Last week, comedian Awkwafina became the ‘special announcer’ for 22 stops along the 7 train line in Queens, New York. TV network Comedy Central partnered with the MTA (New York City’s transport authority) to promote Nora From Queens, a series based on Awkwafina’s upbringing in Flushing, Queens. The campaign, which ran between January 16-22, included her joking about each location: “The next stop is Hudson Yards, hope you like weird architecture!”; “This is 69th St., which is definitely, definitely not funny in any way” and “Listen, I can’t help you once you get to Long Island. That’s on you.”
Three quick but powerful trend insights for any organization wanting to follow Comedy Central’s track:
Urban pride. The city of New York has a long history of promoting itself, beyond its iconic ‘I ❤️ NY’ merchandise. It even has a Media & Entertainment division. While NYC might be the world’s most powerful city brand, there are endless opportunities to celebrate the people, culture and icons of your local city, too. See how Adidas partnered with Berlin’s Transport Authority to release limited edition sneakers that doubled as a train pass!
Contextual omnipresence. Every agency talks about the saturation of the marketing landscape. But this is a perfect example of our CONTEXTUAL OMNIPRESENCE trend: new, creative and relevant channels that cut through the noise. For local governments, this creates a huge opportunity: what iconic, status-worthy opportunities can you offer local brands?
Fun for everyone. However this campaign offers more than just money for the MTA. It makes not-particularly-friendly New York’s least friendly place – the subway – more enjoyable, or at least more tolerable. Perhaps Awkwafina’s comical announcements inspired some in-train eye contact (normally forbidden), or even a conversation or two between NY’s commuters 😱. Could you seek out a public-private partnership that infuses some much-needed delight into people’s daily lives?
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