Signs/flags/balloons prohibited, Now what?

I manage a complex near several busy streets and a large shopping mall, however we can't be seen from the road. City ordnance prohibits balloons, signs, flags, banners, etc that can be seen from the street. Even people who drive by every day don't realize we are here. What can we do to increase our visibility without getting fined?

Thanks!

Human Directionals!

human directionals do work (as embareassing as it may seem...) what about just offsetting your flags/balloons... stay in line with the local ordinances and codes, but make them huge then and set them back 10ft from the road... get the visibiity without the fines

Thanks for the suggestions!

Our local ordnance actually prohibits balloons etc, that can be 'seen' from the road.

I'm not sure I understand the 'human directional' Do you mean someone who stands out there holding a sign? We aren't allowed signs, so that wouldn't work for us either

I wonder if we can paint our roof so it can be seen in google earth?

As funny of a suggestion as it sounds, a lot of communities use the rooftop advertising. If you're near a freeway, you'll be on the traffic report in the AM


Here's an idea, and I don't know if it would work, but I think it would definitely get the attention you're looking for...

So no to banners, no to signs, no to balloons, and No on the human directionals holding the sign.

What about getting a group of your resident's kids, or even kids from the local high school/Jr High. Put them all in brightly colored t-shirts (Lime Green, Electric Pink, Happy Banana Yellow, etc.) that invite traffic in (Please use something better than NOW LEASING, but that's the general message idea) and then pay them to stand out on the street with ribbon dancer ribbons, balloons, jump ropes, anything that they could do out there that looks active and fun. The shirts have the message, no signs, and that kind of activity always attracts attention. All you'd have to supply is really the soda and snacks and find a parent to supervise. You could pay the group by donating to it's funding (if it was a local organized youth group of some kind) or by offering the kids a pizza party at the local joint at the end of the day/weekend. A lot of places have a large front entry lawn area, and this is a perfect place to organize your non-sign holding Human Directionals. Also, training them to tell people to have a great day as they depart your property would be a great cherry on the sundae!

Definitely Human Directionals. You're a perfect candidate: near a mall, several large intersections, people don't even know you're there...

Here's the secret: You need to incentivize your Human Directionals based on results. Pay them on how much traffic walks through your door.

There are a lot of factors that may contribute to why you are not allowed a sign... thus possibly making you a candidate for a variance.

[Sorry, but no advertising in the discussions area]

We had this same issue with one of our clients, we designed very retail driven community tee shirts. We had an event at the community and handed out the tees along with gift cards from stores in the mall, eateries and pubs closest to the community. They were issued times they were to wear the Tees in these locations. We then placed shoppers in these areas and if the shopper saw the resident wearing the tee, they received a Bonus Gift Card & a nice logo shoppers tote or sports bag.
We also have a unique item for the grocery stores we handed out with the Ad attached.
This concept worked very nicely, they were walking billboards, the traffic increased, residents asked other residents where they rec'd the cool tees and bags, residents starting asking for more logo swag and wanted to do it again!
Everyone is happy!

I had this problem with one of my smaller properties. The city ordinances restricted everything. I'm not sure the human directionals will work either, depending on the reason for all the restrictions in the first place. In any event, try using your landscaping to attract new visitors. We scupted our bushes into unique shapes and planted flowers that spelled out our name. It seemed to be a focal point and attracted free publicity with the local newspaper.

The best thing I did around this issues was I contacted the local highschools in the area to see if the Cheerleaders wanted to do a carwash on my property to raise money for their boster clubs. It was great, I have the leasing agents ayt the street dirtecting them in, my maintenance heping out with washinbg their cars all why the prospect received a tour.

Peggy, that's a GREAT idea!!! What about also asking civic youth groups like boy scouts or even local church youth groups to do the same thing? No as much of a draw as cheerleaders, but it does make you look pretty involved in more than just your community I love when communities outreach past their own fences.

I've had a number of customers tell me that they put Bandit signs out on the weekends, when the city employees aren't "trolling" for signs.

You can get 100 bandit signs for like $450, that should last you a few weekends or maybe even a few months if you space out the placements, even if the city takes them all or they get stolen - 2-3 new leases will more than pay for the signs.

Kendal - Director, National Sales
Rent-A-Banner (888) 512-0167

We just rec'd a notice in the mail today from City of Plano, any signage in a street mediuan or street corner is a misdemeanor and you could be subject to a fine up to $500.00.

Yesterday we rec'd an email from one of our suppliers that has signage for top of vehicles that you can used when parked.

Wonder if they went to the City of Plano meeting on signage?

Can / vehicle graphics are great to use, the city really can't restrict what you put on your vehicles. Mostly, signage restrictions are set up to force you into getting sign permits, so that the city can make $$ from you putting up signage. 30-90 days is pretty typical, or 30 days 3 times per year, etc.

Once you get the people on property, Sidewalk Graphics are great! Similar to what you've probably seen in the grocery store, but they're made to stick to concrete / sidewalks!

Kendal - Rent-A-Banner
(888) 512-0167

The other weekend thing that we recommend are the Air Dancer guys - with the big blower fan.

They're 20' or more tall and they really attract attention to your property. They're perfect attention grabbers for your events.

Different color "puppets" are available, plus you can customize the wording on them too! (and of course, we sell them too!)

Kendal - Rent-A-Banner
(888) 512-0167

The city likes to keep all business appearances 'upscale and professional. We tried sneaking out balloons on a weekend, but we were still reported to the city. We aren't sure who reported us, but we are located right in the corner of three city boundaries, so we have four police agencies (three city plus the county) patrolling in addition to the city inspectors. Being right by a mall, it could be the city inspector drove by on the weekend.

I like the human directional idea, but we don't have sidewalks and it would defeat our purpose to have them stand in our driveway, so that wouldn't work for our location (Our building goes right up to the edge of the street).

I really like the landscaping idea. We do have a small section of bushes on the side of our driveway that we could replace with something more eye-catching.

Ok, one of my best tricks is to get the extra wide waterproof ribbon and tie a big bow around my monument sign with long streamers to blow in the wind. Then add to the second story with streamers to some bldgs & on the office signage.
Have cupcakes inside and tell everyone it's a Birthday celebration for the community.
It created quite the buzz of what is going on, residents would come in and we would offer if they could call someone they knew to come in that day & lease, we would double the resident reward, it always worked and the cost was low.

Awesome ideas! Thank you SO much!!! :kiss: