"So, You Want to Buy a Display?" - A behind the scenes look at the process of buying a display.

With that simple statement a lot of things happen. Many of these happenings are behind the scenes. When you see a play on stage, you have no idea of what is happening on the other side of the curtain. The lighting technicians, grips who move the scenery, costume people and the stage manager who runs the show, all working to make the play a success. 

So it is with a display, many people that you will never meet will be working to make your display a success. We would like to take you backstage so to speak and show you how a display is created and produced.

The very first and most important step is to get to know your AE or sales person. He or she is your primary contact with your In-store marketing company. They will guide you through the entire process and should faithfully translate your input to their companies creative and marketing teams. A great part of the value of a good representative is not only translating your input, but to also have the insight to read between the lines.

Objectives and budget are the next most important things to be considered. Your AE will be asking you all kinds of questions concerning your objectives. If you are not totally open and forthcoming you could be leading the creative team down false alleys and may be disappointed with the results.

Now comes the dreaded question what is your budget. Many clients refuse or are reluctant to reveal budgets, afraid they will not get the true cost of the display.  This is far from the truth, without a budget the creative team doesn't know where to target their design. Do they design a $1,000 dollar unit or a $50.00 dollar unit. Most likely the design you get back will miss the mark. With accurate budget figures your design will be close to on target. You will also need to give your AE a realistic schedule as to when the display must be in the field. Your target date can affect the design and whether or not your program can be executed in the allotted time frame.

With the budget and objectives in hand your AE will meet with a creative and marketing team assigned to your account. They will go over your input looking at your objectives. Who are your customers, your competition, your marketplace? What do we need to do to beat the competition? Are the displays going into big box outlets, or ma and pa locations and what are their requirements. More then once excellent displays have been turned down by the big box outlets because they did not meet specified requirements. There are dozens of questions that must be answered before a design is even started. Many times you will receive additional calls from an AE asking questions that came up during the creative meetings.

Now the creative team goes to work. Some designers still use pen and pencils others today open up their PC's. Sometime it takes dozen or more tries other times the first shot is a winner. The ideas are now reviewed by your AE and the marketing team. A selection is made and the design is refined for presentation. At the same time estimating and production are called in to see if the cost is on target and if there are any production hurdles that must be taken into account. Timing here is also very important. What is the lead time to obtain the various materials? What will this do to a production schedule?

When all the pieces are together, your AE and possible the team will make a presentation to you. You should see a computer generated design. Some companies will also show you your display in a computer generated setting and if they are skilled in today's technology you will be able to give you an animated presentation in which you can move your display around. You will be able to see the display from the front, back, top, bottom any angle you desire.

Once you have reviewed your display and the estimated price the next step will be a prototype. At this point most companies will charge for a prototype, this fee usually is refunded when you go into production. A physical prototype is necessary for a number of reasons. First is to work out production problems and determine the final price and finally it is your last chance to make changes before production.
 

The computer generated designs most likely were to scale, which means they can be accurately translated to engineering drawings for the production team. At this point the production partners will be called in to go over the drawings with the creative and production teams. They will sort out the details and establish a timetable for each component and assembly.
 

The one of a kind, components will be delivered to the assembly point which most likely will be at the companies headquarters. Production and creative teams will then test, evaluate and assemble the components. Once this has been done a very critical evaluation of the display takes place. This is the first look to see if the design works and can be produced as is. Many times parts need to be reengineered or modified. When they feel everything is right they will call in your AE for a final evaluation.
 

The next step is to present the display to you for approval. Depending on size this is either done in your office or at the assemble point. Now it is your decision, does it work, or does it need some final tweaking. Once you give the OK and the purchase order is signed the real work begins. The display is broken down so that the engineers and creative can begin to make an instruction sheet, how does (A) go into (B) and so forth. Once this is done the carton designers take over. Few people think of this, but it takes highly skilled and talented people to design a carton to fit all the components. The carton must be built to safely contain the components as well as to meet shipping requirements.

The display is now taken apart and production begins. Timing, coordination, and quality control now become vitally important. The production team must make sure everything comes together with the highest quality.  Depending on the complexity of the display eight to twelve weeks must be allowed for production. Much of this depends on the lead time necessary for materials.
 

Many companies today allow clients to view the progress of their displays on secure web sites. This helps with your planning and distribution.
 

Sometime in this period your AE will come to you with a request for distribution. It is important to get this information as soon as possible. If everything is going to your warehouse there is no problem, but if it is nationwide from the production point it takes time to do labels and arrange for trucking. Many display programs have been late because distribution was difficult to get or it was left to the last moment.

Now comes the moment of truth that no one likes to talk about. In a perfect world everything goes as planned. But this is a single performance show and things can happen. Materials can be late, machines can break down, shipping can go awry, pieces can be damaged and customers can be counted on not to follow the instruction sheets. All of this can happen and none of it can happen. A good In-store marketing company does not stop its service when the display leaves the dock. They will most likely set up a hotline to take care of shipping problems, missing and damaged parts as well as customer questions.
 

The important thing is that your AE is on top of it advising you of problems in advance so there are no surprises. The goal is to for you and your In-store marketing program to be a complete success.