Ridley relishes New York's cultural offer

Why did you choose New York?
I was reassessing my career in 1998 when, out of the blue, I got a call from Eric Newnham, then head of Poster Publicity, who wanted to know what it would take for me to go to New York. The move was a no-brainer.

How are you finding it?
There aren't many places on the planet cooler than New York. The US is a cultural beacon: you start to understand why people don't have passports.

What's the media environment like?
I understand why people get intoxicated with the opportunity the US holds - there are so many areas
to be developed. Brits are well repre­sented in media in the US and I think that's because London does it so well.

How developed is digital media?
The US is not as advanced as Europe and Asia at using mobile as a marketing tool, but it is catching up very quickly. We can now add mobile to our out-of-home remit to make our campaigns reactive. Many advertisers are now putting out some well-thought-out mobile campaigns.

Culture and social scene
Woody Allen does clarinet residencies at Café Carlyle with the New Orleans jazz band, which I've seen five or six times. Then there are the fantastic plays you can see here and everything at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. And although I'm not hugely into sport, I did take a $500 bet off a colleague that the Yankees would make it to the
World Series.

Main differences in media?
The UK's pay-TV penetration is catching up, but the free-to-air channels are more cluttered with ads. In outdoor, the UK is more one-size-fits-all - if you're planning outdoor in the UK, you can apply broadly the same plans to every city but here no two cities are alike.

One thing we can learn from New York?
Every single thing you can think of can be delivered. I had a party and suddenly decided to make Pimms, so I got a cucumber delivered.