The City That Never Sleeps

There's no guessing why part of the world I'm going to blog about today from reading the title. The "big apple," "empire city," "Gotham"...I'm sure you've guess it by now. Yes, that's right, NEW YORK (New York).

From marketing students point of view, New York is not a place to see-but also a place to be seen. The Times Square district is one of the most desirable and sought-after neighborhoods advertising. This is no surprise given the area's famous electronic screens and massive, striking billboards. MTV, Forever 21, Fox, American Eagle to name a few are some of the companies that pay thousands of dollars to market in this area, but it most definitely is money well spent. 500,000 people go through Times Square every day - 250,000 employees and residents and 250,000 additional in tourists and passersby. If that's not proof enough that its money well spent there is also the power of the digital marketing.... get this for example; Nascar recently displaced race cars in Times Square. Tourists took photos of this events and uploaded them on Facebook/Flickr/MySpace and shared there videos on YouTube, and even shared there experience on their blogs andTwitter so Nascars message kept spreading. This is the influence of digital marketing, people across the globe share your experiences. What happens in Times Square is no longer strictly the province of location. You can experience things that are happening there, even if you’re not there.

Mark Zuckerberg recently used a Billboard to advertise Facebook Places, which was launched last August to compete with Foursquare and Gowalla. Below are some of the images you might see if you do visit New York; 

Going to New York after studying Marketing in college is definitely a must, to see advertising at the heart of what I believe is the advertising capital of the world.

Disney Goes Overboard..

I love all things Disney, from their movies to the Disney Store and of course the trips to Disneyland. But I now am beginning to think Disney has, excuse the pun, gone a little overboard with the Disney Dream Cruise Boat. This year, the new Dream Cruise boat will set sail featuring the worlds first WaterCoaster (A Water Coaster is a water slide which mimics a roller coaster). Have a look at this link to see for yourself www.disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/dream/pools/aquaduck/.

The ship has activities for all the family, including the adults. This is the 3rd ship in the Disney Cruise Line Family, but its Sister Boats don't bear any of the new features such as the already mentioned Water Coaster, virtual portholes in inside staterooms that provide a real-time view outside the ship, 9 hole mini-golf course, football pitch's, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, theater.... the list goes on and on. And all of these entertainments are Disney Themed, you are literally Dreaming Disney, as the name of the boat suggests. This may be many young children and even adults dream but I don't think a trip on board this boat would be for me as much as I love Disney I think its safe to say i'll leave this one off my list!

Van City

Vancouver-also known as Rain City (for the amount of rain that falls here) I feel is the New York of Canada. It has the yellow cabs, great shopping, fantastic sights to see, endless entertainment and a multiracial community. I would happily pack my bags and move to this city it's so amazing, if I could bring my family and friends with me. Whats nice about Vancouver is that you can talk a five minute walk away from Main Street and end up on the beach, away from all the city buzz! A famous site in Vancouver, home to all the Rollerbladers and cyclists is Stanley Park (Vancouver's own Central Park). Over 1,000 acres of grass, paths, totem polls and even an Aquarium-this is a place that can never get boring.

Granville Island is another unique spot to Vancouver. It is a large market at the side of an beautiful marina, which is where I spent my time in Vancouver working. Inside in the market there are hundreds of different stalls so everyday I had something different for lunch! The atmosphere is incredible with buskers singing in the background, tourists from all over the world ordering lunch and people coming and going all day the place is never quiet. The island is also famous for the arts and crafts shops and the Granville Island Beer.

Every night of the week in Vancouver there always seems to be something going on, with the main street becoming pedestrianised on Friday and Saturday nights. Whether it is Ice Hockey games, concerts or going to the Irish Pub you'll be sure to enjoy yourself in Vancouver.   

Watch the Video Below to see some of the beautiful sites mentioned-but be warned after watching and seeing images of this amazing city,you may want to move to Vancouver too....