New York As An Ad Platform

I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in weeks. The week before last was my excursion to three markets for GoMobile, then I had a week of late nights playing catch up/studying for my final exams that were to take place the following week, Monday through Wednesday. My final on Wednesday finished at 10:00am, after which I proceeded to run home, hop in a car, and speed to the airport to catch my flight to NYC for phase 2 of the Duvel Green campaign. No rest for the weary, right? I’m currently on a plane to Dallas where I have to stay the night, due to snow delays on the east coast.

Upon my arrival in the Big Apple for the third time in five months, I started to wonder why it was such a big deal to have a strong campaign here in the City. New York is easily the most advertising induced city in the nation, maybe the world, but why is this? Studies vary in results, telling us that we experience between 1,000 to 6,000 ad impressions every day. I think it would be safe to say that a day in New York City would double that number. It’s everywhere: inside the subway trains, in the taxis, on the walls of almost every building, spoken to you by salespeople on the sidewalk- everywhere.

Then I thought about the demographic of New York City. It’s obviously historically diverse with Ellis Island as the portal into our country for millions of immigrants. But New York’s diverse composition hasn’t by any means slowed down. People still come from all corners of the globe to try and make it in the Big Apple. And those people are bound to share their experiences with not only those who they live with, but with those who still reside at their hometown. In a day where word of mouth and viral advertising are so prominent, a market like New York can be vital. Controlling the buzz that goes on in such a city can be tremendously powerful.

Even though most large cities are heterogeneous in composition, none are on the same level as New York. Few New Yorkers have actually lived there their whole lives, which is why I can see why making a single strong impression in the City is worth multiple impacts anywhere else. How handy it must be to have so many of the huge agency headquarters located on Madison Avenue in Manhattan!