Article

Digital displays bring neighborhood-specific apartment listings to New York City

StreetEasy, a New York City real estate marketplace, recently launched its first real estate advertising campaign on LinkNYC. Its objective is to bring neighborhood-specific apartment listings that are currently for rent on StreetEasy directly to New York City's streets.

A LinkNYC display in New York City.

July 1, 2016 by Travis Wagoner — Editor, Networld Media Group

StreetEasy, a New York City real estate marketplace, recently launched its first real estate advertising campaign on LinkNYC. Its objective is to bring neighborhood-specific apartment listings that are currently for rent on StreetEasy directly to New York City's streets and the thousands of New Yorkers who are searching for apartments during the peak summer season.

Different listings rotate each day, and StreetEasy will update apartment listings via LinkNYC's location and context-aware capabilities and API, aligning apartment locations with individual Links. The deployment is being paid for entirely through advertising.

Intersection is the company behind LinkNYC. It creates digital interfaces for transit, museums, retail, workplaces and cities. The company is owned by a group of investors led by Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet (Google) company. Intersection is the managing partner of CityBridge, the joint venture that created LinkNYC.

"LinkNYC is the result of a public-private partnership between the City of New York and CityBridge, a joint venture that includes Intersection, Qualcomm, and CIVIQ Smartscapes, to replace the city's payphones with 7,500 new kiosks called Links," said an Intersection spokesperson. "Each Link provides free gigabit Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a tablet interface to access Internet, city services, maps and directions. LinkNYC is completely free to users and taxpayers because it's paid for by advertising on the kiosks' 55-inch displays. Over the next 12 years, LinkNYC advertising will generate over $500 million for the city of New York."  

The installation of 7,500 Links across New York City's five boroughs will take approximately eight years. At scale, LinkNYC will be the fastest and largest free public Wi-Fi network in the world, according to the Intersection spokesperson.

Advertising campaigns like LinkNYC can establish connections with consumers and provide memorable experiences and added value.

"At StreetEasy we're dedicated to providing access to the most accurate and relevant listings through tech innovation," said Peter Edwards, senior director of marketing for StreetEasy. "Real estate is inherently mobile, particularly in Manhattan where so much exploration is done on foot. We're excited to offer consumers a new way to engage with StreetEasy's comprehensive real estate listings in real time, within their desired neighborhoods."

StreetEasy is using LinkNYC's location and context-aware capabilities and API to enable it to keep the listings fresh and relevant for the neighborhoods around the Links. For example, if a person is walking through Chelsea, they will only see the most up-to-date listings in proximity.

Campaigns like this can also further push the envelope for what's possible in the digital out-of-home advertising arena. Additionally, there's the added benefit of the campaign being local.

"Hyper-local campaigns are more personal because they're more relevant," the intersection spokesperson said. "If a person is already living in, working in, or visiting a neighborhood, they have a connection to the area. Combine the right place with real time, and you have event-based opportunities — whether it's an open house at an apartment or an open table at a nearby restaurant."

LinkNYC's ultra-high-speed bandwidth helps drive immediate calls to action, enabling passersby to download the app or access the full listings on StreetEasy's website. Advertising of this nature has the added benefit of helping fund public services.

"Cities have been monetizing street furniture and transit assets since the early 20th century to help subsidize public services, typically through integrated static or digital advertising," the spokesperson said. "LinkNYC takes this model a step further by providing direct premium services to citizens and visitors — in this case free high-speed Wi-Fi, device charging, phone calls, and wayfinding, in addition to providing revenue to the City. As urban populations continue to grow, resources get stretched and citizen expectations expand, cities will look to similar models for providing both modern public services and revenue channels."

Photo courtesy of Intersection.

About Travis Wagoner

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Travis Wagoner spent nearly 18 years in education as an alumni relations and communications director, coordinating numerous annual events and writing, editing and producing a quarterly, 72-plus-page magazine. Travis also was a ghostwriter for an insurance firm, writing about the Affordable Care Act. He holds a BA degree in communications/public relations from Xavier University.