This fifth edition of the popular sign design series includes the winners of recent Signs of the Times contests: electric and commercial signs for retail shops, restaurants and bars, residential ...
Work with a digital-display manufacturer that can weather the economic storm.
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Sign companies, like most businesses, frequently buy products from manufacturers for resale to an end user. The current, delicate, financial situation mandates we know with whom we’re doing business and if a supplier is reliable, that is, if it will continue to serve us.
Those of us who sell digital displays must ensure the supplier remains available after the sale. I’m fond of saying, “When you buy a digital sign, you not only make a purchase, you enter into a relationship.”
Regardless of the product quality, any display requires maintenance. As the display ages, maintenance frequency may increase. Parts and service support availability is crit¬ical, not only at the sale, but throughout the display’s lifetime.
Over the last two weeks, three U.S. manufacturers of LED signs ceased operation. That’s very sad news for those who committed so much to those ventures. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced such losses in my career, twice. It’s painful. But, life goes on, and other opportunities exist.
However, the ramifications can be significantly more devastating for those who purchase display products from a defunct manufacturer. If the business has been effectively using the digital display, it most certainly has become a critical, business-development resource that communicates its message to a vital audience.
Consider the following, hypothetical situation: Carpet Warehouse, which sells “wholesale to the public,” is prominently located on a major freeway, with a traffic count of more than 150,000 cars daily. Competitive, retail carpet enterprises bracket the store on both sides.
In 2006, Carpet Warehouse invested roughly $500,000 in a large, freestanding, digital display, which dominated attention from both directions, with clear visibility, for at least 25 seconds from each exposure. To maximize the opportunity, the company hired a young, talented artist who had just graduated from a community college and seemed to have a flair for creating dynamic messages on the display medium.
Each Thursday, the ownership/management group met with the new programmer to establish the game plan for the next week’s advertising. In the meetings, they evaluated their priorities and sales opportunities, and considered who was offering co-op advertising dollars, in the context of the message they wished to present to the public.
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