Follow the sidewalk.
An Italian flatbread brand needed foot traffic walked to its door. Five chalk stencil designs, up to 30 placements on both sides of the street, running from two subway entrances to the storefront, with a fifth design pulling people across from the IBM side.
- Placements30
- FormatMulti-format
- Documented26install photos on file
Turn two subway exits into a path that ends at the register.
PIADI, La Piadineria's US arm, sells Italian flatbread sandwiches from a storefront near 23rd St and Broadway. The brief came down to distance rather than awareness: people come up out of two subway exits within three blocks of the door and walk past without knowing the store exists.
So the campaign was laid out as two walking routes rather than a set of placements.
One runs from the 23rd St and Broadway subway entrance, the other from the Park Ave S entrance by Baruch College, both sides of the street, each stencil placed at the decision points where a walker picks a direction.
The copy sequences with the walk. It opens at the stairs, moves through "Meet Italy's #1 flatbread, 500+ locations" and "Almost there... your next bite is waiting" mid-route, and lands at the door with "Hungry? We got you." A fifth design was placed near IBM on the opposite side of the street, reading "Cross the street for your next obsession," doing exactly what it says: pulling the far sidewalk across.
The stencil trail, up close.
Five chalk designs across up to 30 placements, walking foot traffic from the 23rd St subway entrances to the storefront door, with the fifth design pulling people across from the IBM side of the street. Every placement GPS-logged.
Why chalk.
Chalk-based stencils put crisp, dark marks on light concrete instead, and they wash away, which keeps the format's legal profile intact. Picking the technique off the surface condition rather than the rate card is the difference between an operator and a broker.
Five approved designs, up to 30 placements at 20x10 inches.
Small enough to sit inside a walker's natural sightline at the pace of a commute, dense enough that the next one appears before the last one is forgotten.
Every placement photographed on install with coordinates logged.
The map on this page is the deliverable: two routes, both subway entrances, the pull-across, and the door.
Does a campaign like this work for a single storefront?
That is what it was built for. The problem here was distance rather than awareness. People came up out of two subway exits within three blocks of the door and walked past without knowing the store existed. The campaign was laid out as two walking routes from those entrances, with a stencil at each point where a walker picks a direction.
Why chalk stencils instead of a reverse-stencil clean tag?
A reverse stencil works by pressure-washing the design into grime, and these sidewalks were already clean. With nothing to wash out, it would not have read. Chalk puts a crisp dark mark on light concrete instead, and it washes away on its own, which keeps the format's legal profile intact. The surface condition picks the technique.
How many designs does a wayfinding route need?
Five here. One opens at the subway stairs, two carry the middle of the walk, one lands at the door, and a fifth sits near IBM on the opposite side reading "Cross the street for your next obsession." The copy sequences with the walk, so the next stencil appears before the last one is forgotten at commute pace.
What comes back as proof on a route campaign?
Every placement is photographed on install with coordinates logged, up to 30 of them at 20 by 10 inches. For a route the map is the deliverable, and the one on this page comes straight from the install documentation: both subway entrances, the documented corners between them, the pull-across on the IBM side, and the door.
16 additional installs.
Where the stencils landed.
Five designs across both sides of 23rd St, running from the 23rd St & Broadway subway entrance and the Park Ave S entrance by Baruch College toward the storefront, with the pull-across design on the IBM side. The ten pins mark the documented corners, pulled straight from the install documentation.
- 0123rd St & Broadway subway entrance, Manhattan · Route start40.7413°N · 73.9889°W
- 02N side of 23rd St at Broadway40.7416°N · 73.9894°W
- 0323rd St mid-block, store approach40.7409°N · 73.9871°W
- 04Storefront approach, 23rd St40.7408°N · 73.9882°W
- 05Outside PIADI La Piadineria · Route end40.7409°N · 73.9881°W
- 06Hungry? We got you (store block)40.7407°N · 73.9878°W
- 07Directional arrows toward storefront40.7411°N · 73.9881°W
- 08Cross the street for your next obsession (IBM side) · Pull-across design40.7410°N · 73.9881°W
- 09Park Ave S subway entrance by Baruch College · Second route start40.7406°N · 73.9866°W
- 10Almost there... your next bite is waiting (Park Ave S approach)40.7403°N · 73.9872°W
Run a chalk stencil campaign?
Same crew, your brand.
The same operator network that shipped PIADI La Piadineria's campaign is on call for yours. Brief us with city, dates, and creative. Quote back in 4 hours.
Run a campaign like PIADI La Piadineria's?
Get a quote