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America – not the easiest place to attract attention but a place to get easily lost in ‘woods’ of show cards and advertising. Poor ‘sandwich men’ who try to get the attention of pedestrians and car drivers in this sea of advertising: Have you ever heard of ‘sandwich men’ – so called because they walk back and forth on the sidewalk with advertising signs hanging front and behind from their shoulders? “Sign holding is perhaps one of the oldest forms of advertising, dating back to mid-evil times, and has had a presence in a number of different cultures. Even in the 1990s, people could be seen lackadaisically standing on the side of the road, advertising for different businesses.” (source) In America you will find these people on every corner – therefore nothing unusual or special? Indeed. Don’t you even get the feeling that this form of advertising might be a bit mundane or even boring nowadays? It Is hard to believe that you will get enough attention for your product this way in a world of overstimulation. Can’t you do this job more entertaining? Yes, you can.

Acrobatic Advertising

Have you already heard of AArrow Sign Spinning? Some years ago its founders noticed the potential of the traditional sign holding approach and started to do tricks with the signs, spinning them around and tossing them into the air to attract attention (read the full story here; articles one and two Los Angeles Times; Business Week). From time to time the sign spinners freeze the sign to present the clients message. On the official website it says “AArow Sign Spinning is a guerilla marketing technique that infuses extreme sports with street performance to catch attention of spectators and communicate a targeted advertising message.” (source) Clients range from smaller retailers to fortune 500 companies.

Advertising that does the trick

What do you think about this? It leaves an impression, doesn’t it? I believe Sign Spinning is an interesting new adverting medium that is nearly impossible to ignore. The spinners are an interactive, dynamic and engaging eye catcher and it is fun to watch their tricks. Obviously, there are some striking advantages of this new approach of getting attention for organizations and products:

• Hits thousands of members of the target audience an hour
• Dynamic, interactive and engaging
• Personal and friendly
• Unconventional and unexpected
• Memorable (not only because of its unconventional nature but one-to-one advertising experiences by taking the time to advertise to one person at a time)

In a nutshell, Sign Spinning leaves an impression. I think especially the personal nature of this new way of advertising is valuable because it delivers what no other form of advertising can: eye contact and smiles. And there is no doubt that the spinners’ moves attract the crowd. I believe Sign Spinning is a cheap and thus cost-effective way for organizations and products to get massive attention (According to the Los Angeles Times AArrow charges $25 an hour and up for its spinners’ services).

Sign Spinners supported Presidential Campaign

Did you know that Sign Spinning was also used to support Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign in California, North Carolina, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Montana and Nevada? To increase the reach of the Obama message and to register a record number of new voters to the campaign AArrow Sign Spinners were dispatched to college campuses and large cities around the country. To my mind this example emphasizes the value and good standing of Sign Spinning as a communication tool.

In the end, I am convinced that fitness is the ultimate thing to do the job of a ‘sign-wielding roadside marketer’. It looks easy but I am sure it is an act of strength to spin the giant signs around and flip them high into the air. But the act of strength seems to be worth doing it.