Times Square article: detailing 2006 impressions per hour, impact of face to face advertising & exponetial value of the internet on advertising – source: ny times

Advertisers have long been drawn to Times Square as a valuable place to reach consumers, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for space on billboards and blazing video screens.

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Times Square, Marketing Tool
But recently they have discovered that down on the ground, new technology has given low cost, face-to-face marketing campaigns something of a cutting edge as consumers spread their messages on the Internet.

Take the recent display of public toilets set up by Charmin bathroom tissue: Used by thousands in Times Square and viewed by 7,400 Web users on one site alone. Or Nascar’s recent display of racecars; videos of the event have been viewed on YouTube more than 1,800 times. More than 60 people wrote about the event on their blogs and 60 more spread the word — and pictures — on the Flickr Web site.

“The great thing about the digital world is you can capture these events,” said Christian McMahan, brand director for Smirnoff Ice, owned by Diageo. “People can see them whether they were there that day or 3,000 miles away.”

As a result of the growing popularity of consumer-generated pictures, videos and e-mail messages on Internet sites like YouTube and Myspace, advertisers are getting consumers to essentially do their jobs for them.

When Target, the discount store operator, suspended the magician David Blaine above Times Square for two days during the week of Thanksgiving, videos shot by viewers were posted on YouTube and viewed more than 19,300 times.

“Times Square is becoming, in a way, a publishing platform,” said Peter Stabler, director of communication strategy for Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, an advertising agency that is part of the Omnicom Group. “What happens in Times Square is no longer strictly the province of location. You can experience things that are happening there, even if you’re not there.”

On sites like YouTube, Flickr and MySpace, an army of tourists and residents are spreading advertisers’ messages well beyond Manhattan, using their cell phones and video cameras as they walk through the marketing crossroads of the world.

Consumer brand companies are taking advantage of that by hosting elaborate events, fully aware that those events are great fodder for footage. Hosting events in Times Square, advertisers said, is like buying product placement in a TV show or a movie — except the cameras are held by consumers and the placement is on the Internet.

Experiential marketing, as the ad industry calls such campaigns, is intended to give people something they can tryout and photograph. Companies are holding such events in cities around the world, but advertisers said Times Square was unparalleled in its reach. People around the world recognize Times Square in photos and videos online and are more likely to view them, marketers said.

Charmin’s bathrooms, which opened on Broadway near West 46th Street on Nov. 20, generated traditional coverage with more than 100 articles published about the fancy toilets. But consumer videos posted on YouTube alone have been viewed more than 7,400 times.

Hundreds of other people each week post photos and videos on their blogs and MySpace pages. One blog post last week, “Der New York Trip Part II”, written in German, shows a young couple posing with the Charmin bear. Charmin is a brand of Procter & Gamble.

Another post about the Charmin toilets last week on a Web design blog wondered, “Could this be too much marketing?” Christian Montoya, the site’s author, videotaped the bathrooms when he visited Times Square on Thanksgiving so that he could post the footage online for his roughly 700 daily readers. Though Mr. Montoya, a senior at Cornell University, said he was skeptical of marketing but thought the Charmin bathrooms were effective.

“It was more than a billboard because you could actually try the product,” Mr. Montoya said.

It is difficult to count exactly how many people pass through Times Square each day, but foot traffic by some measures has nearly doubled. In 1997, the Times Square Business Improvement District counted 8,702 people an hour passing through the most crowded parts of Times Square during the busiest times of year. This year, the Times Square Alliance found that nearly double that amount — about 15,000 people — passed the Virgin Megastore on Broadway during busy hours.

But, advocates of experiential marketing say headcounts in Times Square underestimate the district’s impact. Face-to-face interaction with customers is more powerful than traditional ads, they say.

“What people do is geometrically more powerful than what they are told,” said Brian Collins, chief creative officer of Ogilvy and Mather Brand Innovation Group, a part of the WPP Group. “Feeling something, picking it up in your hands, walking into an environment is a far more powerful brand promise than anything you are simply told through traditional media alone.”

