costs and on-air dates within two working days.
Get campaign costs