I’ve been in the signage, display and the general image
enhancement industry for well over 20 years now. In more recent times I’ve been
advising customers on the importance of visual brand maintenance as an integral
part of the overall brand management ethos – not much point in all that effort
planning, designing and rolling out a signage or point of sale campaign if you
then don’t make sure it does its job effectively throughout the whole of its
life.
And yet, wherever you look, there are companies and local
authorities risking how their customers and general public perceive them by
failing to do one simple thing - keep their signage clean!
Premium brand companies should pay particular attention to
every aspect of their image perception. If they start to look tatty and grubby
then their brand perception will soon be the same.
Even in the leafy suburbs of my local Berkshire market town,
a nearby prestigious racecourse has years of mildew and dirt on some of its car
park signage. A large American food chain looks like it’s never cleaned its
fascia sign in the 3+ years it’s been open on a busy main road and some local
independent boutiques look like the owners have never stepped out the front
door.
Councils (especially the ones near me) seem to be the worse
culprits of this. They spend a fortune on installing high visibility Class 1
reflective road signs, but then let mildew grow all over them. How reflective
is a dirty green stained sign when it’s dark? And what sort of community pride
image does it give to that area?
Signage maintenance should be one of the more straight
forward and easier of tasks to control, but always seems to be one of those
jobs that falls in between the cracks in departments (and budgets), depending
on the industry you are in. If you’re in retail, does it fall to the
merchandising teams, facilities or marketing teams to deal with it? For road
signs, does it fall to the highways agency, parish council, borough council, or
county council? And once you’ve established which council, then which
department? Highways? Maintenance? Facilities?
Each companies brand police should be ensuring that every
aspect of their image perception is managed and maintained on a regular,
ongoing basis. But it would seem that the modern trend of efficiencies and
streamlining are leaving gaps in the processes that threaten to jeopardise and
sabotage the very thing it tries to protect.
So the next time you are out and about – have a look around
the various signage and POS fittings and see if they are as clean and
presentable as they should be and whether they are actually enhancing the
brands image or not.
Monday 2 April 2012
Tuesday 16 November 2010
More to a company's image than just signage.
The last year or so has seen a shift in focus for me. Traditionally, my role of a sign maker and adviser has seen me do just that, a specialist consultant involved in a specific task. Since my recent(ish) CIM Marketing course, I've become more aware of how a company manages its image and profile (wittingly or unwittingly). This naturally does involve signage, but of course it involves so much more. Most companies seem to think that by having a new sign is the start and stop of how they portray themselves, but even for small independent traders this is far from the case.
For shops and offices this means a range of other areas they need to address. Is their building clean (inside and out)? Has the hoovering been done recently? Has any clutter been cleared away? Is the decoration in good order? Are the windows and frames cleaned and de-cobwebbed regularly? Is any landscaping tidy and well kept. Do staff wear branded staff uniform or are suitably dressed? Do interior displays look tidy, professional and easy to read? etc etc etc.
If you're in the building trade, does your van look clean, rust free and sign written? (of course) Do you and your staff look tidy and presentable (branded shirts, clean trousers, shoes not falling apart)?
Your image is also reflected in your stationery and websites. Do they look homemade? Have you put more than half an hours thought into it? Have you actually got a website? (You'd be suprised how many companies dont!)
All these things and more are all relevent to how your company is perceived in the market place. Depending on the level you pitch your company at will determine how much you would pay attention to the pointers above, but it is important to keep an ongoing eye to all of these aspects on a regular basis.
For shops and offices this means a range of other areas they need to address. Is their building clean (inside and out)? Has the hoovering been done recently? Has any clutter been cleared away? Is the decoration in good order? Are the windows and frames cleaned and de-cobwebbed regularly? Is any landscaping tidy and well kept. Do staff wear branded staff uniform or are suitably dressed? Do interior displays look tidy, professional and easy to read? etc etc etc.
If you're in the building trade, does your van look clean, rust free and sign written? (of course) Do you and your staff look tidy and presentable (branded shirts, clean trousers, shoes not falling apart)?
Your image is also reflected in your stationery and websites. Do they look homemade? Have you put more than half an hours thought into it? Have you actually got a website? (You'd be suprised how many companies dont!)
All these things and more are all relevent to how your company is perceived in the market place. Depending on the level you pitch your company at will determine how much you would pay attention to the pointers above, but it is important to keep an ongoing eye to all of these aspects on a regular basis.
