As a commercial printer, we print a lot of really interesting and impactful point of sale materials for almost every business sector in the local Torbay area and beyond. And it works. Point of sale is woven into our everyday life, from the local shop, library, school or pub, to the petrol station or the supermarket, brands make it their mission to be seen and heard above their competition. Everything would look pretty bland if point of sale were stripped away, we’d certainly miss it.
And yet we hardly even notice it most of the time. Hardly even notice it leading us to the correct point in the aisle that our favourite biscuits are stocked on, telling us about money saving offers that we can benefit from if we buy the new pack size, bringing new products to our attention and giving us the chance to try them – were it not for that wobbler jumping off the shelf we might never have known about that new flavour!
We’re seldom offended by point of sale, it rarely gets in our way, moreover it’s useful to us as consumers and that’s marketing gold to brands! So, point of sale, we salute you with this list of ‘ Top 5 Items of POS You Couldn’t Live Without’:
1. Banners
I noticed on my way to work this morning that my local Nursery had a banner outside advertising how well they did in their latest Ofsted and how happy the children who go there are. A Nursery is far from the obvious place you’d expect to find point of sale, but were it not for that banner, how would I know how well they were doing? Would I consider sending my children there, telling friends, posting about it in online forums? That banner did it’s job and did it well – good old large format printing at it’s best!
2. Hanging Mobiles
It’s a busy bar. It’s Friday night. I’m queueing to order my drink. But what do I actually want to drink? What do they have? I can’t see past the sea of people and even when I get to the bar it’s so full of bar staff I can’t see what’s actually in the fridge. Luckily for me there is a rather large mobile hanging from the ceiling informing me all about their cocktail menu… Their lovely, delicious, cocktails. I order from the alcohol free menu of course.
Were it not for that mobile, I would have gone for my failsafe, bog standard, boring but sure to be available vodka and cola. As it happened, I spent twice as much on a much more delicious cocktail. I’m satisfied with my scrumptious drink. The bar is satisfied with making more money. Nice work hanging mobile, nice work!
3. Car Park Tickets
Because everyone wants money off their lunch, especially when it saves them more than they spent on parking.
4. Wobblers
I’d never of known about those biscuits. If it weren’t for you, lovely wobbler I’d have never given them a second look. Luckily though, you were there to guide me and now everyone in the office is hooked! Ok, enough about biscuits!
5. Foamex Signs
Not just used for large shop signs, this wonderfully versatile sign can be made almost any size and seen everywhere from advertising boards, visitor parking signs, direction signs, warning signs, toilet door signs and beyond. Weatherproof and anti fade inks can be used too to prevent fading in direct sunlight. I’d certainly have got lost many times were it not for foamex signs pointing me in the right direction.
Of course there are so many more items of POS I could talk to you all day about, and what a good designer can do with them is endless. We have re-invented items of POS with some remarkable effects, turning standard hanging mobiles into bats for Halloween and Xmas Puddings for Christmas, creating all different shapes, sizes, pop-up parts, wobbling parts, parts you can put your hand through – all these things started as a ‘silly’ idea that we brought to life. That stood out. That made sales.
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Photo Credit: Danny Nicholson via Compfight cc