Are you looking to advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week? Continue reading to learn how! Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, which means that I will get a small commission only if you decide to purchase after clicking on the link.
The New York Fashion Week is one of the biggest and most important international fashion events in the world. Held in February and September of each year, it generally lasts between 7 and 9 days, and it gathers some of the biggest brands and names in the industry.
In this article, we will take a look at how you can advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week, what are the benefits of it, and how much you can expect to pay for your campaign.
How to advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week. Image source: wwd.com
What is New York Fashion Week?
New York Fashion Week, commonly abbreviated as NYFW, is a semi-annual series of fashion events that happen twice every year. During these events, some of the biggest and most important fashion companies in the world present their international collections to buyers, the press, as well as the general public.
The New York Fashion Week event has a huge economic impact – estimated at the mind-blowing $887 million despite not lasting for a lot more than a week. It amasses a total of 230 000 visitors across an average of 300 shows, and it sets the tone in the fashion industry for each season.
However, the impact of New York Fashion Week doesn’t only reach the 230 000 visitors of the shows. During the week of NYFW, and even the weeks before that, millions of people pay close attention to what’s going on in the fashion industry, what will be the new style and collections for the season, and more.
In fact, the impact and the tone set by the fashion shows performed by big brands typically extend to smaller brands as well, which is why even people who are not buying them directly are influenced by them in one way or another.
For this reason, advertising in Times Square during New York Fashion Week can be extremely fruitful for fashion and clothing businesses of all sizes.
When is New York Fashion Week?
The New York Fashion Week (NYFW) takes place twice a year: in September for the spring/summer collection, and in February for the fall/winter collection. It took place for the first time back in 1943, when Eleanor Lambert, press director of the New York Dress Institute, decided to organize a show to attract the attention away from French fashion during World War II.
Since fashion industry insiders weren’t able to travel to Paris due to the war, she wanted to bring fashion directly to them – as well as give more opportunities for US fashion designers to showcase their abilities and fashion innovations.
New York Fashion Week: Spring/summer collection 2021. Image source: cmmodels.com
Can anyone attend NY Fashion Week?
Unfortunately, not anyone can attend NY Fashion Week. Most events admit people in the form of accreditation, and you will need to get an exclusive invitation. The ones who typically get invitations for NYFW are fashion editors, celebrities, social media influencers, models, or people working in the PR industry.
In some cases, you can also attend the New York Fashion Week if you are a hair stylist, makeup artist, or a photographer.
However, not all events during the NYFW are exclusive. Usually, there is a handful of open events every season, such as New York Fashion Week by Art Hearts Fashion and Break Free NYFW which were held during the Spring season of 2022.
Benefits of advertising in Times Square during New York Fashion Week
With all of these things in mind, there is no doubt that the New York Fashion Week presents an incredible opportunity for advertisers who are looking to gain visibility, increase sales and drive more traffic to their website.
As we mentioned, apart from the hundreds of thousands of visitors that attend the show during every season, millions of people are closely monitoring what’s going on as well. Either during open events, such as the ones organized in Times Square, or from the comfort of their own home.
For this reason, companies in the fashion industry can enjoy great benefits of advertising in Times Square during New York Fashion Week. Let’s take a look:
Visibility
As we mentioned in our previous article on Times Square advertising, the iconic place at the heart of New York attracts millions of visitors every month, probably more than any other major city. Over 360 000 people visit Times Square every day, or more than 50 million per year.
For companies looking to advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week, this means getting millions of impressions of their ads every single day. This incredible amount of visibility and exposure is great for the growth of every company.
Advertising in Times Square during New York Fashion Week. Image source: fashionweekonline.com
Brand awareness
Needless to say, a lot of brand visibility usually leads to increased website traffic and social media following not only during the course of the campaign, but also for weeks (and months) to come after that. This is great news for fashion companies that want to boost their numbers in a short period of time.
Increased website traffic and social media following get more people talking about the company, and spreading the word to their friends and family, boosting brand awareness.
According to different studies, it takes 5 to 7 impressions for people to remember a brand, which means that Times Square is the perfect place to increase the number and frequency of these impressions.
More sales
More traffic, visibility and brand awareness usually lead to more sales and revenue as well, which is great news for every business – after all, every business is in the game because they are looking to generate revenue and grow consistently over the long run.