Sunday 6 September 2009
Creating effective signage - dont overcrowd your sign
Signage for the vast majority of us is an attempt to get a message across. Whether it be advertising your company, or displaying a notice, you need a headline or very short message to get your point across. There is a maxim in advertising called 'the two second rule'. This is the attention span of the average person going about their day or business. So in order for any sign to be effective it has to grab the attention of the viewer almost immediately.
If you look at a newspaper, you're not going to sit down and read every word. You're going to skim the page quickly, reading the headlines or looking at any pictures before you decide if you are going to read any of it in detail.
Signage is the same. Imagine you are at an exhibition or trade show. There are lots of different exhibitors there, all offering lots of products and services covering every aspect of the chosen industry. You are after one specific thing, one part of the industry that you specialise in or need. Are you likely to go to every stand and read every detail on display? No! If you are anything like me, you are going to wander around the show, quickly looking at each stand, seeing if any of the exhibitors mention the specific item you are interested in. It may well be that there are 3-4 companies at the show who can all help you in your quest equally well. But if only one of them mentions that item clearly and effectively, they are the ones likely to win your business.
The same principle is the same for every company who uses signage. It's important to create your headline, clearly and effectively for anyone to focus on the rest of the lettering. You might be a plumber who specialises in water softening systems. If you're in a plumbers merchants car park with 10 other vans, 5 might be blank and unwritten, 2 might just have a name and 'general plumbers' on it. 2 might have a name and then a great long list of everything in the plumbing trade including softeners, and you, a name, a clear headline of 'water softeners'. Which one is likely to get a call about softeners?
It's always important to think about what you want your signage to achieve. If it's just brand awareness rather than advertising, then you can afford to be vague in what you do if you just want to get the name out there (Sky tv etc). If it is advertising you are after, then think about the work you want to get in and make a feature of that. Whether you are a plumber, painter and decorator, or carpenter, you have to assume that just because you know what you do, that your potential customers wont. You have to tell them, but in this busy world of sensory overload and general rushing around, you have to do it quickly and concisely.
If you look at a newspaper, you're not going to sit down and read every word. You're going to skim the page quickly, reading the headlines or looking at any pictures before you decide if you are going to read any of it in detail.
Signage is the same. Imagine you are at an exhibition or trade show. There are lots of different exhibitors there, all offering lots of products and services covering every aspect of the chosen industry. You are after one specific thing, one part of the industry that you specialise in or need. Are you likely to go to every stand and read every detail on display? No! If you are anything like me, you are going to wander around the show, quickly looking at each stand, seeing if any of the exhibitors mention the specific item you are interested in. It may well be that there are 3-4 companies at the show who can all help you in your quest equally well. But if only one of them mentions that item clearly and effectively, they are the ones likely to win your business.
The same principle is the same for every company who uses signage. It's important to create your headline, clearly and effectively for anyone to focus on the rest of the lettering. You might be a plumber who specialises in water softening systems. If you're in a plumbers merchants car park with 10 other vans, 5 might be blank and unwritten, 2 might just have a name and 'general plumbers' on it. 2 might have a name and then a great long list of everything in the plumbing trade including softeners, and you, a name, a clear headline of 'water softeners'. Which one is likely to get a call about softeners?
It's always important to think about what you want your signage to achieve. If it's just brand awareness rather than advertising, then you can afford to be vague in what you do if you just want to get the name out there (Sky tv etc). If it is advertising you are after, then think about the work you want to get in and make a feature of that. Whether you are a plumber, painter and decorator, or carpenter, you have to assume that just because you know what you do, that your potential customers wont. You have to tell them, but in this busy world of sensory overload and general rushing around, you have to do it quickly and concisely.
Monday 2 February 2009
Reading Football Clubs training ground sport signs
My sign company (Ensign Signs of Wokingham) has recently completed the second set of sign boards fixed to the Barriers International spectator rail system, and have a few thoughts to share with others who are thinking of embarking on such a project.
Firstly, it has to be said that both rail systems installed at Reading Football Clubs training ground in Berkshire are great systems that are both stylish and durable. There are though issues with trying to fit signboards to the posts using their sign bracket that with a few simple modifications could eliminate some of the problems we have encountered.
The main problem we have had to deal with is the durablity of the boards behind the goal areas. These sign boards behind the goals take the most impact of balls hitting them. At the moment each Dibond signboard is fixed at the 4 corners using a locking nut and bolt that fixes to the sign bracket supplied. This solution works for the majority of the Dibond panels fitted around the pitch, but is proving ineffective for the runs of boards that span the whole length of the penalty areas.
