Author: Randy Myers
Do You Need A Display To Market Your Brand’s Image & Products In The Retail Space?
A visual merchandising display (or POP/POS Retail Display) is a sales and marketing investment that companies make to present their products and brand image to consumers in the retail marketplace. There are typically two types of display options that are the primary choices for displays. One being permanent and the other being temporary. Both are great for marketing and presenting your products, but which one should you choose for your brand?
What Is a Permanent Display?
A permanent display is designed to take up a permanent space inside the retail environment for prolonged periods to showcase a brands core products, best selling or featured products along with projecting the brand image. This type of display is usually made from very sturdy and rigid premium materials such as Acrylic, PVC, Wood, & Metals. They are very sturdy in construction and creatively custom designed to be product and brand specific.
A custom display of this type is usually a very unique and a long term way to project brand messaging, product quality, instant brand recognition, and to ensure that the brand and products stand out against the competition in the marketplace. They are often complimented by a wide variety of customizable options including premium finishes, premium hardware, premium graphics, and may have lighted or audio and video feature options. This is the long term investment in your brand and product for permanence and market share in the retail space for ongoing and repeat ROI.
What Is a Temporary Display?
A temporary display is designed to be in the retail environment for a very brief period of time. Typically a temporary display is a more generic display constructed from less premium and less sturdy disposable materials such as corrugated cardboard. This type of display is not meant to last very long and is less premium or luxurious in appearance and quality in comparison to their permanent counterpart. This type of display will often be used during short term seasonal offerings, for short or one time promotions, or for less expensive or disposable products.
A display of this type is usually a single use display and is meant to be discarded when the product sells out and is normally not meant to be refilled or replenished as the integrity of construction and finishes of this type of display break down very rapidly. Your customization options are very limited with a display like this. They are usually limited to just graphic prints or decals. This is typically a short term investment for quick hit, fast sell products with the ROI ending with the sell out of the product or end of the short campaign.
Are There Options That Have Qualities Of Both?
Yes! On top of OCIP’s premium permanent display expertise, we are also experts at designing options that have multi-function and elements of both. OCIP has decades of experience making displays of all different types, price points, features and benefits, and more. This experience has lead us to be able to develop some innovative ways to design what we call a “value engineered” display as another option or solution to the traditional permanent or temporary display. This can range from semi-permanent displays to permanent displays with modular or interchangeable features in addition to light weight and economical options with creative designs and engineering using multi media substrates or different gauges of materials that make for a little more cost effectiveness but are more durable with greater aesthetics than corrugated or cardboard. These type of designs allow for you to be a step or more above a disposable temporary display while being a bit more budget conscious and more thoughtful about appearance and shelf life of your display.
OCIP also works with many packaging and temporary display partners. These packaging partner companies have end user clients that have a need for a more permanent or semi permanent higher quality way to display or showcase the actual product sample or demonstration model in a more permanent or semi-permanent way that also works with their temporary corrugated end cap or pallet stacker or bulk quick sell displays. This has become quite common in the big box store environment. OCIP makes many types of these permanent or semi-permanent displays that work with bulk temp corrugated type displays. We love to work with temporary display and packaging companies, and have the experience and ability to produce for large nationwide roll-out and fulfillment projects.
OCIP does also offer green and eco-friendly substrate solutions to construct displays from if your business model is that of a sustainable eco-friendly brand. Ask your OCIP salesperson/project manager about these alternative options.
Deciding Which Option Is Right For Your Brand & Products?
When deciding whether to use a permanent or temporary display, there are a few questions you must ask yourself first. Answering these questions can help point you in the right direction for displaying your products.
Q: How Long Is The Retailer Giving You The Space For?
This is an important question along with the question of how long do you plan on offering these products for and how long is your marketing campaign. Is this retailer offering you this space on a temporary or one time basis, or are they allowing you to have the space on a permanent or long term basis? If the answer to any of these questions is short term (3 months or less), a temporary display or possibly a semi-permanent display may be the best option for you. While a permanent display is your best bet for showcasing your best selling products that never change year-round or if the space is yours for greater than 3 months.
There is always also that third option of designing your permanent display so that it has the ability to have modular or interchangeable features that will allow you to keep your base display in place while having the flexibility to incorporate seasonal changes, special offer products or the ability to freshen up the display built into the original display design.
Q: How Do You Wish To Be Perceived?
If you’re a brand with luxury, high-quality or high value products; a display made from materials that constitute a temporary display may not be your first choice or the right choice for you. The materials used to make these types of displays and the durability of them most likely would not be in-line with your brand image and may not deliver the right message of brand and product quality. For example you may be a brand that is breaking into a particular industry. Your main selling point is that your product contains high-end or exclusive ingredients or components or finishes and your target market is the luxury buyer or more affluent client. A permanent display with more premium accoutrements (or at least the appearance of them) that showcases your brand in that light would be more appealing to that market segment than something constructed from disposable materials like corrugated cardboard or a plain mass produced generic non-branded display.
You also should be very thoughtful about how generic or unbranded your display is. Generic displays can easily be repurposed in the marketplace by other brands or by retailers in need of space for other products (that are not yours). Now the display that you spent your companies marketing budget on may end up with someone else’s products in it and rebranded with someone else’s logos and artwork. It happens all the time. Be sure to always ensure that the displays that you choose for your brand are undeniably yours. This is why it is not necessarily a great idea to purchase that mass produced, generic, non-branded, non-product specific, display you found on Amazon in an attempt to cut a corner or to save a few pennies.
Q: What Is Your Budget, Goal, & ROI Expectation?
Of course a question you must ask yourself in your decision-making process is what is your company willing to budget to market your product in the brick and mortar retail space? What is this value to your brand? Is your brand image and products worth the investment of a custom permanent display? Do you want your brand and products to stand out against the competition in the same space or just look like a carbon copy of the product next to it? Yes temporary displays or generic displays are a more affordable and economical option when choosing displays, but may make your brand also look generic. In the long run these temp and generic displays could require frequent replacements due to the temporary nature of their materials and construction or become broken down and unsightly. This could end up costing your company more money in the long run as these type of displays tend to degrade in appearance and durability very rapidly.
Keep in mind also that the appearance and condition of the way your brand and product is presented in the marketplace is a direct reflection of your brand itself. You’ve worked hard on your brand identity. You could run the risk of creating a less than desirable perception of your brand’s quality and that of your products if making the wrong choice in how they are displayed. This could lead to diminishing returns for your brand identity and for your long term ROI and bottom line. Temporary and generic displays have their place in the scheme of things and can be great tools for the right brands and the right products. Make sure that the temporary option is in alignment with your image, products, needs, and goals. This is not necessarily an area that you want to apply cost cutting or short-cut measures to get your product out there. It may not serve your brand or your reputation well in the long run.
In Summary
If you are looking to make a long term commitment and investment into marketing your products or trying to secure a permanent space and exposure in the retail marketplace, It may be in your best interest to consider making the decision to invest in the custom permanent display option or some variation of a semi-permanent. Many of the reasons for this choice are outlined above. Image, Perception, Visibility, Quality, Exposure, Competition, and your long term plans and expectations for ROI are all factors in making the right decision for you and your brand. OCIP has the expertise to help guide you through all of these options in order to assist you in making the most educated decisions for how best to maximize your visual merchandising marketing budget dollars. No matter your goal or your budget for visual merchandising displays, OCIP has solutions and answers for you.
Reach out to your OCIP Account Manager or to anyone in the sales department to discuss all of your options. 800.974.6247 | info@ocip.com | www.ocip.com