For example, if you get 1,500,000 impressions for your Times Square campaign during New York Fashion Week, you can expect a nice boost in sales in addition to all the visibility that you will be getting.
So many impressions means that you will reach thousands of people, and increase the number of times the same person is seeing an ad – aka the ad frequency, which means that they are more likely to purchase.
According to Indoor Media, the average person needs to view an ad at least 7-8 times before they actually decide to purchase.
How to advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week
If you want to advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week, but you are afraid that you don’t have the budget of the big brands, don’t worry – you still have a good amount of affordable options so you can see yourself among the biggest names in the fashion industry.
Five Tier Media is a connected media platform that allows you to purchase awesome billboard placements starting at just $500, and get millions of impressions to boost your visibility, traffic, social media following and of course – sales.
It is basically the easiest way to buy a billboard in Times Square, not only during Fashion Week but for any other event as well. You can book directly using their platform, schedule your campaign, and see it come to life.
Step 1: Plan your campaign
The first step that you will need to take if you want to advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week is to plan accordingly. As we mentioned previously, NYFW is celebrated twice per year, once in September and once in February.
So, if you are looking to maximize your results, aim for promoting your fashion brand as close as possible to the Fashion Week, when all eyes are going to be on everything that’s happening in this particular industry.
For example, next NYFW will be celebrated on the 9th of September – so, you can schedule your campaign either for the beginning of September, or even during the Fashion Week itself. Advertising in Times Square during the week of NYFW might be more expensive, but your result will be completely maximized.
Step 2: Prepare your visual
The next step to advertise in Times Square during New York Fashion Week is to prepare your visual.
Keep in mind that preparing a creative, especially if it’s in the form of video, can take some time, so you want to start brainstorming creative ideas and recording your video with enough time ahead of you.
For example, if you are set to run your campaign on the 1st of September prior to Fashion Week, set aside at least 2 weeks prior to your campaign in order to create the visual. So, you would want to start working on that in the middle of August.
Of course, if your billboard is going to be static, that’s fine as well, but it’s better to have it done earlier rather than getting late for the event.
Step 3: Decide on your budget
With Five Tier Media, you have multiple options to run your campaigns during New York Fashion Week, the most popular ones being at $500 and $2 500. You can also discuss other options, as well as customized plans if you are looking to spend more than that.
Exactly how much budget you need to spend is very unique to each company, as it will depend on their goals, needs, industry, current brand recognition, and expected results. However, you can start by trying the $500 option and if you are happy with the results, you can budget more for the next campaign.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular options:
Billboard in Broadway Plaza Spectacular
How to buy a billboard in Times Square – Broadway Plaza Spectacular
This option gets you an entry level board overlooking the Broadway Plaza. It is located at the Southern Times Square entrance, between streets 42nd and 43rd.
The Broadway Plaza is positioned in a key place – in front of the busiest subway station in the world. This means that you can expect to get an estimated 1,500,000 impressions per day if you set aside a budget of $500.
This billboard is 95′ wide and 19′ tall, and you will get a placement that plays 20 times (for a video of 15 seconds), which will give you a great visibility between 12 pm – 2 pm on a Friday afternoon.
This option is perfect for businesses who are not sure of whether advertising in Times Square during Fashion Week will bring them the results that they are looking for. So, they can use it to test things out, having the opportunity to always try with more budget later.
Billboard in 43 East Rotunda
The other affordable option to advertise in Times Square during Fashion Week is by purchasing a billboard placement on 43 East Rotunda. It overlooks the Crossroads of the World (where Broadway and 7th meet in Times Square).
It also has a key position that will boost your visibility – next to the iconic ball drop, watched by millions of people on New Year’s Eve.
With this billboard, you will also reap the benefits of being close to the busiest subway station in the world. The billboard is 84′ wide and 120′ tall, and you can expect approximately 1,500,000 impressions per day by placing your billboard there.
If you purchase a 15-second visual on the 43 East Rotunda , it will play 100 times over a 6-hour period on a day of your choice. This option is perfect for companies who are looking to maximize their results even further during New York Fashion Week.
Do you have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me or schedule a call using my Calendar for more information!
