News Corporation / Sony Sign at 1 Times Square
From Top: Multiple choice interactive; A participant responding to the text message interactive; Participants responding to the photo message interactive
All images © ESI Design
An interactive media experience puts Times Square visitors in the driver’s seat of a state-of-the-art digital sign.
ESI Design partnered with News Corporation and Sony to program one of the premier digital video spaces at 1 Times Square (43rd Street and Broadway) in New York City, where the ball drops on New Year’s Eve. The sign allows visitors to share their thoughts, opinions and images in real time in one of the world’s most iconic public spaces.
The 34’ x 37’ LED screen features extremely vibrant colors and 10mm resolution, making it one of the sharpest and brightest LED screens in Times Square. The sign is programmed with a variety of rich video content—including movie trailers, game trailers, newscasts, sporting events and commercials from News Corporation, Sony and third-party advertisers—as well as three innovative interactives that invite visitors to respond to the sign via text and photo messaging. Together, the interactives create dynamic, collaborative data visualizations of the current pulse of Times Square and create new opportunities for advertisers to engage their audiences and initiate a more meaningful dialog about their brand.
In the multiple choice interactive, visitors are invited to respond to poll questions via an A, B, C or D text message answer. The results update in a stunning real-time visualization, providing a cumulative tally of the opinions of Times Square visitors. The text message interactive allows participants to send personalized responses to open-ended questions, with each message pulsing to the front for a moment in the spotlight. The photo message interactive invites visitors to respond to a question or prompt with a photograph. The software scans the dynamic grid of images, selecting one to highlight and zoom in on every few seconds, giving participants the chance to see their photo larger than life at the center of Times Square.
Each time a participant engages with one of the three interactives, a return message is sent back to their phone to thank them for their contribution along with brand messaging such as special offers and website URLs to forge stronger, long-term relationships.