March 22, 2023
There is exactly one screen in the world where your brand can appear above the busiest intersection on the planet, flanked by financial data scrolling in real time, in a location that draws over 300,000 pedestrians on a typical day. That screen is the NASDAQ billboard in Times Square, New York City. Our team at American Guerrilla Marketing has helped brands of every size navigate the booking process, structure creative for the format, and capture the documentation that turns a Times Square moment into lasting media value.
This guide covers everything a brand needs to know about the NASDAQ billboard: its history, what advertising on it actually costs, how the booking process works, what creative specs it requires, and which types of campaigns get the most from this singular placement.
The NASDAQ MarketSite Tower has been visible from the corner of Broadway and 43rd Street since 1999. It measures 10,000 square feet and stands 120 feet tall. It is not just an advertising surface. It is a cultural and financial landmark that communicates credibility, scale, and market relevance by association. When your brand appears there, it appears in a context that carries decades of equity.
The NASDAQ MarketSite Tower launched on November 18, 1999, at the peak of the dot-com boom. At the time, NASDAQ was the fastest-growing stock exchange in the world and the billboard was designed to reflect that dominance. The original design featured a revolving cube with the NASDAQ logo surrounded by a ring of LEDs displaying stock prices and financial news. In 2003, the display was updated to a flat-screen LED configuration that has evolved continuously since.
The location matters as much as the screen itself. Times Square is not just a tourist destination. It is a convergence point for finance professionals commuting through midtown, media executives, international visitors, and a dense working population that uses the corridor as a daily transit route. Impressions here come from a genuinely diverse cross-section of consumers and decision-makers.
Over its history, the NASDAQ billboard has been the site of presidential election announcements, breaking news, product launches, and cultural moments including the 2008 Obama election and the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death. That accumulated cultural weight is part of what you buy when you advertise on the display.
The NASDAQ billboard delivers three things that no other single placement in the U.S. can match simultaneously: raw impression volume, contextual prestige, and media amplification. Understanding each matters when evaluating whether the placement fits your campaign objectives.
Times Square generates foot traffic that most urban markets cannot match at the market level, let alone at a single intersection. Daily pedestrian counts exceed 300,000 on ordinary weekdays and climb significantly higher around events, holidays, and New Year’s Eve. Vehicle traffic adds additional impressions from taxi passengers, rideshare riders, and drivers moving through the corridor. A single day of NASDAQ billboard exposure reaches an audience that a regional billboard campaign might take weeks to accumulate.
The NASDAQ billboard is associated with the financial markets, with technology leadership, and with the kind of companies that define their categories. Brands that appear on it inherit that association. For companies in financial services, technology, consumer goods launching a flagship product, or entertainment properties seeking a statement moment, that contextual transfer has real marketing value.
A Times Square placement in general, and the NASDAQ billboard in particular, gets photographed and shared constantly. Tourists photograph it. Media outlets use it as a backdrop. Influencers and brand fans share it. This organic amplification multiplies the original media investment without additional spend. Our team has seen clients generate significant earned media from a single NASDAQ billboard day.
Advertising on the NASDAQ billboard is sold by time slot, not by traditional outdoor advertising metrics. Pricing reflects the length of each ad unit and the volume of cycles per hour.
Two primary slot configurations are available. A 15-second slot runs approximately 20 times per hour, generating 2.5 to 5 minutes of total exposure per hour depending on programming configuration. A 30-second slot runs approximately 10 times per hour within the same exposure window. Your actual per-cycle cost depends on the slot length and current market pricing.
For a 15-second cycle, current per-ad pricing runs approximately $25 to $40 per play depending on market conditions and time of day. Minimum buys apply, and the total campaign investment is determined by the combination of slot length, frequency, and campaign duration. Daily, weekly, and monthly rate structures are all available, as are exclusive buys where a single advertiser holds the display for a defined window.
Minimum buys on the NASDAQ billboard are the real cost threshold to understand. The per-cycle price is accessible, but campaigns are structured around minimum purchase commitments that reflect the premium nature of the placement. Our team works through those minimums with each client to ensure the investment is structured to deliver the right return for the campaign objective.
The history of the NASDAQ display includes some of the most recognized brand names in the world. Apple used it in 2013 to launch the iPhone 5S and 5C. Coca-Cola ran a partnership campaign with the World Wildlife Fund in 2011. Amazon activated the display for Prime Day 2019. Netflix used it to promote Stranger Things Season 3. NASA highlighted the Mars Rover landing and the Mars Exploration Program. The United Nations promoted World Humanitarian Day from the display in 2011.
These campaigns share a common logic: the NASDAQ billboard was chosen not because it was the only option but because it was the right statement for that moment. A product launch, a milestone anniversary, a cause campaign that needed credibility. The placement amplified each of those campaigns beyond what traditional media alone could have delivered.
Advertising on the NASDAQ billboard is managed through licensed media buying agencies rather than direct purchase. The process through American Guerrilla Marketing follows a clear sequence that we have executed for clients across industries.
We start every NASDAQ campaign with a conversation about campaign objectives, target timing, budget range, and creative direction. This scoping conversation determines whether the NASDAQ billboard is the right fit and, if so, how to structure the buy to maximize return. Reach our team at our contact page or call (646) 776-2770.
We check current inventory availability for your target dates, confirm the applicable rate structure, and present options for slot length, frequency, and campaign duration. Rates vary by period and demand, particularly around major financial events, product launch dates, and high-traffic tourism windows.
