Signs are Advertising

When it comes to advertising, signs have tangible value, as well as definable costs. When creating a marketing strategy, a business must examine the cost and type of advertising, prepare a budget, and calculate the cost of advertising per impression to determine what the value of the advertising will be. There have been a number of detailed studies conducted to determine the relationship between number of impressions and the motivation to purchase a product. Because of the number of repeat impressions it takes to result in motivation, most advertisers try to maintain a consistency of message with all advertising media.

Success of converting motivation into action is another issue of advertising. When a consumer is sitting at home watching television and sees an advertisement, the resulting action may be to try and remember to purchase whatever product was being advertised the next time he/she is at the store promoting that product. Another consumer traveling on the highway sees a billboard for a drive-thru restaurant. The resulting action is to think about the last time he/she ate. If it’s been a while and the consumer realizes he/she is hungry, the driver will most likely pull off at the appropriate exit and purchase food.

The TV commercial may be some over-the-top, computer-generated extravaganza, but a simple billboard near the appropriate exit can be more effective in producing the desired result of a purchase.

To extend this analysis, an on-premise sign can be the most effective way to advertise a business, in that, when viewed, the consumer is virtually on the doorstep of a business. Very little motivation is needed for the consumer to stop, providing the advertised message or the establishment’s name is visible and can be read at an appropriate distance, where one may negotiate himself or his vehicle to the premise without incurring an accident.

The Benefits

It is vital, however, that the copy of an on-premise sign be effective, even with the proximity to the business’s front door. For the customer to respond, he/she must be able to read the sign at a sufficient distance, therefore the sign must be sized accordingly. The downside here is that many code jurisdictions limit the size of a free-standing or wall-mounted sign to the point where the resulting copy (or words on the sign) size becomes insufficient in meeting the requirements of noticeability and readability. Through the use of individual channel letters, larger copy can be achieved while staying with in the permitted size allowances. With this, an on-premise sign’s effectiveness can be multiplied many times over.

To be more specific, most signage codes limit the size of permissable signs based on the square footage of a given graphic area. This not only includes the meaningful copy of the sign face, but the background areas as well.

With channel letters, copy is fabricated and displayed as individual letters and/or logo signs. Once these are mounted on a store front, the background of the sign becomes the facade of the building. Normally, this form of background is not calculated into the square footage of the signage, only the actual area of the graphic faces. With this being the case, a business that may get its name displayed in 12” copy on a 4’ x 8’ box sign, could potentially display its name with channel letters several feet tall under the same sign code.

Obviously, the channel letters would have better readability and be more noticeable than the same copy displayed on the standard sign face. With this enhancement, value that is far above the cost of the channels letters is added to the business location.

In general, businesses need to advertise to attract customers. With advertising, one seeks to motivate a select group of consumers into conducting transactions with the advertiser. Even in the ever expanding world of e-commerce, a large percentage of businesses, rely on customers visiting the business premise to conduct or fulfill transactions. Advertising must motivate these customers to leave whatever their current location, and travel to the premise of the business. Once in the business’s vicinity, potential customers must then be able to easily and effectively identify the business location. With on-premise signage, the customer is already in the vicinity of the business, so the hardest part, the motivation, has been accomplished.

Because they are presented in larger copy size than standard sign graphics, channel letters will make the process of noticing quicker, thereby permitting the potential customer to more easily plan and negotiate to the business site, reducing hazard to himself/herself or others around him/her.

Start with the Site Survey

The single most important step in your design and marketing effort is the initial survey. Impressive signage can prove to be ineffective by otherwise unseen conditions without the information obtained by the survey. When conducting the survey, the following conditions should be documented: 

Approach — The distance measured along a line of travel from the point where the signage display first becomes visible to the point where copy is no longer readable (having passed perpendicular to the line of sight). Consider the approach to the business. What speed is permitted on the street(s)? What obstructions are along the approach? How clear is the line of sight?

Exposure Time — Exposure time is the amount of time an observer has to view the content of the sign. Exposure time is a function of the approach, noticeability of the sign, legibility of the sign, and rate of travel along the approach path.

Noticeability — This term is actually a combination of detection and conspicuity.

Conspicuity — The quality of an object (sign) or a light source to appear prominent or to stand out in its surroundings. The depth associated with the individual channel letters contributes greatly to this quality.

Detection — The quality or state of being perceivable by the eye. In many outdoor applications, visibility is defined in terms of the distance at which an object can be just perceived (I.e. detected) by the eye. Since channel letters can be spaced without an associated cost in square footage allocation, a spread pattern can often be used to increase the distance at which the letters can be discerned and read.

Design and Beyond

Studying your business premise will aide you in identifying the visual presence currently presented to the public, which then must be blended with identifying the demographic that will be viewing the sign. Within this study, the approach must be identified and well defined.

The study of the approach identifies information such as the line of sight, typical rate of travel for the target audience, and gives a good idea of the competing images and visual presence of other businesses along the approach.

Calculating exposure time can be accomplished once the approach and travel time have been established. Exposure time and the identification of competing visual presences can give a designer an idea of the needed size and images to compete with the visual environment. This then helps the designer create the ideal image allowing for maximum readability and noticeability for your business.

Let Sign A Rama Fort Lauderdale help you in creating the perfect channel letters for your business. We’re here to help you every step of the way, from helping conduct your site survey, all the way to installation. Contact us today for a consultation.