Any store owner will tell you that making a sale is truly rewarding. Money comes in, the doors stay open and customers continue to feed the sales cycle. What’s so tough about that, right? Well, as competition grows, and issues such as price, quality and availability arise, moving the desired amount of product can get awfully tricky. Fortunately, the sign industry has lent a helping hand to retailers, providing P.O.P. displays for a last-minute promotional surge.

The purpose of P.O.P. signage is to lead a customer to a product in order to make a sale. If a sale is made, the sign did its job.

Such signage comes in all shapes and sizes, all uniquely crafted to place that last bit of urgency into the consumer’s mind. If effective, the display’s brief exposure on a shopper will spark interest in a specific product and ultimately result in a sale. If effective is the key point.
It is the task of the sign provider to design, fabricate and, at times, install the display in the best possible way. Though the methods and materials that go into P.O.P. signage may differ, the mentality remains the same:
Let the sign do the selling.

RETAIL TARGET: THE SHOPPER
In the early days of retail, shops could manage a smaller, more controlled client base, thus providing a high and customized level of service to each shopper. "Vern the vendor" would remember that every Tuesday "Sharon the shopper" stopped by to pick up a bag of apples and a jug of milk. Perhaps Vern even had a parcel prepared and waiting for Sharon before she arrived.
As the retail environment has evolved and exploded in size and opportunity, it has become increasingly difficult for stores to establish a close-knit relationship with their customers.
“We as consumers want a connection with retailers and more personalized service,” says Stu Armstrong, president of EnQii/Digital View. Display providers for P.O.P. signage are now trying to “get back to a high level of customer service.”
What this means to the sign industry is informing, engaging and influencing consumers with appropriate promotional displays. Not only does the content need to be effective, but the placement of such signage remains equally significant.

Creating an impact at the exact point of sale is what makes this display effective.

“The importance of P.O.P. displays is that it’s a push during the last chance you have to make an impact on the customer,” says Jennifer Cintron, marketing manager, Rapid Displays.
So often, shoppers find themselves browsing the shelves for items similar in nature, perhaps nearly equal in price, size or quality. Imagine a man in a liquor store mulling over the purchase of one of three different types of beer when he notices that one of those brands is represented in an eye-level display next to its place on the shelf. That last sliver of brand reinforcement may be what sways the man’s decision to buy one product over the others.
“When you’re at the location of making a purchase decision, signage plays a key role,” says Heidi Mann, senior account executive with Heritage Sign & Display.
The term used to describe the example above is recency. According to Armstrong, it refers to the alignment of the time in which a customer sees a message and his ability to make a purchase. And often it’s the most original placements that gain the most interest.
POPAI, the Global Association for Marketing at-Retail, awarded Rapid Displays with Display of the Year for its work on a Mountain Dew ceiling crasher display. The concept centered on a model of a Mountain Dew vending machine plunging down through the ceiling.
“It didn’t require any floor space usage and great sight lines were involved,” says Cintron. “It was for a national promotion, so we wanted to make sure it was well received and got good placement.”
The display covered a 2' x 4' panel and hung over a light fixture to create a glowing appearance. Such eye-catching displays certainly attract attention and are not easily forgotten in shoppers’ minds.

P.O.P. displays have the ability to reinforce a particular brand identity.

PIECING IT TOGETHER
Those who frequent malls, grocery stores or other product-rich locations may not wonder or even care about how a certain display evolved from a concept to the fabrication stage to placement at a retail outlet; however, there is a process.
“We handle contact with [retailers] and we have people that have been our clients for many years,” says Mann.
Heritage Sign begins a project by creating proposals, ballparking a price, and asking important questions such as: What is your goal? What are you looking for in your display’s design? Where are you placing it?
“We’re a manufacturing company that designs, engineers and totally develops a display from start to finish,” says Mann. Alternatively, some companies choose to focus their efforts on one aspect of the P.O.P. display to maximize quality. Rapid Displays offers complete design capabilities but uses a third party for the construction of the displays. “We try to provide specialty services; we’re well known in the industry for design,” says Cintron.
Perhaps knowing its clients’ needs has helped Rapid Displays excel most. Cintron notices that pricing has become a major part of developing the right sign. She says, “It’s really helpful for us if clients share their budget with us. We can go with a permanent or temporary piece that will still fill the creative design.”
Temporary signage, such as holiday displays or special sale promotions, is meant to last for two months or less, whereas permanent displays experience six months of exposure or more. Normally, the materials used can help define whether a display is temporary or permanent.“Permanent items are made to last and be functional,” says Mann. “People are really liking the cork boards, wipe-off boards and A-frames.”
In the print world, rigid substrates, vinyl products and paper materials are also being used in P.O.P. applications as digital printers are becoming faster and more capable at creating such displays. At Stillwater, Minn.-based Modernistic Inc., a lot of P.O.P. signage is being fabricated on a recently acquired HP Scitex TURBOjet printer. “It’s one of the fastest printers out there,” says DeAnn Strenke, marketing manager, Modernistic. “We can just crank something out and proof it quickly. We’re absolutely getting more work because of it.”
Of course there are other methods of fabrication. For instance Heritage Sign has its own woodworking shop for handcrafted projects in addition to CNC routers and screenprinting equipment.
“We can usually develop what [our customers] want,” says Mann, citing an example of the company’s award-winning work. “We did a Maker’s Mark display that looks like a bottle in a splash of wax. We needed to do it all by hand.”

ONWARD AND UPWARD
If there is an antithesis of hand-made signage, it is the technologically advanced dynamic digital signage model. According to Armstrong, digital signage -- also known as narrowcasting -- allows retailers to pinpoint messages at the right time, to the right people. Because a mix of demographic traits exists among shoppers, a display has to adapt and cater to each individual in order to provide the highest level of service.
“P.O.P. signs have to be appealing and the content must resonate with and be relevant to the consumer,” says Armstrong. For example, a Hispanic customer may want his information in Spanish, while an elderly woman looking at the same sign may require larger text. A well-designed digital sign would satisfy both individuals’ needs with a conformable message.
“Digital signage can be very powerful to increase sales of products if done properly,” says Armstrong. “I’m talking about targeted communication that motivates consumers.” When customers feel like a product is intended specifically for them, they are more likely to make a purchase. For retailers, the better and higher amount of service that they can provide will lead to more sales. In some cases, that means more interactivity with the customer.
“I think the biggest challenge in marketing at-retail is making more interactive and engaging displays,” says Cintron.
In this digitally influenced era, there are several tools to ease consumers into the involvement with interactive displays, including touch screens, motion sensors and even their personal cell phones. Armstrong believes interactive voice recognition (IVR) will play a large part in allowing consumers to get exactly what they need during their shopping experience.
Says Armstrong: “IVR allows you to dial an 800 number as a recorded voice leads you to connect with a digital sign and use your phone as a remote control.” Such advances let shoppers perform acts like selecting the wardrobe on an interactive mannequin or designing a golf club at a sporting goods store. Plus there are benefits for future purchases. “You can opt into a branding community to get e-mails, coupons and information about certain products,” Armstrong continues. “It’s hugely valuable to the company and the brand not to be passive about communication.”
Armstrong isn’t suggesting that printed signs are obsolete, in fact he says, “Static signage will not go away but digital displays can offset some of the cost of signage turnover.” The bottom line in the P.O.P. game is exactly that: the bottom line. If a retailer store is making money by using P.O.P. displays, then the display provider can rest easy knowing the job was a success. Then it’s back to work again.