A DSA Signage analysis found wide differences in the estimated cost of reaching viewers across major digital billboard locations, with several Asian sites ranking ahead of Times Square and Piccadilly Lights.
Iconic DooH: Tokyo Outperforms New York in CPM Comparison
The more iconic a DooH screen is, the more people it reaches – this assumption is challenged by solution provider DSA Signage in a direct comparison of iconic advertising spaces. The results that names like Times Square or Piccadilly Circus do not necessarily equate to effectiveness.
The Global Signage Attention Benchmark examined 10 high-profile outdoor advertising locations across North America, Europe, and Asia. The analysis combines estimated daily footfall, advertising costs and what DSA calls “media share,” a measure of a screen’s visibility relative to surrounding displays, to calculate an estimated cost per 1,000 viewers (CPM).
Tokyo’s Cross Shinjuku Vision ranked as the most cost-efficient location in the study, with an estimated CPM of $12.50 (all figures USD). London’s Piccadilly Lights ranked as the most expensive at $788.16 CPM, while New York’s Times Square Spectacular Face was estimated at $212.12 CPM.
Efficiency can vary by as much as 60 times
According to the benchmark, the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers varied by more than 60 times across the locations analyzed. Several Asian sites, including Tokyo, Osaka, Bangkok, and Seoul, ranked ahead of Western landmarks in estimated audience efficiency.
The benchmark suggests that advertising costs do not necessarily correlate with pedestrian traffic. Several Asian locations recorded higher footfall than New York’s Times Square while posting substantially lower estimated CPMs. DSA argues that audience attention in Times Square is divided among numerous competing displays, reducing the visibility share of individual screens.
Shanghai’s Nanjing Road East location recorded the highest estimated daily footfall in the study, at roughly one million pedestrians, but ranked among the less efficient locations due to competition from surrounding displays. Seoul’s K-POP Square Media Wall recorded the highest estimated media share in the benchmark.
Corner formats prove especially powerful
The analysis also found that large-scale forced-perspective displays, including Tokyo’s Cross Shinjuku Vision, ranked among the most cost-efficient formats analyzed. DSA suggests immersive display formats may attract more concentrated viewer attention in busy urban environments.
“For years, advertisers have equated iconic locations with guaranteed impact, but visibility and attention are not the same thing,” said Shokouh Shafiei, CEO of DSA Signage. “Our analysis shows that some of the world’s most famous advertising districts are actually among the least efficient at converting exposure into real audience attention.”
Social media effect isn’t captured
While the benchmark highlights major differences in estimated audience efficiency across locations, it does not account for factors such as social media amplification, earned media coverage, or the prestige of advertising on globally recognized screens such as Times Square and Piccadilly Lights.
The full analysis can be found here.