Beyond the Billboard: VCU Challenges Ad Norms

By Marty Molloy

As consumers, we’re so inundated with advertising that it’s getting harder and harder to move the needle. Creativity is often being replaced with celebrity cameo and AI to form something that feels more like fancy camouflage than communications designed to capture our attention and encourage a call to action.

The VCU Brandcenter has always been a hotbed of creative ideas and executions. A recent campaign by five Brandcenter students takes the simplicity of billboards and turns the form on its ear.

Ads for Rats is a campaign of thirteen-inch billboards aimed at rats. While the billboards were only up for three days, they were eventually replaced with stickers. Billed as the first full-service agency for rats, they also have a website and Instagram.

Instagram @adsforrats

What strikes me is they took the time to create both interesting art and copy coupled with a distinctive form. Many brands are reducing the investment or time they’re willing to spend on advertising and communications, and it shows. Recent articles, including Is the World Becoming Less Colorful?, talked about colors being drained out of products, environments, and brands resulting in more of the same.

As consumer attention is stretched to the limit, brands can still find ways to stand out that generate some discovery and delight. Surprise consumers without making them work for it, or else they’ll default to price and convenience time and again.

W5 has extensive experience helping brands understand how consumers feel about branding, positioning, and executions. Get in touch to discover how we can help your brand craft a strategy that rises above the noise and stands out in a sea of sameness.