Graphic displays and signs are an essential part of advertising and promoting a brand or store, even in the age of the Internet. Digital media is quite powerful, to be sure, but not even YouTube or Twitter have made physical signs or displays obsolete. These displays have proven themselves as potent as ever, and plenty of research and development goes into finding new ways to market brand with signs. These signs can be found inside stores, such as deli meat signs or creative or unique retail display ideas, and posters and price tags may also draw a customer’s eye. And what about outdoors? Scrolling marquees, digital display signs, neon signs, and kiosks can do a lot of work to show customers where to find certain shops or services. Many people use the Internet, but they also go outside and see the world around them. This is where unique retail display ideas, flyer strands, digital signs, and more can do their work.

Kiosks and Racks

Some outdoor displays focus on not just one particular brand, but many local shops, businesses, and attractions. Kiosks are display areas that may offer magazines, brochures, newspapers, and more, and they are often helpful for tourists who want to find their way around. Kiosks may have racks for paper goods, or they may have electronic display screens. Such kiosks are common in shopping malls, carnivals, and hospitals, just to name a few examples. Anyone who visits these kiosks may press buttons or touch the screens to see text or photos, or view videos (which may include sound). This can help guide them to find stores or a food court in a mall, or direct them to where they need to go in a hospital or on the hospital campus. Such kiosks are often rented, and a delivery crew will bring them onto the premises by truck and move them around with dollies or floor jacks. They tend to be rather heavy.

Indoor and Outdoor Signs

In contrast to kiosks, unique retail display ideas and outdoor signs are dedicated to just one brand name or store. These are a form of advertising, and these signs can have a lot of power. Studies have confirmed that signs are effective at reaching out to many people, as many people go out and about during their daily lives and thus will see those signs. For example: many businesses have around 85% of their customers living within a five mile radius of that business, so signs in that area may efficiently advertise to people quite often. A person may see that brand name 50 to 60 times per week, in fact, and the value of on-site signage is similar to that of 24 full page newspaper ads per year.

Such signs are often made of a combination of plastic, wood, and metal, and they can be placed right over a business’s front door, on top of the roof (for larger signs), or even atop a tall pole so people can see it from afar. Signs with plastic front faces may have lights inside, so that they are easier to see at night. Meanwhile, establishments that get a lot of business at night, such as movie theaters and nightclubs, often feature neon signs that are easy to see during the night.

Care must be taken when designing and building signs, as many surveyed consumers say that they equate a sign’s quality and personality with that of the business that put it there. An attractive and high quality sign may make a good impression and inspire confidence in a brand, and many customers may visit. By contrast, an ugly or shoddy sign will drive away most customers.

What about unique retail display ideas? Signs can be made in all sorts of ways, and some are highly customized. Some small shops and cafes may have a chalkboard display sign, where they can use colorful chalk to draw new messages and visuals. A person’s imagination is the only limit for this, and a business may also hire graphic artists to design a unique and eye-catching poster. Then, a local printing firm can be hired to print off some copies of that poster. Such posters may be common for music or novelty shops, for example.