Creative for the NASDAQ billboard must meet specific technical requirements for the LED display format. We work with clients to ensure creative is optimized for the scale and viewing environment of Times Square. At 120 feet tall and 10,000 square feet, the display requires creative that communicates clearly at distance with a viewing audience in motion.
On campaign day, we coordinate all logistics and capture comprehensive documentation including photographs and video of your creative running on the display. This documentation becomes a permanent asset for press, social media, investor materials, and internal use. A NASDAQ billboard run without proper documentation loses half its value.
Street-level creative rules apply at scale here: clarity beats complexity, contrast commands attention, and the message must register in under three seconds. The Times Square environment is visually dense and the audience is in motion. Creative that requires reading is creative that loses.
Brand logo should occupy a significant portion of the frame with enough contrast to read from street level. Headline copy should be limited to five to seven words maximum. Color choices should be bold and distinct from surrounding displays. Animation and motion work well in this environment if they reinforce the core message rather than distract from it.
Specific file format requirements are confirmed during the booking process and depend on the current technical specifications of the display. Our production team handles the technical delivery process and can provide a full creative brief template on request.
The NASDAQ billboard is most powerful as a campaign centerpiece, not a standalone tactic. We routinely structure NASDAQ billboard runs as the anchor for multi-format campaigns that extend the reach and duration of the Times Square moment. Formats that pair well with a NASDAQ billboard run include LED billboard trucks that can extend the message into specific neighborhoods before or after the Times Square run, wheat paste poster campaigns in culturally relevant blocks that build frequency with the target audience, brand ambassador activations near Times Square on campaign day that create ground-level engagement alongside the overhead display, and guerrilla marketing programs in other markets that leverage the NASDAQ run as a credibility asset in local outreach.
The national billboard advertising network we manage gives clients the ability to anchor a Times Square run and extend it into 50+ markets across the U.S., creating the kind of market saturation that builds brand recall at scale.
Not every campaign needs Times Square. But certain campaign moments are well-suited to the NASDAQ billboard specifically. Product or service launches that benefit from a prestige announcement moment. IPO and investor relations campaigns where financial credibility matters. Brand anniversaries or milestone events that merit a statement. Entertainment releases where the cultural weight of Times Square reinforces the property’s significance. Recruiting and talent campaigns for organizations that want to signal leadership in their industry.
The NASDAQ billboard is not an impression machine in the traditional media sense. It is a statement, an earned-media generator, and a brand credibility signal that lives on long after the campaign date through documentation, press coverage, and social sharing. For the right campaign objective, it is unlike anything else in the advertising marketplace.
American Guerrilla Marketing operates out of Industry City, Brooklyn NY and manages campaigns across 50+ U.S. markets. Our team has executed NASDAQ billboard campaigns for brands ranging from funded startups to major entertainment properties. We handle the inventory access, creative coordination, technical submission, logistics, and post-campaign documentation that turns a single day on the NASDAQ billboard into a lasting brand asset.
We bring the same rigor we apply to sidewalk stencil campaigns and street-level activations to every NASDAQ billboard engagement. The documentation is GPS-tagged and timestamped. The deliverables are structured for immediate use across press, investor, and social channels. And every campaign is backed by our direct relationships with the inventory holders who control access to this placement.
A 15-second slot runs approximately $25 to $40 per ad cycle depending on market pricing and time of day. Minimum buys apply and determine the total campaign investment. Contact our team for current rates and availability windows.
You work through a licensed media buying agency. American Guerrilla Marketing handles inventory access, creative submission, scheduling, and documentation for all NASDAQ billboard campaigns. Reach us at (646) 776-2770 or through our contact page.
A 30-second slot runs approximately 10 times per hour. A 15-second slot runs approximately 20 times per hour. Total active display time is 2.5 to 5 minutes per hour depending on slot configuration.
The NASDAQ MarketSite Tower is 10,000 square feet and rises 120 feet above Times Square. It is one of the largest and most visible digital displays in the world.
Technology companies, financial services firms, consumer brands launching flagship campaigns, and entertainment properties have all run campaigns here. Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and NASA have all used the display.
Yes. Per-cycle pricing is accessible at $25 to $40 for a 15-second slot, but minimum buys determine the real entry point. Our team structures campaigns to fit available budgets while meeting inventory minimums.
The display accepts high-resolution video and static image content optimized for its large-format LED screen. Specific technical requirements are provided during the booking process through your media agency.
American Guerrilla Marketing provides nasdaq billboard services across 50+ U.S. markets. Every campaign is planned, scouted, executed, and GPS-documented by our field teams. We work with regional brands and Fortune 500 companies on campaigns that require real street-level execution and documented proof of performance.
Our process starts with a market consultation to understand your goals, target audience, and budget. We then scout locations, handle any required permissions or permits, coordinate production and installation with our local crews, and provide a full GPS-tagged photo report after the campaign runs.
We operate in 50+ U.S. markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, Denver, Boston, and dozens of secondary markets. Contact us to confirm availability and pricing for your specific market.
Campaign pricing depends on market, format, quantity, and duration. We work with budgets ranging from targeted single-market runs to national rollouts across multiple cities. Use our RFP Builder or contact us directly for a custom quote based on your specific campaign requirements.
The fastest way to get started is to submit your campaign details through our RFP Builder at americanguerrillamarketing.com, or contact us directly at [email protected] or (646) 776-2770. Our team typically responds within one business day with availability and initial pricing.
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American Guerrilla Marketing — Los Angeles
Street-level campaigns in Los Angeles and nationwide. Wheatpasting, LED trucks, street teams, and more.
(646) 776-2770
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