The whole idea behind signage is that people get the message. But sometimes it makes sense to obscure the message, as it did for one recent campaign in New Zealand.
The product: Sanyo’s new Xacti CA-65 video camera. What distinguishes the camera is that it works under water to depths of 1.5 meters.
But how do you convey that in a striking fashion?
“We identified an opportunity to generate consumer awareness of its key point of difference,” says Angelina Farry, senior account director at Saatchi & Saatchi in Auckland. “So we created a billboard and used the tides to demonstrate the camera’s underwater capability.”
Indeed. The billboard was put up at a beach in Cox’s Bay near Auckland and actually in the water. When the tide comes in, the sign is almost entirely submerged.
When the tide recedes, the sign is fully visible and reveals a straightforward message: “The new Sanyo underwater video camera.” It features a picture of the device.
The ad works on several levels. When the tide is in and the sign all but obscured, it attracts the curious of people on the beach but also in vehicles on the road running by, tempting some to wade out and peek under water to see what the sign says.
And by being half in and half out of the water, it speaks to the uniqueness of the camera.
