Sometimes the best way to advertise your product is to let people see how it actually works in practice.
In the case of Orkin, it was a message best told by the bugs it makes a business out of removing from its customers' homes, quite literally.
The company put up signs around Vancouver neighborhoods with its logo done in a clear, scented and sticky material much like what’s found on fly paper.
In the initial days, the logo was hardly visible.
But soon the sign began attracting bugs, which flew onto it and got stuck. And as more and more bugs got stuck, the Orkin name darkened and became clearly visible.
As more and more bugs got caught up in the sticky material over time, local residents could clearly see the familiar Orkin logo created from a slew of dead insects.
The idea was developed by Orkin's agency in Vancouver, Rethink Communications.
“In my own house we were having problems with flies, and we put up those sticky fly strips,” says Rob Sweetman, associate creative director and partner. “Then I thought, ‘hey, we can use those for something.’”
Rethink placed the signs in areas where bugs were most likely to swarm so people could see the logo develop over time.
One of the signs took a week to fill up, while the other two took two to three weeks.
Sweetman says those initial three signs worked as a test, and the agency has plans to roll out a similar campaign this spring around transit shelters in the city.
