How to Advertise on Petrol Pumps
Key Takeaways:
Make the Most of the Refuelling Time: Drivers spend two to three minutes standing at the petrol pump. To advertise effectively, you must take advantage of this pause. Put your message directly on the ad nozzle or use pump decals with scannable QR codes to deliver a clear, punchy message while drivers have zero distractions.
Pick the Right Locations: Do not just buy random advertising space. Match the petrol pump location to your ideal customer. Choose supermarket pumps to reach everyday shoppers, motorway pumps for business travellers, or local roadside pumps to bring people to your nearby shop.
Make Planning and Buying Easy with an Agency: The UK petrol pump network is split across many different owners and supermarkets. By using an integrated media agency like One Day Agency, you avoid the hassle of contacting multiple landlords. We manage the planning and buying for businesses of all sizes and budgets, ensuring you get the best rates.
In an advertising world where people constantly scroll past online adverts, petrol pumps offer something rare. You get a stationary audience with nothing else to do. This guide explains how businesses can use petrol pump advertising to grab attention and drive sales.
Customer Attention on the Petrol Pump
A core marketing fundamental is that attention is the most valuable thing a brand can capture. In the digital world, you are fighting for milliseconds before a customer scrolls away. However, the petrol pump completely changes this normal habit.
When a driver stops to get fuel, they are forced to take a physical break. They must step out of their car, use the pump and wait. The average fill-up takes between two and three minutes. During this time, the driver will hold or look directly at the pump handle for almost a minute.
This creates a moment of undivided attention that is incredibly rare in modern advertising. For business owners, this waiting time is a unique chance to deliver a clear message to focused drivers who have absolutely no other distractions competing for their eyes.
Choosing the Best Petrol Pump Ad Formats
To make the most of this waiting time, you need to pick the right physical format directly on the dispensing unit. Petrol pump advertising is not a generic solution, and different parts of the pump do very different jobs.
Ad Nozzle Advertising
The absolute core of petrol pump marketing is ad nozzle advertising. This is a small, weather-proof advertising panel attached directly to the fuel pump handle. You are literally placing your brand into the hands of your customer. Because the space is small, your creative design must be ruthlessly simple.
The best ad nozzle campaigns use a maximum of nine words. They rely on bold brand colours, a highly recognisable logo and one clear instruction for the customer to follow. Industry data shows that up to 83 percent of pump users can recall the advertising shown on the handle. This format is brilliant for creating immediate brand awareness and driving direct responses.
Pump Decals and QR Codes
Beyond the handle itself, you can also place printed decals directly onto the main body of the fuel pump. Since the driver is standing directly in front of your advert for a long time, the petrol pump is the perfect place to bridge the gap between physical and digital marketing using a clear QR code.
By adding a prominent, scannable QR code to your ad nozzle or pump decal design, you invite an immediate response. Once they have finished pumping fuel and are safely walking away to pay, a driver can scan the code to download your new app, claim a discount to use inside the shop or visit your website. This turns a simple poster into an active digital customer journey.
International Reach with FillBoards
For businesses with a global or European focus, the opportunity extends beyond the UK. Brands can access FillBoard displays in Europe, which perform in much the same way as UK ad nozzles but under a different trademarked name. This allows marketers to keep a consistent outdoor advertising strategy on petrol pumps across multiple countries without having to change their entire approach.
How to Advertise on Petrol Pumps
Targeting the Right Locations and Customers
Another basic rule of marketing is putting your product in front of the right people. The great thing about petrol pump advertising is that everyone drives, giving you massive reach. However, to get the best return on your investment, you must target specific pump locations based on your ideal customer.
Supermarket Petrol Pumps
Pumps owned by big grocers like Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons are incredibly powerful for food, drink and household brands. Customers refuelling here are usually about to walk into the main store to do their weekly shop. Advertising a new snack or drink right on the pump plants the idea in their head just seconds before they walk down the shopping aisles.
Motorway Petrol Pumps
Motorways are the main routes for UK business. These pumps see massive daily traffic from delivery drivers, business executives and families going on holiday. If you are a B2B company trying to reach commercial fleet managers, or a tourism board wanting to attract holidaymakers, targeting motorway pumps gives you unmatched national reach.
Local Roadside Pumps
For independent businesses, the local Esso or Shell pump is a community hub. Advertising here acts as a giant signpost for your business. Whether you are a local car dealership, a gym or an estate agent, taking over the petrol pumps within a five-mile radius of your office ensures you become a highly recognised name in your local area.
Linking Your Advert to Data and Measurement
To plan and measure these campaigns properly, we must rely on solid data. We use industry-standard tools like Route data to verify traffic volumes and demographic breakdowns for every single petrol pump location. This ensures your campaign is built on verified audience numbers rather than guesswork.
When you combine this location data with the direct tracking provided by a custom QR code on your ad nozzle, you create a fully measurable campaign that proves a clear return on your advertising spend. You can see exactly how many people interacted with your physical advert on the pump and followed through to your website.
Working with an Integrated Media Agency
The UK petrol pump network is highly fragmented across different supermarkets and independent owners, making direct media buying a logistical headache.
This is where One Day Agency steps in. As an integrated agency, we act as your single point of contact, using our proprietary OOH Media Planner tool to handle all complex negotiations. Whether you are a local SME needing specific community pumps or a multinational brand planning a nationwide pump takeover, we work with businesses of all sizes and budgets. By partnering with us, you transform a complicated network into a seamless, measurable engine for business growth.
Learn more about Petrol Pump Advertising and see our OOH work!
