LONDON: OOH advertising is about innovation. Two Australians have taken this to a different plane. According to media reports, Nathan Baws and Thor Portus set out wearing sandwich boards to sell their £600,000 flat. They wanted a £50,000 deposit to secure the flat, with the remainder to be cleared by £950 weekly installments, and hoped that their novel approach will attract more attention than an estate agent could at a time when the housing market is struggling.
 They just followed the example set last year by unemployed graduate David Rowe who used a sandwich board to advertise himself for work. The 24-year-old was hired by outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux after managing director Spence Berwin saw him in Fleet Street wearing his "job wanted" sign.
Baws said: "I think you've got to do stuff like that just to get yourself out there. English people are normally fairly conservative compared with Australians. We do whatever it takes, even if it means humiliating ourselves."
The flat, in DeVere Gardens, opposite Kensington Gardens, is in a mansion block with a porter. It has two large double bedrooms and a new kitchen and bathroom.
Baws said: "We figured if we came up with a payment structure, it would make it easier for someone to buy without needing a mortgage. The phone hasn't stopped ringing. We haven't sold it yet but hopefully we will soon."
The friends, who both work in the health industry, checked their installment contract was legally sound with a solicitor before hitting the streets this week. Baws said they had already had potential buyers come to view the flat. He added: "I guess our ugly signs are really working. This system is quite big in Australia so we can't take all the credit.
"I think it might catch on over here because England is in an even worse state than our economy. It might be something people start doing on a regular basis." By the look of it, many more may be inspired by this idea to move about as mobile advertising properties.
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