A 90-year old ad agency is using some new-fangled technology to celebrate today in real time via a digital billboard in New York’s Times Square.
WPP’s Y&R turns 90 today. To
commemorate the milestone the agency intends spark a social media conversation by inviting people around the world to post messages conveying what advertising means to them. They can do so via Twitter
using the hash tag #advertisingis. The billboard will be live today from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Y&R is partnering with startup Hyperactivate to enhance the conversation. Hyperactivate has
technology that captures the avatars from Twitter and Facebook and algorithmically creates a mosaic as people Tweet and post. Users can find their posts and others, as well as uncover hidden
content as they interact with the mosaic.
Y&R says the data will also tell a story about “who the biggest influencers are in the advertising industry by measuring the biggest
activators of conversation.”