Don’t wash off that sidewalk grime just yet. Joule, a 295-unit apartment community managed by Essex Property Trust, took advantage of the highly trafficked pavement surrounding its Seattle property by hiring a marketing company to place eco-friendly advertisements on the sidewalk.
These water stencils, also known as reverse graffiti or clean graffiti, are the latest innovation in green advertising. The large-scale stencil templates are created by a laser, laid onto a dirty pavement and power-washed into the ground using nothing but water. The clean imprint stands out against the dirty background and lasts from a few days to several weeks, depending on foot traffic and weather.
Joule was seeking an unconventional, one-time lease-up campaign. It placed 50 water stencils in 27 different locations within a 5-mile radius of the property in March. Darcey Forbes, Director of Marketing and Communications for Essex Property Trust, says the location of the stencils was determined by pedestrian traffic flow, which sidewalks were the dirtiest, and what businesses were in the area. Many cities have regulations regarding the placement of sidewalk ads, but most markets don’t define water stenciling as graffiti.
The same stencil was used throughout the campaign. It included the property logo, the community website, and the message, “Leasing Now.” It’s important to keep the messaging simple because dense copy does not translate well on the pavement, Forbes says.
Prices for the water stencils vary by market, number of locations and the intricacies of the stencil design.
Although it was difficult to track the success of the campaign, Forbes says the water stencils created a word-of-mouth buzz and enabled Joule to blanket the market with its brand name. She says the stencils also were a unique marketing strategy to target the hip and eco-conscious demographic in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. –NAA’s Lauren Boston