Posted by Mike Sloan on Mon, Feb 20, 2012 @ 12:40 PM
In our last article, we discussed how retail shoppers expect a state-of-the-art shopping experience when they hit stores these days, and how one way to improve their shopping experience is through adding a digital component to your printed retail signage and display graphics.
Combining high definition video with traditional static printed graphics brings retail branding to the next level. Hear’s how:
- Increase Footfall - It’s not everyday that you walk through a store and expect the graphics or displays to start moving or talking, right? And if they did, it would probably catch you by surprise and capture your attention, or at least make you do a double take, which is exactly the goal of digital signage and display graphics. By adding a moving or touch component to graphics and displays, you’re increasing the number of interactions a graphic or display receives and maximizing your ROI.
- Bring Products to Life - Static graphics of your retail products, no matter how unique, are just that...static. However, with the power of digital, you can now take a deeper dive into your brand and really bring these products to life for your customers. Draw customers into the experience, demonstrate how easy your product is to use and show them why they can’t live without your product.
- No humans necessary - Marketing a high-risk product is much different than marketing a consumer product that carries little or no risk. As everyone knows from personal experience, we choose a new washer and dryer with much more care than we buy soft drinks. In the case of products (or services) with higher-risk, the customer has more at stake and looks for information, sources of evidence about its methods and abilities. With digital signage and display graphics, you have an opportunity to provide this evidence to consumers when a salesperson isn’t available!
- Create a Dialog - By adding a touch component to your digital signage or retail display graphics you create an opportunity for customers to actually interact with your products (or services), which helps transform the typical retail touch point into a more meaningful communication tool that delivers relevant information and emotional branding to your consumer. Digital signage and display graphics really help transform the shopping experience into a dialogue between the brand and the customer.
- Improve Experience - Creating interactions between customers and products (or services), digital signage and displays allow you to adapt, capture and learn from your store by providing unique, location-specific content and inviting customers to provide meaningful feedback about your products and initiatives that can then be converted into meaningful data and used to fuel your brand.
Whether it’s an interactive trade show booth, unique store front window display or an interactive in-store kiosk, by combining print and video through digital graphics such as Active Graphics, you’ll receive greater impact than working with just print or working with just video.
Posted by Mike Sloan on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 @ 03:02 PM
As retail shoppers hit stores these days, they expect a state-of-the-art shopping experience. By adding a digital component to your traditional retail signage, you can get the edge you are looking for over the competition while helping increase revenue. The combination of high quality retail signage and high definition video helps you deliver the right message to the right audience at the point-of-sale.
By adding an interactive touch component to your digital signage and displays, you can turn intelligence into action. Not only will adding interactive signage and displays help capture your audience’s attention, but by leveraging the data on how and what they interact with on your digital signage and displays you can improve customer experience within your store and maximize your profit.
From interactive kiosks to unique store-front displays to virtual mannequins or salespeople, utilizing digital signage within point-of-sale environments has proven effectiveness. But always remember, your initial starting point should be to nail down your target demographic and product offerings to determine the most effective use of digital and interactive graphics for you.
Posted by Mike Sloan on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 @ 11:01 AM
What used to be considered a lower quality print alternative, digital printing for retail and POP graphic and display solutions has come a long way. Now, with digital presses such as the Inca Onset S20 and the newest, fully automated Inca Onset S40 at Express Image, we can provide outstanding small/ large format printed graphic quality with shorter lead times than ever before. What does our new digital print technology mean for your retail business?
Require an emergency same day print completion? Even your last minute marketing ideas can be printed on deadline. Digital presses require no setup, no films, no plates to be made and no drying time necessary, allowing for faster print production and shorter lead times required.
In this world of everything customizable, digital printing can help you achieve a better response rate to your marketing materials by allowing data to be varied (customized) during the run. A better targeted marketing piece increases response rates and your campaign effectiveness.
Using a computer to monitor the entire printing process allows us to detect errors before your job is completed.
Digital’s computer precision allows for a sharper print output and better color precision and contrast, providing you with eye grabbing pieces.
With digital, you can print as little, or as much as you need without breaking the bank. In fact, for small print jobs, digital print provides important cost savings as the process prints directly to paper requiring half the setup time of a traditional process and reduces the cost of the process.
