The Value of Signs

Spa Crafters (San Antonio) had an old sign from the 1980s. Fred Bonilla, the president of the company, referred to it as "just a sign, a marker for the store." The company regularly spent money on advertising: television, radio, magazine and newspaper. "Even with this type of exposure, it wasn’t bringing in the traffic," Bonilla said.

Yet 200,000 cars drove past the store everyday. So the company bought a sign through Southwest Signs, a local sign company, that also included a Daktronics electronic message center. Bonilla observed, "I think it’s more effective than almost any media we’ve ever used. I have a captive audience in our area, not just a broad range where it’s hit or miss. With other advertising media, you can spend thousands of dollars and maybe get one customer.

"The sign changed our approach to advertising 100%. Last year, I spent $150,000 in TV advertising. This year, we’ve only advertised on our sign, and we have more customers," Bonilla added.

We will continue to post testimonials here about the benefits of signage.