On the day after Thanksgiving, Diageo’s Smirnoff Ice brand held a tongue-in-cheek rally featuring about 30 paid actors as “core protestors.” The theme was “save the mistletoe,” a slogan for a holiday campaign for Smirnoff Ice. Smirnoff estimates that 60,000 people passed by its four-hour rally.

“When you go into an arena that is so iconic like Times Square, people are looking to be entertained,” said Christian McMahan, brand director for Smirnoff Ice. “And they’re looking to be part of it.”

In April, General Electric rented nine digital billboards in Times Square and displayed photos of people passing by. People on the street photographed themselves standing below the billboards when their images appeared. Soon, those images were circulating online.

“It’s much more interactive,” said Judy Hu, the global executive director for advertising and branding at G.E. “You’ve got people who are e-mailing, sending messages, they’re involved with your brand personally as opposed to just viewing it.”

G.E. and other companies that hosted recent events would not divulge their costs, but they said the total came out surprisingly low compared with other forms of marketing.

The mayor’s office said permits to use Times Square areas started at $25,000 but often cost $50,000 or more for a day, and that 112 marketers had paid for permits this year.

The amount of marketers in Times Square has soared this year in large part because three traffic islands there were made available on a regular basis this year for the first time as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s broader initiative to attract more tourists to New York City.

In February, Walt Disney World sent Hans Florine, the X-games gold medal climber, scaling up a billboard to promote Expedition Everest, a new Animal Kingdom park ride. Mickey Mouse was also there, but he stayed on the ground.

In early December, MasterCard carolers sang holiday songs and passed out hot chocolate; street vendors sold coffee in Ann Taylor Loft paper cups; and a Sovereign Bank team rode red Segways passing out shopping bags and subway maps.

But some advertising executives wonder if it might be reaching the saturation point.

“It is now getting to the point,” said Lori Robinson, senior vice president of Hill and Knowlton, the WPP Group agency that helped produce one event, “where there just might be a little too much going on in Times Square.”

Its a Jungle Out There

I work near times square – 6th avenue and 43rd street. I’ve been in this space for two months. Yesterday I walked outside for a brief reprieve. I looked up and not more than a block away was a billboard, it was 100 feet tall if it was an inch and it was set up on the side of a building about a hundred feet. It took two months and over a hundred times standing in this same exact spot for me to notice this enormous billboard. I was astounded by the idea that this company is paying astronomical amounts of cash for this placement and it took me two months to even notice it. And as I’m writing I can’t even tell you what brand was being advertised.

So this got me thinking about the saturation in advertising. After walking through times square for these past two months there are only two billboard placements that I can recall. One is Target. Target because it wraps an entire building and doesn’t use it’s name, rather just it’s logo sporadically sprawled accross a scenic winter panorama. This kept me thinking, was this a target advertisement? This thinking is what made me remember it. The second is a Calvin Klien ad. I remember this for different reasons: first because it’s lower to the ground and second because it’s a picture of a really cute girl in her underwear. I’m not sure which was more important to my recollection (hmmm). In all seriousness I think placement along with content were equally important.

What’s my point. Well I think there’s a few. The first is that we live in an advertising jungle and we tend to block out a lot of advertisements we come accross. The best examples are times square billboards and taxi advertising. I can rarely recall the object of the advertising campaigns on these mediums. Why? Because I’ve learned to block them out.

So what’s the solution? Be unique. Use a unique medium. Out of the hundreds of immobile billboards I come accross everyday I can recall two. Out of all the taxi advertisements ive seen throughout the years, again only two stand out. Snickers whitty logo advertisement (snaxi – that still makes me laugh) and borat (ewww). Second if your medium is not going to be unique: sex sells, eye level works, bigger is better so long as your not 100ft in the air and logo advertising works if your campaign is witty enough and the goal of your campaign is brand recognition.

