InAVate: Due to open later today, New York's Times Square is now home to one of the world's largest and most expensive digital billboards in the world. Measuring the length of a football pitch, and running the entire length of one city block, it is situated along the front of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, just outside the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Broadway.
9 comments:
So the unanswered question, is it going to be a bunch of ads or one really big ad. Otherwise I am astonished at the price. Ads are about increasing profits. If a month on the board is 2.5 million that means that you really think a month on that board is going to get you at least 2.5 million in sales that you did not have a lot. Last time I checked that is a lot of money. I believe it could be worth it but what if you run a bad ad. A bad ad on that board could put a huge dent in your profits for the year if it was not done well.
Well, that's a little excessive. I mean, I know that advertisement is important, but that just looks trashy. And it's on a hotel, right? So does that mean that those floors don't have windows anymore? And do drivers in MYC really need one more distraction?? I think not. I'm kind of disappointed in this new addition to NYC.
On another note, it is pretty cool that NYC is moving in the direction of the classic Sci-Fi high tech society that has billboard for all the building facades. All they need now is the flying cars, and we'll be living in The Fifth Element. I can't wait for that to happen! Car chases will be so much more fun to witness!
Unless the product generates a crazily large revenue, there doesn't seem to be any advantage to spending this much money on an advertisement. I think it's ridiculous how the advertisement industries believe that their advertisements qualify as art. I mean, technically I guess it is commercialized art, because it's looking for a profit off of it's aesthetic, but I have this view that advertisements are mostly shallow and without any purpose other than promoting consumerism. Of course, there are some exceptions--like the advertisement for child abuse that changes depending on the height of the viewer--but this ad in Times Square does not seem to be politically or socially revolutionary in any form.
I think that this billboard is awesome and people will make sure to see it when they come to the city. I know that to advertise companies need to be willing to pay 2.5 million for four weeks, but I wonder how much more expensive this board is compared to others. I know its excessive for sure, but the ridiculous size makes it comical and grabs everyone's attention. Within a see of large billboards, this one is garnered to stand out from its competitors. I want to know how much advertising actually benefits the company, but they obviously are gaining something or they wouldn't be doing it. Next time I'm in the city, I will have to make sure to see this giant billboard. I don't think it will be hard to miss.
I'm honestly not all that surprised by this. I can't imagine that price being too far off from what the typical advertising costs in Times Square. With thousands of tourists visiting in a single day, and with nearly every single one of them taking a picture in the Square and posting it to every social media site they have, it's clear that the advertisements are working to the companies (and the advertising firms) favors already, so it makes sense for them to go bigger and better. Not to mention, if you think about it, Times Square is so widely photographed and loved because of the ads in it in the first place. Without the big blinking lights, what would the Square be. Spoiler: another intersection on Broadway.
This reminds me almost of the video walls of a sci fi novel (I think I'm thinking about Fahrenheit 451). I think it's really cool, and also really scary. While a giant video wall or flashing lights aren't going to change time square all that much, having an add that is as large as that can be a really powerful thing. Now I know that's the whole point, but what if some company who is willing to front that large price tag puts up false advertising, or puts up something obscene. I guess what I'm saying is that theres a lot of power that comes with a city block telling you to buy something and it shouldn't be taken lightly by those designers who are creating work specifically for this slot.
Does Time's Square really need yet another giant billboard advertising things? It's already a bit overwhelming to be there, especially at night when everything is all lit up and glaring everywhere. I feel like this billboard was created less for the need for a giant billboard, but for the bragging rights of saying they now have one of the largest billboards in the world.
I doubt that without reading this article before hand I would have noticed anything different when I went home to New York for break. Giant billboards are the norm in that area and while I do find them cool from a technical standpoint, I find them sort of repulsive in every other way. Those boards take up a lot of energy, running twenty four hours a day, especially the newer interactive ones. They also never say anything important. It would be different if they ever supported charities or were used for art installations, but for the most part there are just clothing store and coke advertisements. It is such a waste.
Yes, it is a lot of money to advertise on this billboard, but the traffic that is guaranteed for it is so immense that it is offset by revenue towards the company. Times Square attracts so many tourists already that to stand out in it you have to have a really big soapbox to stand on. And the enormous size of this advertising screen is bound to become an attraction of it's own. I'm sure that people will be taking pictures of this sign due to it's sheer size, regardless of the content on it. My parents house in Florida is a few blocks away from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and their wrap-around screen attracts a line of cars a few miles long every tourist season.
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