The digital process allows you to print graphics and displays on various substrate sizes and thicknesses.
Posted by Mike Sloan on Tue, Jan 03, 2012 @ 02:08 PM
At Express Image we actively seek out new materials and technologies that can benefit our customers. This month we’re excited to present a new product line that will take your graphics to the next level of WOW!
Bring retail branding to the next level by combining remarkable printed graphics with the power of digital video. Active Graphics is a high-tech print video product line intended for the use of interactive printing.
While using various types of projection films supplied by Express Image, our team of skilled content designers can take traditional print, drop out key areas of interaction and replace these areas with High-definition video! Additionally, with our touch technologies, our clients can make their now interactive display touch sensitive!
Whether it’s an interactive tradeshow booth, unique store front window display or an interactive in-store kioset, by combining print and video with Active Graphics you’ll receive greater impact than working with just print or working with just video.
Express Image has the advantage of being able to take your Active Graphics project from ideation to installation. Below, you’ll find a video app of a sample Active Graphics display created fully in-house by the Express Image team.
For more information or to schedule a demonstration on this amazing product line, contact us today!
Posted by Jeff Miller on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 @ 10:32 AM
As we draw nearer to the New Year, many businesses are starting to put together their 2012 marketing plans. For many, your marketing mix will probably include participating in or attending at least one trade show in the upcoming year.
Following, we’ve put together a checklist to help ensure you get the best ROI possible from whichever trade show you decide to attend.
- What are your goals? - Don’t just participate in a trade show for the sake of participating. Like any other marketing tactic, it’s important to pinpoint what you’re actually trying to achieve by doing it. Are you looking to increase your company’s brand awareness? Are you trying to drive an action? Are you looking to capture attendee’s information? Knowing what you want to accomplish is a good starting point for planning for your 2012 trade show.
- Who is your target? After you’ve deciphered your goals, it’s important to think about who you’re actually trying to reach. Are you trying to break into a new industry in 2012? If so, who are the gatekeepers in that industry? Who makes the purchasing decisions for the product(s)/service(s) you sell? Once you’ve pinpointed your primary target, research, research, research! Don’t just pick a show because it’s convenient. Find out what shows your target attends and what shows your target exhibits at...this is where you want to be!
- Is it designed well? R
emember, you’ll be one of many exhibitors at whatever trade show you end up choosing, and most of these exhibitors are there with the same intentions as you. Point being, it’s important to think through brand strategy and how to stand out from the other booths. Get creative with printed graphics, digital graphics, giveaways, etc., but make sure whatever you do ties back to who your target audience is and what your goals are.
- How do you plan to measure and follow up? - There’s no point of attending a trade show unless you have a plan for measuring success and following up with the leads generated throughout the event. Collect business cards from people you interact with throughout the day, have a giveaway where attendees have to leave their contact information in order to participate, etc. After the event, don’t fall off your leads’ radars. Add them to your database and follow-up!
Posted by Mike Sloan on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 @ 11:55 AM
Looking to make a splash in 2012 with the launch of a new product line, new retail store or re-launch? Don’t let your innovation and forward thinking go unnoticed. Instead, promote it and promote it right, to get people lining up for it!
Signage and Displays
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in launching something new in the New Year is expecting consumers to just know about it! An easy way to inform them is through exterior and interior retail signage and displays, which can make all the difference between a big success, a lukewarm reception or even a flop.
Although strategic planning can be a lot to deal with, especially for smaller retailers, a little bit of planning can go a long way when it comes to helping you promote something specific. It’s important to nail down what your goals are, what your budget is and who to target with your promotion. From there, do a bit of research to learn about effective marketing techniques when it comes to signage and displays, as this can help drive the actions you desire from consumers and can help increase your ROI.
Contrary to popular belief, simply sticking a sign somewhere in a store doesn’t mean it will get noticed. In fact, both signage and display placement and color choice can make a big impact on consumer behavior.
Did you know that in a typical supermarket, the right side slightly outsells the left side simply because people tend to come in, turn to the right, and then make a counter-clockwise circle. Hence, it stands to reason that promotional signage and displays on the right side of the store will get more views than those on the left.
