Wild postings on buildings, sidewalks, fences and windows bring advertisers’ messages to consumers at street level in a very public, in-your-face fashion, at least until they’re stripped off by local municipalities or building owners.
   But some graffiti advertising has gone legal, with the art work placed only on leased surfaces. Also, more and more, graffiti artists are being employed to create art at live events.
   To find out how to get your client’s message out in a wild yet legal posting, read on. And be on the lookout for a series of new anime murals for VIZ Media in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Houston.
   This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues.  They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
   Graffiti advertising placed legally on leased walls and created at graffiti events.

Who
    Several companies with graffiti programs get permission for their ad installations based on availability.
   For this article, Media Life spoke with Boston-based Alt Terrain, which has launched a permission-based graffiti program.

How it works
   Graffiti ads are spray-painted on legally leased wall space by skilled artists. 
   The distinctions between this and other graffiti programs is that the space is leased, known graffiti artists are employed to create the ads, and the installations frequently grow into events.
   Campaigns that have the biggest impact are when local graffiti artists are brought in to modify existing ads or to create new ones, in the process creating buzz, says CEO Adam Salacuse.
   “We take whatever creative the advertiser is providing and can do it as-is or have an artist make recommendations. That’s when it gets really interesting.”
   For example, a campaign to celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 75th anniversary included legal murals spray-painted by graffiti artists Wombat and SP ONE. 
   When a campaign spans markets, the creative can be different in each, Salacuse says.
   “Disney wanted to bring Mickey Mouse back into popular culture. Instead of putting up a mural that says Mickey is cool, they opened their archives to artists and told them to do what they thought was cool. The artists picked old black-and-white movie cells, or cartoon strips, to paint in trendy neighborhoods in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. People loved it. They weren’t sure if it was or it wasn’t advertising.”
   Another campaign involved the Disney character Tinker Bell. “We brought the artist Fafi to New York and Los Angeles to paint these murals,” Salacuse says.
   “I drive by the Tinker Bell mural in Los Angeles every day on my way to work,” says Nate Hahn, partner in Los Angeles-based StreetViral, the agency that handled the Disney project. “It’s been up for six or seven months, and every day I see people stopping to take pictures. People love them. They’re part of the city now.”
   Murals typically stay up four to eight weeks, Salacuse says. But in some cases they remain intact long enough to become neighborhood icons.
   “On the Lower East Side of New York there are street restaurants, bars, performance spots, tattoo parlors,” Salacuse says. “I was hanging out there one night and heard someone say that he was at the place across the street from the Mickey Mouse mural.”
   Creative can range from a straight reproduction of existing posters to original street art and advertising creative or a combination, Salacuse says. 
   “We’re using spray paint on bricks, so a lot of things don’t translate,” Salacuse says. “The best approach is to invite us in early on in the process.”
   The size of legal graffiti is a minimum of 150 square feet and can be as large as 350 square feet. Live graffiti performances are also available, consisting of the creation of advertising murals over an extended period of time at outdoor concerts, extreme sports competitions and other events. 
    “Live graffiti is associated with a specific event at a specific time,” Salacuse says. “Usually youth events, like X Games. Or it can be an add-on for something like a sponsored video game tour. For Nesquik’s Game Riot they used graffiti in addition to having just their name on the booth. They had artists do murals with the brand logo and Nesquik bunny and whatever the artists wanted to do with the rest. Each one was an original. Nesquik then could take the art on tour or put it in their offices or create a book and sell it.”
   Legal graffiti is installed on permanent walls while live graffiti is painted on canvasses. 
   Live graffiti performances can be spray-paint reproductions of brand ads or a blend of original graffiti and brand ads. The artists generally leave space for spectators to sign their names. The resulting canvas is 16 feet wide and 8 feet high.
   Advertisers are also using legal graffiti murals as web site content and for other branding events.
   “Once we create a billboard for a live event clients can put them in their corporate office or take them on tour,” Salacuse says. 
   Events or sampling can be attached. “You can make it an event,” Salacuse says. “People stop and watch for an hour. You can paint Snickers bars and give Snickers bars away.”
   In four-season climates graffiti advertising is available spring through fall.

Markets
   Both legal graffiti and live graffiti are available in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, Austin, Dallas, San Diego, Portland, Atlanta, Toronto and Vancouver.
   Legal graffiti is also available in Chicago, Montreal and Phoenix.
   Live graffiti is also available in Cleveland, Columbus, Raleigh, Washington, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Charlotte, Houston and Denver.
   Sites are sought to meet agency requirements in different markets, Salacuse says. “They want to target a segment and say, we want these neighborhoods, perhaps in Miami and Houston. So we go out and scout those areas. 
   “Each city has different rules and regulations about what you can and can’t do. Sometimes you need a permit. Then there are places like Montreal that provide public spaces to do graffiti every other block so it ends up being where they want it to be.”

How measured
   “You can use street traffic,” Salacuse says.  “However, you also want to measure the engagement factor. How many saw the mural being created. How long they were hanging out. If done right, there is also a word of mouth factor.”

What product categories do well
   Consumer products and entertainment are two that commonly utilize graffiti advertising. 
   Almost anything works if the brand can be connected to graffiti culture in a relevant way, Salacuse says. “You want to ensure you’re doing something that connects with consumers who respect the art form and find it exciting.”

Demographics
   The program is geared toward young audiences. Specific groups are targeted by location.

Making the buy
   Legal graffiti: A lead time of four weeks works best, Salacuse says. Cost factors include the size and location of the mural as well as site preparation. The market value of leased wall space is also a cost factor. “Manhattan costs more than San Francisco because of the value of the space. People charge more,” Salacuse says.

   Live graffiti: Lead time is six weeks. Cost ranges from $7,500 to $12,500, contingent on the complexity, size and duration of the project. Costs cover the concept sketches, materials, artist fees, wall rental and cleanup at the project’s conclusion. 

Who’s already on Legal or Live Graffiti?
    Nesquik, Disney, Shell Oil, Buena Vista Games, Nike Tunes, EA Games, Activision, PONY, Sega and Subaru.


What they’re saying
   “The reason we did murals is twofold. One is affordability. You can get a much better location for a better price. And two is because it’s definitely hip and physically it’s at street level where folks can look at it, touch it, take pictures in front of it and watch it being painted. With Tinker Bell we had a famous artist and that was an event in itself. People could talk with her. People loved it.”  -- Nat Hahn, partner in Los Angeles-based StreetVirus

Web site info
Alt Terrain at www.altterrain.com