Quebec-based paint brand Sico is inviting Torontonians to add a little colour to their lives through a month-long out-of-home campaign that transforms the city’s dull and grey Bloor-Yonge subway station into an inspirational paint palette.
Oversized, framed paint chips now line the subway station walls as part of the station domination that also includes branded turnstiles, posters and video shorts running on digital boards that use the tag line “Let’s Colour.”
The transit campaign coincides with the re-launch of Sico’s Cashmere paint brand, and lets commuters know that it’s available at 22 dealers across the greater Toronto area.
The paint industry is highly competitive, which is why it was important to launch something different from what other brands are doing, said Dominique Pépin, marketing manager for Sico Paints.
The subway station environment also makes it easy to demonstrate the power of colour. “With dull grey, a pop of colour here and there acts as a trigger… We want people to think, ‘Maybe I have something to paint,’ and we would like to be their paint partner,” she said.
For the next three Thursdays in May, Sico will hand out Gerber daisies in a variety of colours with a little card that invites commuters to visit the Sico Facebook page and download a $10 off coupon.
“That might bring them to consider the brand for their next purchase,” said Pépin.
Once the out-of-home campaign wraps at the end of the month, Sico will determine whether or not to launch it in other markets, said Pépin.
The effort is part of a larger initiative that includes a national television commercial that runs for the next seven weeks on television. It has also been posted to Sico’s Facebook page to help grow the brand outside of Quebec.
Palm Havas developed the creative and Mediacom handled the buy.
