They’re part of a clever idea by Alphabet Studio to get everyday people involved in conversations that will help JCDecaux build business for brands.

There are pigeons everywhere in the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane right now. The print and digital OOH posters are hard to ignore. They’re aesthetically beautiful and intriguingly devoid of explanation.

Each is an invitation to join The Pigeon Project, a research community by JCDecaux that allows everyday people to talk to brands about ideas that will help them improve their products and services.

But the ads don’t tell you that. Instead they tell you, “join. send.receive.” Or ask, “Are you in?”

Curious? Good, that’s the campaign’s aim. Why pigeons? Pigeons are the original message carriers. Why a series of posters that asks questions rather than providing information? Because its aim is to ignite the curiosity you’re feeling right now. To work out what, “Are you in?” is asking of you, you have to click on pigeonproject.com.

…At which point, at the very least, the poster will have got you over a campaign’s first hurdle. It will have your attention in its grasp.

Is it working? In the campaign’s first week, pigeonproject.com had over 10,000 hits.

The campaign also received the Q3 Creative Collection award for Best Traditional Use of the OOH Medium.

Tim Kliendienst, creative director at Alphabet, commented, “The process was hugely rewarding. Collaborating with JCDecaux’s team provided a platform of endless possibilities which finally settled on the pigeons…”

“…They gave us free rein to create arresting images embracing the eclectic, humorous and unexpected,” added Alphabet director, Paul Clark.

Creative credits: 

Client: JC Decaux

Agency: Alphabet Studio

Art direction: Tim Kliendienst and Paul Clark

Designers: Lara Juriansz and Ashleigh Steel

Animation: Finlay Downes