A new larger-than-life LED screen in New York City is giving visitors to Times Square a behind-the-scenes look at the Madame Tussauds visitor experience.
The attention-grabbing 4.0m x 3.7m LED screen, which was installed on 19 June, is visible from 42nd Street, and is already said to be a big hit in Times Square – which receives tens on millions of visitors each year, and is known as ‘the crossroads of the world’.
The project brief from Madame Tussauds (part of Merlin Entertainments Group) to global marketing and communications agency Banner Managed Communication (BMC) was to increase the attraction’s cut-through and audience share within the intensively competitive New York tourist scene. BMC brought in its digital experience design partner OpenEye Global to create the experience from the eyes of the visitor. OpenEye also enlisted Scala and NanoLumens for content management and display installation.
The Tussauds and OpenEye teams developed a content strategy highlighting the brushes with fame that happen inside Madame Tussauds – using actors and a green screen to film reactions to encounters with Madame Tussauds’ stars.
Davey Barrett, head of product development, Midway Attractions, North America at Merlin Entertainments plc said: “BMC and OpenEye have helped us find a truly innovative way of communicating and visualising the experience of visiting Madame Tussauds to a vast, untapped audience. We’re undoubtedly achieving our primary objective of grabbing the attention of many more visitors to Times Square. The 4.5mm digital display from NanoLumens delivers impeccable clarity and brightness essential in creating an invigorating experience.”
Catherine Burke, managing director of BMC, said: “Creative thinking and leading-edge technology have combined here to inject new life and contemporary relevance into an attraction with a heritage stretching back almost 250 years. The project is a perfect example of why we’ve partnered with OpenEye. They provide precisely the blend of digital innovation and execution expertise which BMC clients are looking for.”
Bryan Meszaros, CEO, OpenEye commented: “It was clear to us that many people’s perception of Madame Tussauds lags way behind the modern-day reality. So our focus was on creating content and using technology to visualise and bring to life the Madame Tussauds experience, emphasising what an incredibly dynamic and interactive attraction it is for visitors.”
Dina Townsend, vice president of retail, Scala commented: “The Madame Tussauds deployment is an excellent example of collaborative, best-in-class digital engagement that seamlessly integrates technologies, form factors, platforms and strategic vision.
“From the Scala perspective, our content management platform was leveraged to deliver digital signage as well as the #MTSelfie social media experience. Using the Scala platform as a true customer experience engine allowed Madame Tussauds to integrate a variety of digital experiences all engaging the consumer across channels in new and unexpected ways, but all managed from a single and extensible console to provide the best possible outcomes in a most efficient delivery model.”
Burt Smith, executive vice president of NanoLumens commented: “Creating an engaging visualisation solution that can work with the design limitations of any existing space in New York City is not an easy task for most solutions providers – except NanoLumens. Our unique ability to listen to the Madame Tussauds team and design a solution in the shape, size, and curvature that works for them is what won the day. We are very proud to have been a part of this very exciting project.”
Digital experience design company OpenEye Global
