Globally, New York City is one of the most competitive in terms of advertising. With millions of ads, the digitally oriented landscape has taken New York City advertising to the next level. New York City has become a global focal point for attention capture through advertising, with the most effective means being digital billboards, subway ads, and bus advertising.
Transit oriented marketing has the spotlight in this advertising ecosystem. With public transportation being the lifeblood of NYC, and with New York City’s unique demographic, transit advertising closes the gap between brands and NYC.
NYC Outdoor Ads Dominance
NYC is the exception to the norm of digital first ads being included in a marketing campaign. Outdoor advertising survives and thrives. The density of NYC, with a vertical skyline and swarm patterns of movement, thrives on large, physical ads that cannot be skipped, muted, or ignored, and that is exactly what is present on NYC’s streets.
Why Is Out Of Home Advertising (OOH) In NYC So Powerful?
1. The City Has Immense Foot Traffic
New York City is a walking city. This means that outdoor advertising has constant visibility. No matter what time of day when walking in the city and in the boroughs of Brooklyn and SoHo.
2. The City Is a Tourist Magnet
Each year, 10s of millions of tourists come to New York City. NYC tourists especially love the cities OOH advertising located in places such as:
Times Square
The Financial District
The Theater District
Entrances to Central Park
All the places listed above have advertising to a global audience.
3. NYC Has Digital OOH (DOOH) Advertising Everywhere
The City is the leader in OOH advertising. NYC currently operates massive ultra-high resolution digital advertising billboards in a number of the city’s advertisement hot spots.
4. High-Authority Brand Exposure in NYC
There is a reason NYC is one of the most popular advertising markets in the world. It supports global advertising. An advertisement in Times Square is a massive trading card for the brand. It is the most popular advertising in the world. This makes the advertising classy. It is a status ad.
Transit Marketing: The Backbone Of NYC Advertising Ecosystem.
Even though advertising in Times Square gets all the attention, advertising on public transportation is the NYC Empire State Building in the outdoor advertising world. Since about 11 million people a day use the public transportation system, public transportation ads are the most valuable outdoor ads.
Transit advertising style in New York is:
– Subway ads
– Bus ads and bus shelters
– Taxi top ads
– Commuter rail ads (LIRR, Metro-North)
– Ferry ads
– Interior ads in buses and trains
All these advertising formats offer NYC transportation users advertising in all five boroughs.
Why does New York have the most successful transit advertising?
1. People commuting are advertising the brand all day.
New Yorkers spend a lot of time commuting in New York, and this means people commuting and bus and train rides have the mental eye on the ads. This repetition on the ads builds brand recall.
2. People have little mental distraction.
People in a train or bus, part of the commute, have little mental distractions. People see transit advertising because it is part of their commute.
3. New York is a diverse city.
– New York City public transportation has a mix of people:
– Students
– Young working people
– Families
– Tourists
– Business people
– People of all income levels
This is why New York City advertising on public transportation is successful.
4.Massive Geographic Coverage
The subway and bus system in NYC covers all neighborhoods in the city. Ads placed on vehicles travel through an unlimited number of boroughs.
5.Cost-Effective Compared to Major Billboards
There’s no debating how expensive placements in Times Square are (hundreds of thousands of dollars), but transit advertising is significantly less while providing the same amount of exposure. Because of this, both transit advertising and marketing in general is accessible to both big and small businesses.
Types of Transit Advertising That Stand Out in NYC
1.Subway Platform Posters
These ads are located on the walls of train stations. They target riders waiting for the train to arrive, giving them time to absorb the ad’s message.
2.Digital Screens in Stations
These animated ads are displayed on digital screens and are designed to capture the attention of the audience. They are perfect for advertising constantly changing promotions.
3.Wrapped Subway Cars
These ads wrap around an entire subway train. It is one of the most expensive and high-impact advertising options, and for good reason.
4.Bus Advertising
There are ads for the sides and back of buses. They are advertised to people driving, walking, and waiting, which makes them very visible.
5.Bus Shelters
These are located at bus stops that are on major streets, so they are very visible to cars and passers-by.
6. Taxi Tops
Taxi top ads are incredibly visible across the entire city, especially Manhattan, which has a great deal of the city’s tens of thousands of yellow cabs.
Outdoor Advertising + Transit Marketing
The best ad campaigns in New York City include both OOO and Transit Marketing. For example, a brand has digital billboards in Time’s Square, and then adds to the campaign subway station posters on the platforms and bus wrap advertisements that travel across the entire city. This gives the brand dominance in the entire city. By using the combination of New York City’s high Transit Marketing and their OOO advertising, brands are able to monopolize the cities visual advertising space.
The Benefits For Businesses
Outdoor advertising in New York City helps all types of businesses, like local businesses, national retailers, tech startups, and global enterprises, bring instream opportunity for positive impact to their business.
Some of these include:
More visible brand
Higher business trust
More credibility
More positive impressions
Improved advertising reach
Visual ads bring a high Return on Investment
In a city like New York where people are bombarded with digital ads, it is the physical ads that grab attention and stand out.
Conclusion
There is no place in the world that is more cutting edge in the advertising ecosystem than New York City. With the combination of big transit advertising and outdoor advertising in New York City, brands can reach millions of consumers every day. These advertising formats leverage visibility, repetition, mobility, and cultural relevance. If your business wants to succeed in the most saturated market, you must use these tools.
