Clutch is offering a fresh take on traditional marketing as it looks to expand awareness of its online used-car brand.

A new out-of-home activation from the e-commerce startup towers over Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway at the intersection of Queen West and Roncesvalles with a play on the idea that “Construction takes forever” in the city. The ad’s visual twist – headline copy that spills out of frame between two billboards – draws attention to a red flatbed truck, one of Clutch’s core brand assets.

Mint worked with Clutch’s in-house team on creative, while media AOR True Media collaborated with Branded Cities to execute the buy.

Mark Arvai, director of brand marketing at Clutch, tells strategy that the billboard is part of a continuing effort to drive brand recognition through bold creative. Last year’s “Sell Your Car Naked” campaign, also a Mint collaboration, made waves from the same location, while emphasizing Clutch’s ease-of-use and deal-from-anywhere proposition.

“Fifty per cent of people loved it, 45% of people were shocked by it and 5% of people felt neutral,” Arvai says. “And it was actually a great result for us, because as far as we’re concerned, that means 95% of people remembered it.”

While allocating major spend to traditional media might seem counterintuitive for a tech-forward brand, Arvai says Clutch has seen strong results from its billboard work.

“There’s an X-factor when a company takes out a big, physical billboard; it demonstrates that they’re legitimate, that they have some sort of presence,” Arvai says. “It’s a little hard to describe why, but the message on a digital billboard doesn’t quite hit the same as a paper billboard. So we’re conscious of that, we’re committed and we’ve seen great results.”

The Toronto billboard is part of a broader brand strategy that also includes out-of-home takeovers of the MacKay Bridge in Halifax and the SkyTrain in Vancouver, as well as national TV and radio ads and digital campaigns. Clutch’s TV spots, including campaigns featuring Toronto Raptors players, are designed to build awareness on a broader level, Arvai says.

In June, Clutch also opened its first-ever in-person customer hub in Markham, Ont., and earlier this month launched a video campaign to educate consumers about buying and selling through its platform. The 30-second spot was created in house and is currently live nationally on TV, connected TV, YouTube and social media.

“We work really hard to deliver the best experience, but a lot of people still haven’t heard about us, don’t understand exactly what we do,” Arvai says. “So there’s a balance between just pure entertainment and capturing attention, with our NBA campaign or this billboard, and then also, of course, explaining how it actually works, because it’s a big financial decision and people need the details.”