A single image can attract attention, even describe what a business

April 21, 2008
GUEST COLUMN
What the right
sign can do for
your business
By Ryan Zelinsky
GOLDEN WEST ADVERTISING
On-premise signage is an important
element of any marketing program. A
carefully selected business sign will
increase new customer traffic, promote
brand awareness and affect new purchase decisions.
The
U.S.
Small
Business
Administration dedicates an entire section of its Web site to effective signage,
stating, “Signs are the most effective,
yet least expensive form of advertising
for the small business.”
Driving new customer traffic
A well-designed sign captures the
attention of passing motorists, serving
as a landmark for finding your business in the future. The proper use of
sign height, letter size, fonts, images,
color and illumination will ensure your
sign is noticed and the customer knows
what you can do for them.
The case study of Frenchy’s Bistro
(featured on the SBA’s Web site) demonstrates the power of effective signage.
The restaurant’s annual gross income
had flattened at $279,000 per year. By
installing a $10,045 illuminated sign,
Frenchy’s increased sales 16 percent
over the next 12 months. The new vshaped sign was more visible and readable for passing motorists.
A survey conducted by Burger King
(and others) found that 35 percent of
quick-service food customers first
became aware of the restaurant by seeing its sign. Other significant responses included “Always Knew” (29 percent), “Word of Mouth” (14 percent)
and Advertising (10 percent). Burger
King and its business neighbors used
this data to prevent the city of Agoura
Hills, Calif. from enforcing its high-rise
pole sign ban against them.
The Burger King survey also highlights the efficiency of signs. If you
take the cost of an advertisement and
divide it by the number of people
exposed to it, you’ll arrive at a metric
called Cost Per Thousand exposures
(CPM). CPM often exceeds $20 for TV
and radio, and $10 for radio and magazines, while signage CPM is often below
$1.
see SIGNS, pg 2F
A single image can attract attention,
even describe what a business is all about
By Gaye Bunderson
IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW
In the modern world, some
companies still maintain traditional ways of doing things.
Classic Design Studio, an eightperson sign shop in Boise,
chooses to create signage with
an old-fashioned flair.
John Yarnell, designer and
fabricator at Classic Design,
said, “We keep a lot of the old
ways of doing things around.
We’re very traditional. We’re
not a big quantity shop. We prefer to be unique, creative, and
think outside the box.”
The company, owned by Noel
Weber, opened in 1979 and
moved to its current location at
Businesses give back, win honors
– Briefs, pg 3F
418 S. Sixth St. in Boise in 1989.
Weber apprenticed in the sign trade in his hometown of Chicago. He moved to Boise in 1979 to open
his own business.
Weber said, “We’re a very detail-oriented shop,
and pedestrian-oriented. [We offer businesses] personality through signage.”
Classic Design Studio has clients throughout the
country and is mainly known through word of
mouth, according to Weber. Asked how many signs
he creates yearly and what his annual revenue is, he
replied, “Both under a milion.”
“We’re not out to do the biggest and most expensive sign,” he stated.
Said Yarnell, “We’ll do a small sign, as long as it’s
beautiful.”
Sign
companies, pgs 5-6F
Getting hired, getting promoted
– People, pg 8F
2F
IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW FOCUS SECTION
April 21, 2008
Signage can reflect a
company’s ‘personality’
SIGNS, from pg 1F
The fact that signs can be viewed multiple times only serves to increase their
long-term cost-effectiveness.
Promoting your brand
An effective sign design should start
with a solid understanding of what
image you want to portray to the public.
Which of these descriptions best
describes your customer proposition:
lowest price, most innovative products
or intimate customer service? Once that
question is answered, an experienced
sign designer can help you create an
effective sign.
Your sign should reflect the personality of your company. A customer’s experience should be consistent from viewing your sign, to walking in your front
door, to talking with your staff and finally to completing the purchase transaction. If your sign can express the personality of your company, your customers
will have the experience they expect and
are more likely to return.
Affecting the purchase decision
The next level of sign sophistication
is to display point-of-purchase messages.
You can accomplish this objective
with different sign options: banners and
other temporary signs, vehicle wraps,
manual reader boards with interchangeable letters, electronic reader boards
with lines of text, and electronic billboards that can portray images in addition to text.
These tools allow a business owner to
communicate product, sales and service
messages with passing motorists. A
recent study from the University of
California Berkeley concluded 68 percent of purchases during major shopping trips were unplanned, or impulse
purchases.
This study analyzed 30,000 purchases
of 4,200 customers in 14 cities.
With data like this, it’s hard to ignore
the importance of attracting impulse
customers to your business.
The table at right sets out the
Institute of Transportation Engineers’
estimates of motorists who stopped at
the types of designated businesses as an
“impulse” stop on their way to another
destination.
If your business falls into one of
these categories, you may benefit from
having a professional sign survey. By
evaluating sign improvements or additions, you could increase your affect on
purchase decisions, especially impulse
purchases.
In summary, on-premise signage is
one of the most affordable and effective
tools a business owner can employ to
drive new sales, promote the company
brand and affect purchase decisions.
Ryan Zelinsky is general manager of
Golden West Advertising in Boise. Prior
to working with Golden West, he spent
eight years with Sprint in operations,
sales, marketing, and strategy. He has an
MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua
School of Business.
Type of Land Use
Impulse-Stop
Percentages