Sticky note mural, Community bookshelf - Royal Roads University | Clapboard Ad Archive

Royal Roads University’s Sticky Note Mural, Community Bookshelf campaign, conceived by Will Creative in the Education sector in 2016, stands as a potent example of experiential branding designed to crystallize the university’s commitment to lifelong learning and personal growth through authentic public engagement. In a visually immediate and participatory gesture, a mural of 1,440 individual sticky notes was installed in a high-traffic community area, inviting passersby to write down their aspirations: the habits, passions, and pursuits they hope to continue throughout life. This simple but considered mechanic transforms education from an abstract institutional promise into a tangible, collective endeavor, with each sticky note acting both as personal commitment and public testimony. The campaign’s strength lies in its use of shared space and lived contribution to collapse the gap between institution and individual, converting community members into co-authors of an unfolding narrative about perseverance and development. Rather than rely on academic credentials or alumni testimonials, the activation employs the sticky note mural as expressive metaphor—an approach that sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit category, where symbols or exaggerated visuals make the intangible value of a brand deeply legible. By eschewing traditional top-down messaging and foregrounding user-generated content in a physical, highly visible installation, the campaign endows the Royal Roads University brand with warmth, immediacy, and on-the-ground credibility, positioning it as a progressive alternative to the more transactional or insular communications of many category peers in Canadian higher education. Will Creative’s direction ensures that the intervention is not spectacle for its own sake, but a platform for connection, reflection, and the continuous pursuit of knowledge—a proposition that resonates with a generation of learners prioritizing community, relevance, and long-term self-improvement. The campaign earns 70/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. In foregrounding individual voices as the medium for institutional meaning, this work signals a shift towards participatory brand building in education, where illustrating benefit means anchoring the university in the optimism and agency of its future students.