Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Are You Taking Advantage of ALL of Your Sign Marketing Opportunities?

Every Business Needs A Sign or More..

We all know that businesses need Identification Signs to attract customers into their business. But signs should be more than another thing to do on the "To Do" list. And they should never serve just one function. Signs should be an opportunity to present part of your business's marketing strategy.

Are You Using Every Sign Opportunity To Market?

There are so many opportunities to market a business with signage, whether you have a brick and mortar location or not. Beyond the business identification sign on the exterior of a facade, consider the following possibilities:

A Lobby Sign...

Reception areas are the perfect location to place an attractive business/logo sign. If your business provides a waiting area for guests to sit, then give them something to look at or read on the wall. A lobby sign sends an unspoken message, as well as giving your business name. It is a message that lets your guest(s) know that your business is a credible business, or a an upscale business or a fun business. That's what is great about a lobby sign. The flavor of your business should be visible in the style of your lobby sign.

An Attractive Lobby Sign In The Reception Area

What About The Wall Decor?

Yes... what you decorate the walls with can also be a part of your marketing strategy. Do you sell widgets that might lend themselves to modern art-scapes? Can you capture your customers in artwork which depicts them interacting with your widgets that you can share on your walls with visitors? What looks like fun artwork can also send your marketing message. And Vital Signs has the perfect media to send those messages without damaging your walls!
Unforgettable branding!

Moving Messages?

Exploding in popularity, LED scrolling and changeable message units are on constant marketing duty when programmed with your marketing messages. Easier than ever, inside or out, business owners can program their electronic message center to send out messages in bold colors, fonts & graphics. Admittedly, these LED signs are a financial investment and are more expensive as they graduate in size. But the attention that they capture from viewers will likely offer an ROI that will easily pay for their cost and will constantly work for your business.
Your Message Works Around The Clock For You With An LED Message Center

Big, Bold Banners!

There will always be a place for banner marketing for every business or organization. Banners are one of the most economical attention grabbers that a business/group can use. Banners can go mobile or be utilized on the inside or outside of a business or in various locations. Created with the right vinyl media, banners can literally last for years. If your business or organization is not using banners...two words...why not?
Banners In Every Size!


A Frames

Portable, Easy & Attention-grabbing! Need to highlight a special or temporary offer or highlight pricing? A Frames are the perfect sign option. Single or double-sided choices are available & are hard to miss. If you are trying to grab that pedestrian attention, a colorful A Frame is the perfect choice!
A Frames Work For A Variety of Messages!

Flags and Wavy Things

I don't know about you but I am always drawn to flags and inflatables that flap in the wind...aren't we all! It's human nature to have our attention drawn to moving messages..We see them and yes...we read them too! And sometimes yes...I do think they are corny & funny...but they work. That's why businesses continue to use them. Looking for a creative way to float your marketing message? Contact Vital Signs today!
Bow Flags and Other Wavables

Mobile Marketing ... Marketing On Wheels

Does your business have business vehicles that move about town? This is a no brainer...your business should be utilizing your mobile marketing spaces on all of your vehicles! Okay...maybe you don't own a business fleet of vehicles...maybe your personal vehicle does double-duty for both your personal & business use. That's okay too. You should still use that vehicle space to move your marketing message wherever you travel. Vital Signs can install vehicle graphics to your car in a way that won't be missed. And if you are looking for a removable (daily) option, we can create magnetic signs for your vehicle. If you have to sit in stopped traffic, you should make sure that the delay counts by presenting your company's marketing information for others to read.
Make Your Vehicle Work For You!

Tradeshow Displays

Tradeshow sign opportunities abound! Consider the typical tradeshow space. You've been given a standard 6' (possibly 8') table & two chairs, surrounded by curtains. Vital Signs can design & fabricate the perfect logo tablecloth for your company. A logo tablecloth can have the design placed on the front of the table cloth that hangs in front of the table. Or if you want another option, we can also create a 6' banner that hangs on the front of the table. The curtains which frame the back of the tradeshow space can also serve to host a banner backdrop with your company information. Vital Signs offers a variety of portable table-top custom displays for use on top of the tradeshow table. In addition to table-top displays, many companies utilize a banner stand to attract attention to their booth space. There are a large variety of other marketing ideas which can compliment the average tradeshow space. Please call us today, so we can brainstorm the best options for your next tradeshow!!
Banners, Tablecloths and More for your Tradeshow Space

