A new way of catching the public’s attention has minimal impact on the environment discovers ZOE CHRISTODOULIDES
Apparently moss can make for great advertising. Gone are the days when it was just considered a nuisance in damp areas as it has now become a weird and wonderful form of art quite literally promoting harmless advertising at your feet. All part of a rather innovative alternative media known as GreenGraffiti, the idea has just come to Cyprus and is set on taking the island by storm. And the motto is clear: green is clean.
A concept that kicked off in Amsterdam back in 2008, it began when a creative talent named Jim Bowed met Netherlands Green Guru Eckart Wintzen, who encouraged him to create marketing materials without using paper or ink. Jim then put on his thinking cap and began envisioning cleaning up a dirty area to create a message out of the clean space left behind. And voila, GreenGraffiti was born.
Marketing Tribune then took note of the idea, as did local newspapers, while Jim began to tell whoever cared to listen that he’s come up with a great innovation. After all this hype, he soon finds out however that the technique he thinks he has come up with has actually been used by street artists for decades in a trend known as ‘reverse graffiti’. But Jim is determined to make the idea work commercially and GreenGraffiti is registered as a standalone business.
Now having left its mark with over 150 campaigns worldwide, the company is being set up on a franchise basis in countries as far away as Bolivia. “In short, our philosophy comes down to this: profits with principles,” says Marketing Manager of GreenGraffiti in Cyprus, Mark Smith. “It’s about creating messages by means of the most appropriate new sustainable methods; the company uses communication techniques that are high impact on the audience but low impact on the environment.”
Worldwide supporters of GreenGraffiti firmly protest that it’s about time that the business models of the past 100 years were challenged. “We believe that advertising can play an active role in providing positive communication solutions, but with lower impact on the environment.” And it’s certainly not just about advertising, what with the company being very keen on jazzing up public spaces with pretty scenery and even creating nicer environments within towns for kids to play in.
“It’s also just about public communication and trying to be sustainable,” explains Mark. “It could really be as simple as a sign that says ‘toilets are this way’ to save on paper and materials.”
And this is perhaps the most interesting part of it all. Any slogan, shape or pattern can actually be ‘written’ or ‘inscribed’ on a wall or pavement without using any materials at all. How so exactly? “You just put a stencil onto a given surface and then use a high pressure jet washer which takes the dirt away and leaves an imprint,” says Mark. With the term ‘reverse graffiti’ now making a great deal of sense, stencils like these last between three to five months.
For those not in the know, the grandfather of the modern reverse graffiti movement is Englishman Paul Curtis, aka “Moose”. The idea came to him while standing in the dirt-covered tunnels of Leeds and he thought he’d do something different with no paint and no defacing. Moose simply created his form of art by cleaning and removing the dirt so that nothing else but a “clean graffiti” remained.
In some international campaigns, GreenGraffiti has also made use of so called biological paint while sand tagging has also proved popular. “This is ideal for beach side places and businesses that are looking for alternative ways to advertise and reach out to the public.”
So far the company has been involved in plenty of campaigns for big names abroad including Starbucks, Renault, Range Rover and Domino Pizza. GreenGraffiti was also rather aptly used for the 2010 EU Biodiversity Campaign as well as an Earth Hour Campaign in Australia last year. Bulgaria even used GreenGraffiti in recent election campaigns.
The new method can help companies and people to increase their visibility in public while projecting a more responsible image professes Mark. “It’s about not destroying anything along the way and setting a good example to the rest of society.” I can’t help but wonder however, if we here in Cyprus are ready for such change. In a land that has only really just began coming to terms with the idea of recycling, it’s hard to tell if big businesses will really be keen on taking a leap into the unknown when it comes to their marketing campaigns, especially in troubled financial times like these. Mark seems to think change is on its way. “This is new and it’s funky. And everyone is slowly becoming more environmentally aware. So far – just though word of mouth – people seem to think it’s a great idea.” Keen to work with various municipalities to brighten up public spaces, the possibilities are endless. This of course raises debate around the legality of reverse graffiti in and around city centres with no obvious laws against the new concept. “This public space issue is a bit of a grey area. We have our principles and respect for public space,” insists Mark. “Obviously we would always stay away from public monuments and churches. But this about being environmentally friendly, not about destroying places but putting something back. And even if a specific tag is used for an event it can then easily be cleaned away.” Looks like all things green are set to become real head turners this winter season.
Green Graffiti Cyprus
[email protected]. Tel: 99-320520. www.greengraffiti.com.cy. facebook: GreenGraffiti Cyprus
