Let's Talk Channel Letters

What benefits make channel letters so appealing as a means of on-premise signage? Check out this article on the value of this pivotal sign product as advertising as well as things I take into account when working with clients on these projects!

~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

SIGNS ARE ADVERTISING
As advertising, signs have a tangible valueⁱ. They also have definable costs. When a business plans a marketing strategy, the quantity and type of advertising is examined, a budget is prepared, cost of advertising per impression is calculated to determine the value of the advertising.
Many detailed studies have been conducted to determine the relationship between the number of impressions and the motivation to buy a product. Because it takes a number of repeat impressions to result in motivation, most advertisers will seek to maintain a consistency of message in all advertising media.

Another issue of advertising is the success in converting motivation into action. If a consumer is sitting at home and sees an advertisement, the resulting action may be to try to remember to buy the item the next time the consumer is visiting that store. Another consumer, traveling on the interstate highway sees a billboard for a gas station. The resulting action is to look at the fuel gaugeⁱ. If the gauge shows a need for fuel, the motorist will probably pull off at the appropriate exit and purchase fuel.

The television ad may be a high-tech computer generated extravaganza; a simple 16-sheet billboard located near the appropriate exit canⁱ be more effective in producing the desired result of a purchase.

Extending this analysis, an on-premise sign can be the most effective form of advertising a business, in that when it is viewed, the consumer is virtually on the doorstep. Very little motivation is required for the consumer to stop, provided the advertised message or the establishment’s name is visible and readable at sufficient distance that the consumer may negotiate himself or his vehicle to the premise without incurring an accident.

BENEFITS
Even with the proximity of the on-premise sign to the front door of the business, it is vital that the copy on the sign be effective. It must be sized so as to be readable at a sufficient distance to permitⁱ the consumer to respond. In many code jurisdictions, the allowable size of a freestanding or wall mounted sign may be so restrictive that the resulting copy size is insufficient to meet the requirements of noticeability and readabilityⁱ. By using individual channelⁱ letters to identify the premises, a larger copy size can be achieved within the permitted size allowances. In this manner the effectiveness of the on-premise sign can be multiplied many times over.

To explain this fact more specifically, most sign codes limit the size of permittable signs based on the number of square feet of graphic area. For a standard box sign, the calculation of graphic area includes not only meaningful copy on the sign faceⁱ, but also the background areas as well.

For channel type letters, the copy is fabricated as individual letters and/or logo signs. When these are mounted on a building, the building’s façade becomes the background for the sign. This form of background is usually not included in the calculation of square footage, only the actual area of the graphic faces. In this manner, a business that might get its name displayed in 12'' copy on a 4' x 8' box sign, might get its name displayed with channel letters several feet tall under the same sign code.

Obviously, the channel letters would be more noticeable and more readable than the same copy displayed in the smaller size on the standard sign face. This enhancement adds value to the business location far above the cost of the channel letters.

The sign industry has been slow to incorporate valuation techniques used throughout the business community to accurately value on premise signage.

Most businesses must advertise to attract their customers. Advertising seeks to motivate a select group of individuals to conduct transactions with the advertiser. For a large percentage of businesses, customers must visit the business premises at some time to conduct or fulfill the business transaction. For these customers, the advertising must motivate the customer to leave whatever location in which they are currently, and to travel to the business premise. Upon arrival within the vicinity of the business, these potential customers must be able to easily and safely identify the business location. With an on-premise sign, the hardest part of the motivation has been accomplished; the customer is in the vicinity of the advertiser’s business premises.

Channel letters, presented in a larger copy size than regular sign graphics will make the process of notice occur more quickly, permitting the potential customer to plan and then negotiate to the business site more easily and with less hazard to himself or others around him or her.

START WITH THE SITE SURVEY!

The initial survey is the single most important step of your design and marketing effort. Without the information garnered by the survey, the most impressive signage can be rendered ineffective by existing conditions not otherwise recognized. 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 contentⁱ 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 patternⁱ can often be used to increase the distance at which the letters can be discerned and read.

Article Author: Tim Cummings. Sign Business. 02/01/2003

Walgreens makeover... or takeover?

Walgreens utilizes signs to remarket themselves. Look out CVS!
~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

Bigger signs, expanded beauty aisles among changes coming to next test market

Walgreen Co. is about to get a new look as the drugstore chain expands a test to make the stores more open, more colorful and easier to shop.

The Deerfield-based company is adding more food and wine, expanding its beauty aisles and preparing this summer to bolster electronics. The retailer is also lowering the heights of shelves and installing bigger and more colorful signs to help shoppers navigate the aisles.

The new format, called customer-centric retailing, is slated to roll out to 2,500 to 3,000 stores by this fall from 700 now, said Walgreens CEO and President Gregory Wasson in an earnings conference call Tuesday.

The company's first test was concentrated in Houston and Dallas. Wasson declined to reveal where the next test market will be.

"As we've said before, this is an ongoing process with many checkpoints along the way to allow us the opportunity to tweak and refine as needed," said Wasson. "As we move into the next phase, we'll continue to build sales, take work out of stores, lower inventory and, most importantly, improve our customers' overall shopping experience."

As part of the makeover, Walgreens eliminated about 3,500 products from stores to focus on fewer, better-selling items. The move culled $500 million of inventory and lowered labor costs as restocking was reduced.

Almost 40 percent of Walgreens sales come from the front end of the store, the industry term for everything that doesn't come from the pharmacy.

Sales at the 31 pilot stores are up 2 percent, outperforming a control group of stores and suggesting that the makeover will spur revenue growth, Wasson said. Market share in Houston and Dallas remained unchanged to up slightly as the stores changed over, a result the company said was encouraging. Stores were converted for about $40,000 to $50,000 each.

While only 30 percent to 40 percent of Walgreens stores will make the change to the new format this year, all of the 7,180 drugstores nationwide will dedicate more space to skin care and vitamins. And 5,000 stores are on track to carry beer and wine by the end of the year.

"We believe initiatives to improve both shopping experience and inventory management remain on track," said Standard & Poor's equity analyst Joseph Agnese in a Tuesday report, rating Walgreens shares a "buy."

Details of the store makeovers came as Walgreens reported net income for its second fiscal quarter, which ended Feb. 28, rose 4.6 percent, to $669 million, or 68 cents a share, from $640 million, or 65 cents, a year ago. The latest quarter included restructuring charges of 2 cents a share.

Sales rose 3.1 percent, to $17 billion.

Sales at stores open at least one year, a key retail metric, fell 0.2 percent from the year-ago quarter. Front-end same-store sales fell 1.6 percent, dragged down by the weak demand for discretionary goods and by lower demand for cough, cold and flu products, the company said.

Pharmacy sales rose 3.2 percent as the company sold more 90-day prescriptions in stores, an offering previously available only by mail. Pharmacy same-store sales rose 0.6 percent.

Walgreens closed at $35.91 a share, up 1.6 percent, in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

By Sandra M. Jones, Chicago Tribune reporter. March 24, 2010