Foretelling Four Signage Trends for 2012
New Year’s Predictions for Signage Trends
1. QR code integration
Quick Response (QR) codes have invaded our culture and are not a phase or a trend. QR codes provide an affordable way to maximize information while maintaining the visual integrity of promotional material. Harbinger believes that incorporating QR codes into signage is another way for our clients to link prospective customers to their brands. A customer merely captures a QR code with his or her smart phone and is immediately transported to the information the brand wants them to have. Customers are able to connect to something that catches their eye, without having to weed through a lot of excessive clutter. Your QR code can easily be incorporated into digitally printed signs, traditional signs, vehicle wraps and any other printed item.
2. In-store graphics
Interior and landscape architects are always trying to bring the outside in and the inside out. Why? Because it creates a seamless transition from one to the other. We are able to duplicate that same idea through the use of grand scale digital prints and graphics within a retail space. The storefront can be a teaser to the brand’s central nerve that is stretched throughout the interior space. The use of interior graphics provides a fluid and encompassing experience to customers. A company’s brand can be present at all angles or focused in determined areas.
3. Green … as in, environmentally friendly
Going green is all the rage, but what does it really mean? To customers, it means that you are being sensitive and aware of the waste that you create. Going green sends the message that your brand is responsible for what it does and is committed to more than the “cheap and easy.” But what does it mean to your bottom line? It can result in tax reductions and lower monthly overhead. Something as simple as using light-emitting diodes (LED) in your new signage provides a major reduction in carbon footprint because LEDs produce more light per watt than traditional fluorescent or incandescent lights. Not to mention that the expected life span of an LED light – 25,000 to 50,000 hours – greatly reduces the frequency of service and bulb replacement for lighted signage. Your monthly power bill will thank you, too. Another way to go green and get closer to that LEED certification is through the use of low-VOC paints, which contain far fewer harmful volatile organic compounds. What does this mean? Signs painted with low-VOC paints emit less carbon compounds into the atmosphere and, in turn, are more environmentally friendly while posing fewer health risks to those around the painted surface. The use of low-VOC paints is visually undetectable in the finished product.
4. Retrofitting existing signs
What could be more green than working with something that already exists? At a time when so many of our clients are looking to minimize expenditure, retrofitting a sign with LED bulbs can have a significant impact in reducing energy and ongoing maintenance. Powered by just 12 volts, LED lighting provides an estimated energy savings of up to 80 percent. Sure, to tweak existing signage isn’t free of cost, but the long-term benefit pays off big time. You avoid the cost of an entirely new sign, and can look forward to increased monthly energy savings in the years to come. For clients, such as for multi-location petroleum retailers and convenience outlets that run their bright signage from dusk to dawn, retrofitting is a no-brainer to boosting profit margin.
Perspectives from SPECS 2011
What do national retailers want from their signage program partners? Harbinger met with dozens of retailers during Chain Store Age magazine’s 47th annual Store Planning, Equipment, Construction and Facilities Services Seminar (SPECS) to ask.
The answer: Credibility. Reliability. Consistency. Cost savings.
“Interestingly, immediate cost savings was not the highest priority of the retailers we spoke with, even as our economy is just starting to recover,” said Ed Killion, executive vice president of Harbinger. “Many retailers, like our customers in the foodservice and convenience store industries, are focused on long-term costs and value. Therefore, the attributes of credible, reliable and consistent service and products are most important to them.”
Credibility – Retailers want a sign company with national reach, a qualified network of providers and programs in place to monitor the credentials of those providers.
Reliability – Clear, distinct processes for national project management are a must, as is experience. Retailers also want assurances that their standards will be adhered to at all times.
Consistency – All retailers want great quality products and services, including project management and installation, but for national or regional multi-location chains consistency of sign materials, color and illumination also is key.
Cost Savings – Cost savings are important to retailers, but not necessarily the cost of the actual signage. With gasoline prices increasing, many retailers were concerned about freight and shipping costs of the signs once manufactured.
“As the economy recovers and retailers begin opening new locations or refurbishing existing ones, these qualities in a signage partner will become even more crucial,” Killion added.
Trust of America’s Golf Club
The world’s largest individual golf retailer, Edwin Watts Golf, trusts Harbinger with its national, multi-location signage program. For eight years, this successful partnership has grown along with both companies. Today, Harbinger manages Edwin Watts Golf’s signage program for more than 75 locations, including new, converted and updated locations.
“We have created a ‘one-touch’ program for Edwin Watts Golf. They contact the dedicated Harbinger project manager to initiate any required signage service and we seamlessly manage the surveys, permitting, fabrication, installation and servicing of any sign at all locations,” explained Steve Williams, president of Harbinger.
The signage program currently involves the logo and letters on the exterior of the locations, and decorative window and interior imaging solutions to maximize the brand at retail.
For color consistency in the green and white logo and lettering, Harbinger converted Edwin Watts Golf signs from paint to translucent vinyl films, all applied first surface for both cabinet and channel letter signs. To stay “green” in other ways, all new signs use LED illumination, reducing Edwin Watts Golf’s carbon footprint, saving the company up to 70 percent on sign operating costs, and providing more reliable, consistent luminosity.