Window Graphics

Another ad space that should be taken advantage of. The windows of a business serve as the perfect space to send a marketing message. One of the coolest materials that Vital Signs uses for window spaces and vehicles, is a perforated vinyl that will allow for the outside viewer to see the picture/marketing message, while the inside occupants can still see out of the window. Of course, the windows can be used to display needed business information such as hours of operation and phone numbers. But taking advantage of large windows to market in a bigger-than-life colorful and attention-grabbing way, utilizes the space in the best possible way. The windows are a passive part of the business space, why not put them to work for you!!
Using the Logo To For Window Graphics

Floor Graphics

Carpet, wood or concrete (sidewalks) and more, Vital Signs will floor you with a marketing message made for your foot traffic. With new media that adheres to almost any surface, no one will miss your floor surface message! Floor graphics are exploding in advertising popularity. Businesses are learning that the best way to capture a customer's immediate attention, is from the floor which surrounds them! As soon as we learn to walk, we learn to look at where we are going. It's human nature to look at images in our path. But there is nothing that will make a customer smile more quickly, than to place your fun marketing message or event enhancement at their feet. Memorable? You bet! Let Vital Signs show you how it's done.
Sidewalk Graphics To Promote Your Event/Business
So there you have it. These are just a handful of ideas that you could and should be implementing to take full advantage of the various sign marketing opportunities at your disposal. Vital Signs is happy to come out for a FREE sign marketing consultation. Please call us today (412) 494-3308. We're happy to help you get the most bang for your marketing dollars! 

Thursday, July 16, 2015

That's A Wrap!

An Elevator Wrap

If you follow our blog, then you probably already know what a "wrap" is..But for those of you who just happened to land here, let me explain. A "wrap" in the sign and graphics industry, means that a surface is literally wrapped in vinyl graphics/text for the primary purpose of sending advertising messages.

Exploding in popularity, Advertising Wraps are everywhere these days. But today I specifically want to call your attention to our Vital "Elevator Wraps"


The Perfect Ad Delivery Method ~ That's NO Croc!

In my opinion, elevator wraps come about as close to the perfect delivery of an advertising message as possible. Why, you ask? Because the ad space (the elevator) is quite literally there just waiting to transport both people and advertising messages. 

Elevator Captives Riders Do Read Ad Messages

Consider this.. the folks who both wait for and ride an elevator are captives to an advertising message. As a person waits for the elevator to arrive, where do they look? Straight ahead. And after they step into the elevator & it begins to move, where do they look? Again...straight ahead or perhaps on the elevator walls which surround them. An elevator wrap can be both on the exterior and/or interior doors (and even the interior walls for that matter) or all of them!

Elevator Wraps Generate Passive Income

It's true. For the building owner who decides to utilize the elevator ad space to market his/her retail/other building tenant's businesses, you have just created a passive income. Yes..you decide how much to charge that tenant for the advertising opportunity and how frequently the advertising message will change, and Vital Signs will do the work. Talk about a win-win. 

Elevator Wraps WORK!

If you are not utilizing your elevator ad space to generate income and help promote your building tenant's, businesses, I have only two words...Why Not? Please call Vital Signs today. We will be happy to help you plan a Vital E Wraps Campaign for your E space.



Thursday, July 9, 2015

Good Sign, Bad Location!

Poor Visibility

We see it all the time in the sign business. We are contacted by a customer who needs a sign or a few of them for their business. When we arrive at their location, it immediately becomes apparent that the business is not in the optimal location for maximum branding visibility. So what is the answer?
Short of moving the business location, how does a customer deal with a less than visible advertising space for their brick and mortar location?

We Can Help

This is the time when we apply our Vital Signs knowledge of various sign types, advertising trends and new products to determine the best branding options for our customer(s). Of course, this knowledge is applied after careful consideration of the city or township permitting laws and the landlord specifications/guidelines, which can also contribute to branding challenges.

We do our absolute best to consider every branding option that we can identify on site. The design of the sign application(s) also becomes especially important in these troublesome business branding locations. For example, we may need to utilize an applied design to the front business windows of a business. We have the perfect perforated vinyl media which provides big color ads to the outside viewer, while still allowing the inside staff and occupants to see out the window.
Using Business Windows To Capture Attention


It may be necessary to bring the ad message outside and away from the building in the form of a brand-popping A Frame Sign. 

