Times Square’s Digital Spectacular Aeropostale

As Gail Chiasson wrote last week ^[1], a striking new digital billboard has landed in Times Square as a part of the new Aeropostale ^[2] Flagship store located in the MTV Studios ^[3] space at 1515 Broadway. 

^[4]With almost 19,000 square feet of retail shopping space, this store includes a ‘T-Shirt Shop,’ a ‘Dorm Room’ a ‘Library for Jeans’ and a ‘Room with a View’.

Luckily for shoppers, that view is quite a splashy one from a balcony overlooking the bowtie. Also, in store for the lucky shoppers are 18 cash registers, 500 employees spanning two levels and a dance floor that gives shoppers one of the most unique shopping experiences.

“We think this store is going to be the brand’s foundation for global reach,” said Ken Ohashi, the company’s vice president of investor and media relations; “This will be a powerhouse,” he said.

The massive retail space houses a 700 square foot dance floor on a balcony reaching out over the South West corner of 45th & Broadway. Its here that shoppers can dance for the cameras with the images appearing on the digital billboard facing the street below. What makes this digital billboard so special are the waves in the balcony undulating out over the sidewalk. It is a surreal feeling when you are standing on the street corner below looking up. From the interweaving of cars and people standing in between these wonderfully spectacular billboards towering above, you almost get the feeling you are in the midst of a Salvador Dali painting.

The 120′ dazzling digital houses a custom built LED ^[5] display with 3 separate panels displaying interactive ads in unison and independently. From street level, pedestrians view shoppers on the dance floor dancing for the ‘Aero Dance Cam’ in the store and Aeropostale showcases marketing campaign images, exclusive video content while providing their consumers a once in a lifetime shopping experience that they will surely share with all their friends.

^[6]Most event agencies know the importance of supporting these types of digital spectacolor billboards with promotional campaigns that engage consumers. Advertisers know that executions that have the best Return-On-Investment are supported through social media initiatives and by experiential word-of-mouth campaigns on the ground.  For the launch, Aeropostale ^[1] executed a campaign in Times Square that brought attention to the new digital LED display and invited pedestrians into the store. Some of these promotional models were anchored to huge inflatable balloons that floated a few feet over their heads. These giant branded balloons hanging in the air drew people’s eyes to the digital display above.

“There are so many fun and exciting elements to our Times Square store and our merchandise is no exception,” said Mindy C. Meads, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Aeropostale, Inc. “Millions of people will be treated to the Aeropostale experience of providing great teen fashion at great value in a fun and welcome approach to shopping.”

For some Viacom employees, the interactive display might be seen as a traffic jam at the entrance of their global headquarters. For almost every other person on the sidewalk below just looking up, the whole experience is almost ‘Alice in Wonderland-like.’

Some of the companies that worked with Aeropostale on this one are:

• Pixelfire Productions ^[7] – Pixelfire Productions focuses on providing motion graphics for both indoor and outdoor video screens, including those featured at Yankees Stadium and New York’s Times Square.
• D3 LED, LLC ^[8]– Founded in 2005, with principal operations in New York City and Rancho Cordova, California, D3 is the world’s leader in specialized LED digital display applications. Pioneers in design, engineering and technology, D3 manufactures highly sophisticated and innovative LED displays and out of home digital media systems that create engaging customer experiences for global brands and sports and entertainment venues. The Company’s displays can be found throughout the world.
• GHA Design Studios ^[9] – Over the past 25 years, GHA Design Studios has evolved into one of North America’s leading retail design firms with an expansive portfolio that has garnered the attention of the international design community. With offices located in bi-cultural Montreal, Quebec and in Detroit, Michigan, GHA brings its special blend of Canadian and American perspective to the international forum.