Richard Poyant, Poyant Signs

In today’s competitive retail environment, the strength and relevance of your brand image is more important than ever. Your on premise signage plays a major role in what your customers perceive of your brand and your business, and many retailers fail to take advantage of the power of visual communications. Keeping your image fresh, bright and eye catching will attract new business and instill confidence that you understand how to deliver results.

Retail developers are challenged with creating a unique and memorable shopping environment in order to stay relevant amongst the growing number of shopping centers, malls, and outlets. Today’s customers are looking for an experience, not just a new pair of shoes. Your brand tells a story, your story, and stories are experience retold. What story is your brand telling? Cool, fun, hip, serious, tired, boring. Where would you go hang out and buy those new shoes? Branding matters, signage matters.

Strong visual branding is the most cost effective way to increase your brand recognition amongst retailers and consumers. When considering different signage options, keep these tips in mind:

• Keep it consistent, visible and legible – Your “streetscape” is your “first impression” and it must project the positive image you want the public to have of your shopping center.

• Tell your own unique story – Consider what it is that your clients, visitors, and customers value about your location, tenant mix, unique property features and what it is that they will like about the products and services that you offer them and leverage those characteristics in the new design. This is how to keep your brand alive and flourishing.

• Design – Your design must make a powerful statement that supports and enhances the customer’s experience and the story you are telling.

Your updated “streetscape” will make thousands of impressions every day creating top of the mind awareness. A well-developed and well-executed branding program will create a visitor experience that your customer desires and it will tell your story.

Case study: When the team at Retail Management & Development approached Poyant in November of 2014, they were looking for a dramatic way to leverage the high visibility and traffic exposure for their new shopping center in Waltham, Mass.

The project involved the redevelopment of an aging and long-deserted Polaroid campus. In its place is a revitalized 280,000 s/f mixed-use development which includes corporate offices for the new U.S. headquarters for Clarks Shoes, anchored by an expansive Market Basket supermarket alongside a bustling Marshalls and new restaurants including Not Your Average Joes, Jake ‘n Joes and Flank – New American Beefsteak.

Poyant’s project team collaborated with the owner and SGA (Spagnolo Gisness & Associates, Inc.) to develop and implement a total branding package for this high visibility location.

The goals for the project included:

1. Create a look that conveys an exciting shopping experience.

2. Provide advertising capacity for the number of tenants in the shopping center.

3. Work within a cost-effective budget.

4. High durability and low maintenance of the new branding elements.

With these goals in mind, the Poyant branding team developed a complete branding package to reflex the design concepts set forth by the project team to reflect the center’s location along Rte. 128 and the local area including Waltham, Weston, Wellesley and Lincoln among others.

The branding package included the fabrication and installation of custom architectural rail systems with wood grain finishes to enhance the retail storefronts. A specific feature of the rail system is the custom faux wood grain paint finish that compliments the other materials and finishes of the building. Extensive prototyping was involved during the approval process since this was a key architectural element to the building.

The custom aluminum rail systems are used to mount tenant identification signage including 4’-6” high and 6”-0” high LED Illuminated Channel Letters for Market Basket and Marshalls.

The branding package also included custom fabricated Halo Illuminated entrance signs that are manufactured from aluminum with large LED Halo lit channel for the 1265 Main logo and stencil cut graphics with push thru illumination. Wayfinding signage throughout the property provides the essential information to guide and direct customers through and around the shopping center.

A large quantity of the windows are branded with lifestyle graphics for the Market Basket café using 3 million white translucent vinyl with four color direct printing. The vinyl is applied to the outside of the glass for a welcoming and inviting environment.

This phase of the project was completed in November 2016, on-time and on-budget and is considered a success by all involved.

To learn more about developing cost effective solutions that reflect your brand and values to your customers, Poyant welcomes you to contact us for more information. Visit our website at www.poyantsigns.com.

Richard Poyant is the president of Poyant Signs, New Bedford, Mass.