Whether it is opening a new store or restaurant, directing people online, or building awareness of a brand, it is critical to stand out and be seen by your target audience. After all, you want potential customers to be able to easily find their way to your business.
As bricks and mortar continue to merge with ecommerce, print media remains a powerful way to promote your business, and as such is regarded as an essential communication medium and a critical part of the marketing mix.
Printed media helps businesses to connect their physical store with their online shop and, if executed well, offers a seamless transition, a consistent experience and ultimately strengthens both mediums.
Print can be used to take advantage of the omni-channel customer trend by creating spaces where customers want to spend time, while highlighting ‘as seen on Instagram' products or deals to drive in-store sales from online promotions. It can also be used to direct customers to click and collect locations, as well as to create a stir on social media.
Evolving retail landscape
The last 18 months have seen an increase in high street, shopping mall, town and city centre vacancy rates.
When these areas are bustling and vibrant, they provide a boost for the local economy and a catalyst for bringing communities together. However, empty store fronts are an eyesore and what they represent is depressing; they make people less likely to visit an area and limit the incomes of nearby stores, retailers and landlords.
But when these empty windows are combined with print media, they represent an opportunity for the savvy marketeer to take advantage of valuable advertising space and raise the collective psyche of the community.
For example, Burger King in the Netherlands used the windows of a vacant store to advertise one of its new locations. Created using Neschen Easy Dot, the window graphics were installed at the vacant store to promote how the new Burger King restaurant was only a short walk away.
By placing window stickers in the empty building, Burger King appealed to both existing and potential clients. Potential customers knew immediately that there would be a new Burger King, while existing patrons were made aware of the new location.
These tasteful visuals caught the eye immediately and made the route to the new site unmissable, while also significantly improving the look of the area.
Mexican restaurant chain Taco Mundo used a similar method to hide renovation work at one of its locations. Taco Mundo produced colourful window decals on Neschen Easy Dot to cover up building work at the restaurant, with this installation also promoting its brand and communicating that the Taco Mundo was hiring new staff.
Making a splash on social media
The closure of retail and leisure facilities over the past 18 months saw the use of social media rocket as consumers turned to the platforms as a method of entertainment.
However, these platforms can also be a valuable resource for brands as a way of interacting and connecting with users, with further potential for links between printed media and online.
The last year has taught us that the attention-grabbing value of floor graphics is very high. It is the ideal medium to get noticed and to draw focus to a specific location, product or promotion, especially when a 3D effect is used.
Take for example Dutch content and social media agency @SOCIALINC, which created a beautiful TikTok campaign for Wellantcollege that combined the power of the digital platform with the art of floor graphics.
Printed by Stickercompany in Eindhoven, 3D swimming pool graphics were strategically placed across Wellantcollege campuses as part of the ‘Jump into the future' competition. Students were asked to create a playful video and post it on TikTok, with the top three creations winning Airpods.
The campaign meant Wellantcollege was able to reach its target audience across one of the most popular social networking platforms among youngsters.
Environmental factors
When referencing some of the major trends in the market, it is only right to single out an area that is posing challenges for print companies around the world. Customers and clients are demanding more environmentally friendly printed work than ever before, and the pressure is on to ensure work meets these requirements.
Working with more environmentally friendly products is one way of addressing these demands. One such material comes in the form of the Neschen Easy Dot PVC-Free range, which comprises PP or PET films that can be used to produce graphics for windows, walls and floors.
Capitalising on trends is one thing, but ensuring your clients are maximising their exposure by using graphics in the best way possible is another factor altogether - and using space innovatively allows brands to connect with customers in new and creative ways.
Turbo Charge Installation
Neschen Easy Dot makes installation so quick and easy, anyone can do it. That includes store staff who, for instance, may be more at home serving customers, but can easily install the graphics in store without training or specialist equipment.
The innovative dot adhesive technology, engineered by Neschen, is a matrix of adhesive dots precisely formulated to ensure maximum removal of air whilst enhancing adhesive performance.
Easy Dot guarantees a bubble-free application that is faster and easier to install than traditional "air-flow" adhesives and residue-free removal - the perfect solution for short-term campaigns on windows, walls and floors.
Authored by Matt Manteit, International Sales Manager at Neschen Coating GmbH.
For more information about Neschen Coating's range of products, please click here
