As a former New Yorker, I remember well when I would step down the subway stairs and suddenly be surrounded by images and fonts that united into one giant advertisement. Typically well curated, sometimes controversial, the ads had a way of bringing an art form below ground and reminding you that Mad Men are real.
The New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC), in conjunction with advertising agency 360i, launched a build out on their “Follow Your Nola” campaign last week. Targeting New Yorkers, the ad blitz covers Union Square Subway Station and aims to convey how at home they will feel when they visit NOLA.
The installation contains 172 print ads that cover the physical aspects of the station, including placements on wallscapes, stairwells, beam panels and turnstiles. Let’s hope no one gets distracted reading the turnstile and swipes their MetroCard incorrectly… a turnstile that doesn’t move when you just rammed yourself into it is no pleasant experience.
Calling it an “ad domination,” 360i said the campaign will remain in Union Square Station for the next four weeks.
NOTMC hired six NOLA-area photographers who captured 20 different NOLA destinations on view in the ads. The photographers are: Laura Steffan, Rush Jagoe, Kris Davidson, Jeffrey Johnston, Rebecca Ratliff and Paul Broussard.
One of our holy trinities – jazz, food and architecture – figures heavily in the images chosen for the campaign to support the correlations between the two cities. They highlight similarities in live jazz, award-winning dining, unique architecture and convenient public transit (although I might need convincing on that last one).
A byproduct of the ad campaign location will also be exposure to the thousands of tourists New York receives who will traverse through Union Square station. As the fourth busiest station in the city’s subway system, approximately 3 million people will pass though the station during the month of the campaign according to the MTA’s facts page. Many of those folks will be visitors to New York and they too will make the correlations between their trip to NYC and possibly planning their next vacation to NOLA.
On the heels of the announcement that New Orleans has earned more recognition from Travel + Leisure magazine – earning No. 7 City in the World and No. 2 City in the United States – we continue to make strides as a destination city. Our reputation for hospitality precedes us, and that’s an important reputation to have.
As the rumble of the train cars and screech of the brakes remind New Yorkers they are in a hot hole in the ground, surely this campaign will inspire dreams of walking beneath live oaks and sipping cool cocktails.
