Gang messaging found lacking.

My back fence is now adorned with the unsolicited messaging from the Mexican gang Sur 13 you see here. Normally this might lead me in to a rant about our borderless country, sanctuary cities, the effects on county and state services, including schools, crime, etc. but why bother? Instead, let’s focus on Sur 13’s marketing efforts.

While there is something to be said for the opportunistic seizure of others’ property as a media vehicle, in the finest tradition of guerrilla marketing, the example shown here arguably lacks key executional elements.

MEDIA: This particular example is part of a campaign, really. I’ve seen the exact same message on two other fences and a concrete block retaining wall within a three block area. While hyper-local marketing does have its advantages for some products or services, in this case the media selection actually communicates that the gang does not have vehicular transportation. Though I’ve not seen Sur 13’s positioning statement, I feel certain they don’t care to be considered as only pedestrian criminals. Walk-by shootings, while just as fatal, generally feature higher apprehension rates, and it’s embarrassing when other gangs have sweeter rides. However, the media placement does get points for irony because the graffiti on my fence faces the $750,000 homes that have been for sale behind me for a year. I wonder how the realtor addresses it to potential buyers: “As you can see, there are plenty of young people in the neighborhood.”

CREATIVE EXECUTION: All hyper-local executions feature a consistency to give the messaging a campaign feel. The paint is the same color, and the penmanship, if that’s the right word here, is identical. In traditional advertising this might be considered positive, but in this context, the uniformity again communicates an apparent limitation of resources by the gang Sur 13. The viewer might easily assume they have only one person filling all the roles of this ad campaign, and that he’s probably 13 years old and can only afford one can of spray paint. As branding, it’s unimpressive.

THE MESSAGE: While the creative team managed to keep the headline brief, it is incomprehensible to many and depends on public knowledge for any impact. Viewers see “Sur 13″ and if they bother to search for it, they might find the online extension and get a sense of the integrated marketing campaign. Unlike the SEO campaign, the fence execution offers no call to action, no exclamation point, no verb, actually. Nor does it offer any visual eye candy, unless you count the aerosol scrawliness. Would a logo be too much to ask? It’s hard to make an effective all-type ad with no verb and no logo, and I suspect the team was not operating from a quality creative brief. What do they want the prospect to do or think? What is the competitive environment? What are current perceptions? What problem is the advertising to solve?

NEXT STEPS: Despite the many shortcomings of this campaign, there could be potential in word-of-mouth impact, and Sur 13 management should consider leveraging that into a brand ambassador program, maybe offering promotional discounts at local drug stores on ingredients to make speed. But first, the executive team should commission a complete ROI and brand impact study to correct the many errors in the current campaign, errors that do not serve to advance the brand image of Sur 13. Management should convene a “Blue SKY,” off-site (in Mexico) meeting to determine alternatives. For instance, the brand could capitalize of the synergy of blurring lines between news, PR and advertising by announcing a program to switch from environmentally harmful aerosol spray paints to friendlier brush-based or pump-spray pigments, building awareness as “The Green Gang.” But that’s further down the road, an example of a long-term strategy. For now, Sur 13 would do well to codify meaningful brand standards to solidify identity; research the violence, intimidation and crime markets, and pinpoint opportunistic tactical messaging in emerging media.