POP Goes the Market
POS and POP signage is increasingly becoming one of the more important aspects of advertising and promotion. WFI uncovers what’s new, what’s hot, and what’s happening in the world of POP and POS.
There are many different types of equipment in the marketplace today and Coyle Reproductions employs a wide variety of printers. “If we’re screen printing, 5- and 6-color inlines like our Thieme (62x102 inches), CMS (62x84 inches) or Argon (72x148 inches) would be typically used for producing large-format graphics cost effectively in quantities of 150 or more,” said Jacobs. “If the quantities are less then that, our digital presses like our Durst Rho, Acuity, Inca flatbed or the Scitex grand-format printer would be the choices depending on the resolution requirements of the client.”
Coyle recently completed a job for a small chain of fast casual restaurants called Farmer Boys, which was challenged with the task of creating a new indoor and outdoor menu-board system. “Their current boards were not easy to navigate, they were not flexible in there ability to add items or change pricing and the graphics were not of a quality that would create appeal that typically drives incremental sales,” said Jacobs. “Through our design and engineering capabilities we came up with a completely new and innovative menu-board program that successfully accomplished all of their objectives.” The net result was an almost immediate increase in business of five to eight percent.
Holland & Crosby
The old saying “bigger is better” has never been more true than it is right now in the world of POS, according to Scott Crosby, vice president of sales and marketing at Holland & Crosby Limited, Mississauga ON, Canada. “Retailers are looking for larger spaces to communicate with their prospective customers in an effort to hold onto their share of an increasingly tough and competitive marketplace,” he said. “Window graphics, wall graphics, large banners, column wraps, food-court tables and chairs…anyplace that is common and beyond the perimeter of the store itself [is a potential POS].”
Holland & Crosby has three large-format digital presses: an Inca Onset S70 digital flatbed with a 5x10-foot printing surface; an Inca Onset S20 digital flatbed with a 5x10-foot printing surface; and a Durst Rho 320R digital roll-to-roll which is three meters wide.
The company just handled the opening of a new store in the Toronto market. The POP support at the mall was quite extensive, according to Crosby. “It turned out to be the biggest grand opening in the company’s history,” he reported.
KDM
Marketers are continuing to execute more local, customized campaigns, said Maureen Gumbert, marketing manager, KDM P.O.P. Solutions Group, Cincinnati, OH. “Digital Print-on-Demand and Variable Data Printing methods are requested more in order for the campaign to be more relevant to the particular demographics,” she said. “We are also seeing a decline in the larger, blanket orders to be held for fulfillment. It is more affordable now to order just what they need.”
The trend, according to Gumbert, continues to be shorter lead times in order to provide greater speed to market. Thus, the amount of wide-format digital printing has increased.
“Wide-format printing has allowed an increase in the amount of, and type of, substrates that are available to print on,” she explained. “For example, a slew of fabrics for soft signage are available through dye sublimation. We can direct print via flatbed technology to wood, metal, and about any plastic or paper substrate. So, the possibilities to stand out at the store level are huge.”
While Gumbert has not seen an increase in any one certain type of POP or a particular material/substrate request, she has noticed one surprising trend. “Many clients have put their requests for green processes and green materials on the backburner,” she reported, adding that with so many more green substrates available, “We will be ready when the market requests green again.”
KDM’s Digital Print division has been growing for the last several years, which has allowed the company to move forward with the recent purchase of its second new HP Scitex FB7500 UV flatbed. This, in turn, has increased the company’s productivity to include 13 large-format digital presses. Other flatbed presses include the Vutek QS3200 126-inch, Vutek QS2000 80-inch, and the roll-to-sheet HP TurboJet 8550. Rolled media presses include HP DesignJets, Seiko 64S Eco-Solvent for outdoor, Roland SolJet Pro for dye sublimation and an Oce Lightjet 430 for continuous tone photographic imaging. The company also purchased its second MGE I-cut digital die-cutter in order to keep up with the finishing of the digitally printed workflow.
