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Ads engaging or annoying?

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer | MNaanes@am-ny.com

August 2, 2007

Westin's hefty $300,000-plus price tag to plaster advertising in almost every possible space in the shuttle station area of Grand Central is more expensive than past significant campaigns on MTA property.

But the shelled-out cash should be worth it, especially with distracted, busy straphangers to contend with, according to one marking professor.

"I think the bigger your canvas, the bigger opportunity you have to make [commuters] aware of your advertising," said Peter Golder, of the New York University Stern Business School. "How that actually converts to a sale becomes hard to measure."

But are billboards from the same advertiser filling the walls, station columns and subway cars on a commuter's path too much or annoying?

No, Golder says. Grabbing commuters attention in unexpected ways, like Westin transforming train cars into natural scenes, and adding billboards on the trek from the train is engaging, not perturbing.

"I think a repetitive TV ad can be more annoying because you don't have a chance to look away," he said.

Staphangers around Penn Station Thursday agreed.

"They give you something to do while you're on the subway, like something to read," said Woheema Parasran, 17, of Jersey City.