In what is a gag-filled bit of out-of-home tomfoolery in the advertising department, Canva has transformed the stereotypical glorious messiness of graphic design into ambient OOH in Waterloo Station.
It is not a new idea by any means — those long in the tooth may remember the brilliant raft of ‘made in Microsoft Paint’ purposefully crappy billboards to promote graphic design companies and the famous “Construct 2” billboard by Scirra — but it is a gag that really works. And especially so for Canva’s unique selling point of being the “graphic design tool that empowers the world to design.”
Embracing that gloriousness of creative chaos with a series of ads in which standard billboard spots are used with executions that track back to the tools Canva offers.
This includes a giant ad spot showcasing the Canva logo floating well outside the frame with the immortal “make the logo bigger” line leaping off the page. This execution also reminds folks that Canva helps you stay on brand with their Brand Kit feature.
Other examples include missized 16x9s that should be 9×16 executions, an “ideas billboard” strewn with giant ideas by committee-style Post-it notes, and even a “drag & drop (almost) anything” creative featuring a Forest bike physically glued to the front of the design.
Naturally, being the brand they are means the bar is set pretty high when it comes to good design-based marketing, and this counterintuitive approach certainly hits the mark.
The nod to the process, the iterations, and the happy accidents that lead to something great are really rather nicely delivered with this one. Big fan.