Other Challenges..

In some cases the surface of a business property can present complications in the types of hardware or applications which can be secured to it's surface.In these situations, it is necessary to look at several variables which will affect the sign. We must consider the weight of a sign; the size and orientation of the sign; the material the sign is made from; the wind load; the type of hardware used to install the sign; the manner in which the sign will need to be installed and of course, the sign's physical location on the building surface.

The Message

The message is that the Vital Signs Install Team routinely sees these both challenging and quirky visibility and install challenges. Our experienced team can find the perfect solution for your business.

Let us take a look. We are happy to come out to your business location to provide a free consultation and estimate.

Vital Signs Will Get Your Business Noticed! Call Us TODAY! (412) 494-3308


Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The Ultimate Goodbye...Spoken With Meaningful Images

A Delicate Subject

At the risk of making some folks uncomfortable, while also providing "a good ( "ah ha" moment/idea)  for future reference for others, I am going to tell you about one of Vital Sign's newest product offerings. Now before you decide that we have crossed the lines of decency, please let me paint (or wrap as it were), a picture of the possibilities for you.

We were recently approached by a funeral director who wanted to know if we did "Casket Wraps"?
" Um, well...um, we haven't done it before, but perhaps we could?! " So there it was, an idea we had certainly never thought of, and a market we never anticipated being a part of (at least not until the end of our own lives). But as we always say, we love thinking out of the Vital Signs box, and this request definitely met that criteria. No pun intended.

Specifically, our customer had a life-long friend who was about to pass and had always asked his dear friend to fulfill one of his very specific and personal last requests. That was, to be buried in a casket that looked like a Budweiser Beer Can or if not a can, to at least to pay tribute to this gentleman's lifelong beverage of choice. Our customer obtained the necessary permissions from the Anheuser-Busch company and we were off to pop the lid on this new project concept.

A Humorous Goodbye To/From A Gentleman Who Played Hard & Looked At Life Smiling

A Lasting Tribute

The casket was delivered to Vital Signs, where we disassembled the handles/railings for easier wrapping access. While it was a first for us and initially a bit unsettling, from a wrap standpoint, it was a large object like any other that we wrap.

This idea however, really made us think about Vital Signs offering Casket and Urn Wraps. We decided that while this type of end-of-life personalization might not be for everyone, for others it would be the perfect compliment to saying goodbye. The Casket/Urn Wrap does not have to be comical or irreverent. I can think of many comforting ideas that would enhance this always sad occasion. We are now working on designs for many categories which a family might choose from. For instance: Many topics/categories of interest may have/had a very personal and deep meaning to the deceased and/or family. Creating a wrap design that might speak to a person's life-long hobby; a loved sports team; a beloved pet; a family home; military service; gardening; firefighter/policeman; a humorous tradition or just meaningful scripture with a religious themed wrap may serve to complete the service in a very comforting way for the family, as well as for those in attendance. 

Funeral Homes are offering many personalization options within the context of themed funerals for it's customers. End-of-life Wraps are just one more aspect of this personalization. Vital Signs Design Team will always work to provide a Casket or Urn Wrap that is complimentary and tasteful to the desires of the decendent's family wishes. This specialty wrap will add a 2-3 day delay to the beginning of the Funeral Home viewing schedule.

Military

Hobby

Pittsburgh Specific

Gardening


A trademarked name/brand cannot be used without permission. Vital Signs would prefer to create designs that do not have any trademarked brand/product included in the Casket Wrap design(s). But for the sake of showing you the Casket Wrap concept, we did use some content above that would require permissions if we were actually creating one of the trademarked brands shown.

Oddly Peaceful & Comforting...

We understand that this idea is not for everyone. We also know that this type of customization will likely appeal only to a family or individual who wishes to have a very individual-specific personalization. We truly believe that an 'End Of Life' Wrap will memorialize a decedent in a very comforting, personal and unique way. When I think about all of the deceased members of my family who proudly served in our military services, I can't help but think about how nice it would have been to honor them and to say my last goodbyes in such a beautiful way. It's almost as if they are being wrapped in a final hug by an image of something that they greatly loved or enjoyed in their lives while living. And that makes me smile.

What Do You Think?

Please share your thoughts with us on this new 'End Of Life' Casket/Urn Wrap idea. Can you think of any design ideas that would have been meaningful for someone who passed on in your family?