The current specification is that the gaps between each post is 2.62m wide, by approx 750mm deep. We chose Dibond for the sign panels because of its strength, durablity and value for money. There are over 120 panels surrounding each pitch, so the cost per panel had to be a serious consideration. The only way to fit the signs was to use the sign bracket supplied. This is a 12" wide steel bar that slides down each post and has two holes at each end to allow a M8 bolt to fix to it. This bracket is only fixed to the post using a single rivet. In essence, this rivet is the only thing that is holding the bracket and sign panel to the post. This rivet also has to take the continual impact and vibrations that reverberate along the sign board.
This method has meant that over time some of the rivets have failed and some of the panels have dropped, twisted and dented.
We feel that this situation can be avoided if a couple of modifications are made at the layout design stage that will probably increase the installation cost but would significantly reduce any maintenance and repair issues in the future. Firstly, Dibond panels come in 3 meter lengths. If the posts behind the goal areas were spaced at 1.5m apart, each panel would be supported at the ends (as present), plus it would have a post to support the middle of the sign board. This would stop the flex on the board during impact, and help to cut down the reverberation through the panel. Secondly, the sign brackets should be fixed by at least 2 rivets or self tapping screws. This would make the fixing stronger and should stop the rivets failing and thus stop the brackets holding the signboards dropping.
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the system overall is great, and it is not our intention in anyway to put any potential customer off from using the spectator rail system. The sign panels fitted down the sides of the pitch are generally fine with no real issues to note. This blog is to highlight the damage to the signboards that will occur behind the goal areas, and to offer advice that will help you to avoid this.
There are pictures on our website http://www.the-sign-works.com/ of the sign boards fixed to the spectator rail system. We are very proud of our part in Reading Fooball Clubs training ground program. We have been suppliers to Reading FC since 1990 and whilst this was a large signage program for a small company to undertake, we took it in our stride and completed the job on time and on budget.
Firstly, it has to be said that both rail systems installed at Reading Football Clubs training ground in Berkshire are great systems that are both stylish and durable. There are though issues with trying to fit signboards to the posts using their sign bracket that with a few simple modifications could eliminate some of the problems we have encountered.
The main problem we have had to deal with is the durablity of the boards behind the goal areas. These sign boards behind the goals take the most impact of balls hitting them. At the moment each Dibond signboard is fixed at the 4 corners using a locking nut and bolt that fixes to the sign bracket supplied. This solution works for the majority of the Dibond panels fitted around the pitch, but is proving ineffective for the runs of boards that span the whole length of the penalty areas.
The current specification is that the gaps between each post is 2.62m wide, by approx 750mm deep. We chose Dibond for the sign panels because of its strength, durablity and value for money. There are over 120 panels surrounding each pitch, so the cost per panel had to be a serious consideration. The only way to fit the signs was to use the sign bracket supplied. This is a 12" wide steel bar that slides down each post and has two holes at each end to allow a M8 bolt to fix to it. This bracket is only fixed to the post using a single rivet. In essence, this rivet is the only thing that is holding the bracket and sign panel to the post. This rivet also has to take the continual impact and vibrations that reverberate along the sign board.
This method has meant that over time some of the rivets have failed and some of the panels have dropped, twisted and dented.
We feel that this situation can be avoided if a couple of modifications are made at the layout design stage that will probably increase the installation cost but would significantly reduce any maintenance and repair issues in the future. Firstly, Dibond panels come in 3 meter lengths. If the posts behind the goal areas were spaced at 1.5m apart, each panel would be supported at the ends (as present), plus it would have a post to support the middle of the sign board. This would stop the flex on the board during impact, and help to cut down the reverberation through the panel. Secondly, the sign brackets should be fixed by at least 2 rivets or self tapping screws. This would make the fixing stronger and should stop the rivets failing and thus stop the brackets holding the signboards dropping.
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the system overall is great, and it is not our intention in anyway to put any potential customer off from using the spectator rail system. The sign panels fitted down the sides of the pitch are generally fine with no real issues to note. This blog is to highlight the damage to the signboards that will occur behind the goal areas, and to offer advice that will help you to avoid this.
There are pictures on our website http://www.the-sign-works.com/ of the sign boards fixed to the spectator rail system. We are very proud of our part in Reading Fooball Clubs training ground program. We have been suppliers to Reading FC since 1990 and whilst this was a large signage program for a small company to undertake, we took it in our stride and completed the job on time and on budget.
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