Point-of-purchase (POP) has evolved exponentially from the handpainted window graphics that adorned grocery and retail stores in the early 20th Century. As the pace of daily life quickens, product manufacturers increasingly contend with harried, distracted shoppers. Therefore, the graphics that promote their offerings on aisles, endcaps, kiosks and other retail setups must engage would-be customers by differentiating themselves from competitors.
Although tradeshow-graphic applications typically vie for consumers in a more targeted, captive environment, they encounter many of the same challenges. Exhibitors with the deepest pockets often set the tone with behemoth, brilliant graphics, and others must follow suit to remain competitive. Today’s business climate, where intense competition couples with economic malaise and anxiety, increases the need for distinctive brand identity. The old maxim, “You’ve got to spend money to make money,” remains more undeniably true than ever.
Now, the hallmark of a successful campaign requires integrating such traditional goals as immediate sales increase with emerging demands for increased brand recognition and loyalty. Dick Blatt, president of the POP Assn. Intl., said a successful campaign must deliver a message to would-be consumers on both the micro level (in-store) and the macro (off-premise signage and advertising).
Michael Westcott, managing director for the Exhibit Designers and Producers Assn. (Norwalk, CT), lauded superwide, digital-printing’s functionality – with a growing array of materials and increasingly efficient, modular installation system – with helping architectural graphics “create a visual, visceral impact on their environments.”
Although they normally function in very different realms – POP usually addresses consumers directly, and tradeshow graphics typically perform in business-to-business environments – they both convey a similar message: “Look at me, now!” This gallery of unique POP and tradeshow graphics, both past and present, pays tribute to the art of visual persuasion.