Milwaukee Launching Times Square Billboard
VISIT Milwaukee-sponsored advertisement showcasing city's top attractions on the sidewalks of New York.
Times Square. File photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Start spreadin’ the news — Milwaukee is making its presence known with a glowing endorsement at the crossroads of the world.
For a grand kick-off to its 2023 marketing season, VISIT Milwaukee has rented a 35-by-23-foot billboard in New York City’s Times Square to showcase Milwaukee’s top attractions.
The advertisement will also capitalize on Milwaukee’s newfound status on National Geographic’s “Best of the World” list as one of the best destinations for travel in 2023. The city is one of only 25 such places.
The billboard debuted on Dec. 26 and will continue through Jan. 1.
This marketing initiative is one of many intended to increase awareness of Milwaukee in new markets and attract new and returning visitors.
Other 2023 campaigns include “Good Things Brewing,” a four-episode TV show in which host David Caruso embarks on an exploration of Milwaukee neighborhoods and businesses, guided by some of the city’s most notable residents. The show will begin airing on Feb. 23, 2023.
The organization plans to continue its promotion of the Milwaukee Theater District, a recently-formed coalition of downtown performance venues and groups. The syndicate aims to position Milwaukee’s live entertainment scene as the best in the nation.
“In 2022, we tried a few new tactics, and they paid off in a big way,” Albrecht said. “Efforts like these helped to ensure that the economic benefit of tourism to Milwaukee increased in 2022 and will grow even more in the coming year.”
VISIT Milwaukee encourages anyone in New York City for New Year’s Eve to capture and share the billboard across social channels and tag the @visitmilwaukee accounts or use #visitmke.
As a one-off idea that will run for just a week, this will have limited if any discernible impact of visits to Milwaukee. Repetition and longevity are the names of the game for this kind of publicity. Keep the same location for a year or more and begin to run a series of Milwaukee-related ads: that’s when you begin to capture the attention and interest of those who pass by every day or week. And, then, perhaps the fact of the ads become a story in themselves picked up by the news media. That would be ideal.
Frankly, money would be better spent on mass transit vehicle and station/stop ads. Captive audience, simply looking around a train or bus, reading the ads. Target specific routes and stations for desired audiences. Saturation.
Someone walking through Busy Times Square is likely not to be inspired. And, even then…the competition for attention with the 35×23 ft. billboard is tremendous.