To enhance Edwin Watts Golf’s brand and seasonal promotions, Harbinger provides full digital window prints in an array of motifs. The prints are created on a 3M medium-adhesive product that allows them to be removed without leaving an adhesive residue on the windows. Harbinger also is working with Edwin Watts Golf on virtually permanent interior prints that can be applied to both treated and untreated drywall substrates, and can be fully removed without leaving any adhesive residue.
“Edwin Watts is the most trusted retailer in golf because of our employees’ knowledge of the golf industry and their commitment to customer service,” said Therese Grossman, director of construction for Edwin Watts Golf. “We expect the same of our partners. Harbinger is exactly that in the sign industry -- trusted, knowledgeable and customer-centric.”
Retail Stores InMotion
InMotion Entertainment, the country’s largest airport retailer of electronics and entertainment with nearly 60 convenient locations, has trusted Harbinger with its signage fabrication for more than seven years.
As part of the ongoing program, Harbinger fabricated a variety of standard-size storefront signs that fit a majority of InMotion’s retail locations. For those storefronts where standard just doesn’t fit, Harbinger creates custom signs. And, to optimize the storefront space at the retailer’s airport locations, Harbinger has produced 10-inch round dimensional logos, low-profile illuminated and non-illuminated blade signs, and interior header panels.
All of InMotion’s signage is designed to allow easy access to internal components for efficient maintenance. Also, the signs feature environmentally friendly, low VOC paints and use long-lasting LED lights, which also reduce long-term maintenance needs and are more energy efficient.
LED Lighting for Outdoor Signage (Chain Store Age)
A byline article by Steve Williams, president of Harbinger, was published in the online version of Chain Store Age magazine. He explains how retailers can save money through using LEDs in their outdoor signage, whether installing new signs or retrofitting existing signs.
For many years, light-emitting diodes (LED) were primarily known for their use in alarm clocks, flashlights and automobile taillights, but these bulbs offer more benefits than their small size and versatility. LEDs also are highly energy-efficient, and with no filament to burn out, their life spans far exceed those of traditional incandescent or fluorescent bulbs -- lasting 25,000 to 50,000 hours. As a result, they are playing an integral role in the green energy push and are now used by business owners in a variety of ways -- including for lighting in outdoor signage.
Read the full story LED Lighting for Outdoor Signage online.
New Online Customer Portal Enhances Communication, Streamlines Sign Installation Projects
Harbinger, a national sign engineering and manufacturing firm, is introducing an online customer portal to better serve its multi-location clients. Through the portal, customers in the retail, convenience store, grocery and foodservice industries with multiple locations and simultaneous sign installation projects will have access to real-time project updates and status, among other features. The online portal is currently being tested and is scheduled to launch Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010.
Using a client login on Harbinger’s website, customers will have access to quotes, inventory, drawings of sign mock-ups and graphics, project and order history, invoices, and project status. As well, some multi-location clients may have access to customized approved-product catalogs, especially for those with franchises where it is important for the franchise owners to select from signage options that meet corporate brand standards.
“An increasing number of customers ask us to manage their signage installation or sign retrofitting programs nationwide. For example, we are retrofitting signage in more than 1,750 locations for one customer,” explained Steve Williams, president of Harbinger. “By investing in the technology to most efficiently manage these projects, Harbinger can continue to meet customer expectations while streamlining our internal processes.”
Harbinger will offer the service free to clients that meet certain criteria. The company expects the online portal will further streamline its internal processes by serving as a central location for project and customer information.
Harbinger Showcases Newest LED Sign Technology at NACS Show
For the first time, Harbinger will be exhibiting its LED lighting retrofit system and offering a free signage energy comparison at its booth (#776) during the NACS Show, Oct. 6-8, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Using sign cabinet displays, Harbinger will showcase the latest LED technology for illuminating exterior signs and will demonstrate its LED retrofitting process for existing signage.
Environmentally friendly LED lighting is available in all of Harbinger’s signage, and the company is a leader in the creation of double-faced, LED-illuminated pylon signs. Harbinger was the first to implement LEDs in these types of signs, which are most commonly used by convenience stores, gas stations, grocery chains and restaurants. The use of LED lights provides significant reductions in carbon footprints and an estimated 60 to 80 percent in energy costs.
LED solutions that will be featured include double-faced pylon signs, channel signs, under canopy lighting, building wash lighting, parking lot illumination, and freezer lights.
Harbinger also will display digital gas price signage technology. By partnering with FM, Harbinger can provide to clients the largest selection of digit sizes and available fonts including those approved by most major oil companies. As well, the signage is a modular design with only four components per sign – LED panel, RF receiver, power supply and control unit – and software-controlled security.
Visitors to Harbinger’s booth also can register for a complimentary signage energy and maintenance comparison audit. By analyzing items such as the number of locations, current maintenance costs of signs and types of signs and illumination, Harbinger creates an energy and maintenance comparison that will gauge the projected energy and maintenance savings per sign that could be realized if LED lighting technology is used.