Unconventional display ad delivered staggering results

Page Black Design is a design agency that delivers everything within graphic design, visual identities, re-branding, web design, as well as strategy, idea and concept development for a range of well-known brands in Norway. The agency has worked on impressive projects including X-Games, Findings, creating the logo for a city(!), and developing designs for many of Norway’s leading artists and architects.

Page Black Design came to us for support with advertising. Despite having major client projects, they felt their reach was not sufficient and therefore wanted to make their name more widely known. In collaboration with Solid Media, the main focus of the project became ensuring that people get to know who they are – and that’s when the ball really started rolling.

Page Black has an inherent strength in great design, and generic advertising was the exact opposite of what they were looking for. The target audience itself is highly aware of good design, and by using a fitting expression we were able to appeal more effectively to that audience.

We started by mapping out their portfolio – what kind of projects has Black Design worked on previously? What is the typical design expression they aim for? In addition, it was crucial to maintain an open dialogue, where we learned what matters to the agency and how they want to position themselves in the market. All of this, combined with the types of clients they actually want, told us a lot about their identity, who they are, and where they are headed.

The next step was to define a compelling message for the ad. To achieve the goal of broader reach and increased awareness within the selected audience, the message had to be a perfect fit and fully aligned with who they are. Acting as a sparring partner for Black Design, we dedicated substantial time to the messaging alone. The result was display ads where the message itself was allowed to shine, without any extra noise or overly “advertisy” vibes.

The message was: Experienced design agency seeking experienced client.

Given that a typical experienced customer is often 40+ and in managing director roles, we drew inspiration from old newspaper ads. It was immediately clear that a personal ad – with a matching design and typeface – could trigger a sense of nostalgia in exactly the people we wanted to reach. By hiding the logo and removing all CTA buttons, Page Black created its own content with the expression we had in mind – clean, different, and organic. This “stunt”, which was Page Black’s own idea, gave people the opportunity to get to know the agency’s personality better, where chemistry and humor are two key elements of any collaboration with them.

This collaboration has truly proven that two agencies, each with their own strengths and expertise, can be a recipe for success. Thanks to open dialogue and close collaboration, we ended up with a strong client relationship and hair-raising results!