Edible advertising

Advertising doesn't get much more sustainable than if your target audience could eat it. We haven't worked with food yet, but this story made me think of a number of possibilities for our fmcg clients.

Holland the pie makers wanted to celebrate the end of their sponsorship of Burnley FC with this pie sculpture of it's manager. Sadly, it didn't have a filling, but it's a nice idea.

The artist has also worked with smarties, baked beans, pizza dough and smarties.

Talk about consumers absorbing the message.

Queen inspects Windsor sand castle

Mark Anderson, a sand artist who works with Curb, has created a sand castle for the Queen. Based on the designs for Windsor Castle, the sculpture is correct down to the tiniest detail. It's so close to the original, that Prince Phillip pointed to a room and remarked, "That's where I take my morning tea."

This piece was commissioned by Weymouth Council and was created to celebrate the royal visit to the area.

But what a missed opportunity for some targeted marketing. There were large crowds at the beach to see the Queen's visit. After the royal inspection it would have been easy to unveil a small sand plaque announcing a discount for visitors to the real castle. Or 2 for 1 on trains to Windsor. Or special offers on hotels or restaurants in Windsor.

What is Natural Advertising?

Natural advertising is a unique way to get a message across. This marketing uses natural media such as sand, grass and snow. I work with the team at Curb, the UK's first all natural media company. If you've ever seen clean advertising or snow tagging, there's a good chance Curb did it.

In these days of environmental concerns, every client suddenly has a sustainability story to tell. And what better way to do it than with media that is sustainable? Of course snow melts, sand collapses and roads get dirty again. But not until the message has been absorbed and spread around the world thanks to the internet.

As an advertising creative, this media is a delight to work with. It's fresh and new and infinitely exciting. But as with any marketing, the key is to target the right people, and create a message that is relevant, impactful and effective.

So if your brand wants to talk about its natural ingredients, stamp a message on the fruit your product contains and hand it out. If your stately home is opening its gardens, chalk the message on a leaf and put in on car windscreens nearby. If you want to tell tourists arriving at a regional airport about your local attraction, create a crop ad they'll see as they come in to land.

This blog intends to spread the word of natural advertising, and explore the constantly growing list of ways to use it.