This brings me to billboard bicycles. First were unique. I’ve yet to see a billboard bicycle in the streets of NYC (although I’ve heard plenty of myths). Our uniqueness stems from our mobility, we can be where you want when you want us to be there. Second were big, the biggest in the bicycle advertising industry…and getting bigger. Third were eye level and can be anywhere you want us to be at anytime. We get your promotion right in your customers face. Fourth we can put a scantilly dressed woman or male on your logo and/or riding your bike. Fifth were cheap and produce the same amount if not more impressions than advertising that will cost you exponentially more. Finally were interactive. We can hand out pamphlets or simply talk with audiences about your product.

The conclusion: use billboard bicycles, use bicycle adverting, be happy, save money, gain impressions and customers, make more money, retire, move to a big house in florida.

Billboard Bicycles … frame covers are in the house!!!

So we now have a new addition to our billboard bicycle line up … frame covers!!! That’s right we went there. Hope your excited as I am. I mean whats more exciting than billboard frame covers. Totally hot. Now you can cover the entire billboard frame to match the color your promotion. We have black and white covers on hand, a choice of which will come standard with your campaign. For a small fee we can provide you with a customized frame cover of your choice. Try the neon pink … It’s fantazmic. I’ll put some pictures up soon. Thanks Hugo, from Swan tailors – you rock. Next time discount right???

Better Late Than Never … Maiden Voyage

Billboard Bicycles, a Green Mobile Advertising Company, Began Peddling it’s Promotions with a 55 Mile Ride in the NYC Century Tour

New York, NY – September 16th 2009 – The wheels of environmentally irresponsible behavior are veering. The new course calls for sustainable, yet effective, business solutions. In answering this call Billboard Bicycles unveiled the new face of mobile advertising – the Billboard Bicycle.

Billboard Bicycles’ service consists of a bicycle, a billboard trailer, a billboard, and an enthusiastic rider. The standard size of the trailer and billboard is 4×6, however measurements can be custom tailored. The riders can be costumed. The bike can be equipped with an audio message or night illumination to enhance effectiveness.

The Billboard Bicycle leaves a minimal carbon footprint and is perfect for businesses of all types. This ad vehicle can target specific audiences, at specific times, and can reach these audiences in areas where traditional modes of advertising cannot. So whether an organization is trying to reach a specific group, region, or wants to canvass the nation, Billboard Bicycles offers an affordable and effective solution.

On September 13th 2009 Billboard Bicycles wheeled out its flagship vehicle at the Transportation Alternatives NYC Century Tour. The Billboard Bicycle and its rider were greeted at the event by thousands of cyclists, many of which stopped by to take a peak, ask questions, or just to say “cool.”

Shortly after arrival, the Billboard Bicycle, along with the sea of bicyclists, was off to lend support for a cleaner environment. The NYC Century course took the Billboard Bicycle throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The Billboard swooped over and under bridges, through parks, down highways, up hills, through narrow trails and back home again.

Along the way the large Billboard garnered extensive attention from pedestrians, cyclist and motor vehicle traffic. Most smiled, some yelled out their approval, and others asked to take pictures. At one point the Billboard Bicycle was stopped by an NYC police officer who wanted to convey his shock that he did not see more of these advertisement bikes on the road.

After a long day of peddling (pun intended), the Billboard Bicycle arrived home. The maiden voyage of the Billboard Bicycle not only helped to promote environmental awareness but proved its functionality and served to showcase the almost magnetic draw of this advertising medium.

Advertise with Billboard Bicyles!

Based out of NYC, Billboard Bicycles is a highly effective, cost efficient, green solution to outdoor urban advertising.Our mobile bicycle billboard can convey your message, product, or promotion to a targeted audience, at any time, and in any environment.Whether you are, a large corporation, a small business, a non-profit organization or an individual attempting to convey a message, our bike billboards can maximize the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.

visit our site billboardbicycles.com