When it comes to signage and display color, knowing your target demographic inside and out is key. Common schools of thought say that red generates appetite, green promotes tranquility, yellow is eye-catching and exudes happiness and blue tends to be a big favorite for all advertising.
If the tips above teach us one thing, it's that people do think and act differently in different parts of a store, and during different phases of their shopping trips. Hence, a little research into consumer behavior trends relevant to your retail store could go a long way when it comes to promoting through retail signage and displays!
Posted by Jeff Sarenpa on Fri, Dec 16, 2011 @ 01:09 PM
Posted by Kelsey Dehn on Fri, Dec 09, 2011 @ 11:59 AM
You may want to think twice before you
send your next package design to print, for the effects it may have on consumers may go far beyond what they see on the outside. It turns out that package design can effect how a product tastes!?!?!
I read an article today,
The Taste of Branding, that discussed something that happened to me over the weekend. The new white Christmas Coca-Cola Classic cans tricked me into believing that it was Diet Coke. Turns out, I’m not the only one this happened to, and Coca-Cola decided to pull the cans due to the confusion.
However, the crazy part is that some consumers weren’t confusing the new cans for Diet Coke, but instead thought that the new white cans actually made the Coca-Cola Classic taste different!?! However, Coke officials deny tweaking the taste, and say they only changed the can.
The article went on to explain that taste happens in the mind. Hence, things like expectation [you will love this] and concepts of value [this wine is very expensive] can have an effect on how things taste.
So what’s my point? Print and package design goes beyond drawing consumer’s attention to products on retail shelves; How you brand it can actually affect how a consumer feels about the product itself: how it tastes, if they like it or not, etc. The Coke brand activates different associations in the memory and emotional parts of the brain, which contribute to the consumption experience. Which means that, when you drink a Coke, a part of what you are tasting is the brand.
Moral of the story: Think through your brand strategy when it comes to designing
retail signage, displays and packaging, and make sure the design vibes with how consumers view your brand (your brand identity).
Posted by Mike Sloan on Thu, Dec 01, 2011 @ 12:36 PM
Technological progress is freakishly fast and relentlessly constant. New technologies are launched almost daily, many of which can be used to make retail environments stand head and shoulders above competitors slower to adapt. Here are some ways to use these new technologies in unique ways, to help your business stand out from the crowd.
Digital print media is a great way to take your business’s presence beyond your competitors. With fast turn around and at a lower cost than ever before, a uniquely crafted digitally printed media piece is just one way to make your business unforgettable.
Digital technology also provides flexibility for your business’s regional marketing campaigns. From neighborhood-specific coupon campaigns to region-wide marketing spreads, digital print media is a perfect tool to tailor campaigns to particular demographics. Even seasonal specials will benefit from digital technology!
Digital technology even gives your business the flexibility to customize signage, marketing campaigns and coupon offers for each specific store. If stores in one region have slower sales on a particular item, you can print customized digital media for stores in that region that offer discounts or other promotions to help energize slow sales. Simultaneously, you can run a different campaign in another region to stimulate sales on a different item or set of items.
You can customize campaigns to specific demographics, too. If you have a product geared toward the teen demographic, you can design a campaign that employs teen-specific marketing strategies using digital print media. At the same time, you can design a support campaign geared toward parents to really electrify your sales.
Digital print media is a great tool for retail businesses. Be creative. Use it to help get customer’s attention, interest, desire and action!
Posted by Jeff Miller on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 @ 03:11 PM
We understand the importance packaging can play in purchasing decisions. Going beyond packaging design, how well brand strategy is communicated and integrated visually at the point of purchase can play a large role in the decision making process.
When it comes to creating a strong brand visually, the possibilities for packaging are wide open when you consider the incredible versatility that digital technology has to offer. Although digital labels have gotten the most attention thus far, the potential for using digital printing technology for packaging extends beyond that.
The thing about digital technology today is that you no longer have to sacrifice image quality to achieve the customization and shorter-run efficiencies that digital printing offers the market. Digital printing technology continues to add wider formats, more speed, and greater customization capabilities that can benefit the packaging industry. Along with that, by eliminating pre-press and set-up time, digital’s on-demand, just-in-time capabilities can save companies a pretty penny in this recession when it comes to packaging.