By Blythe Langley
Designer

How many times have you stood in line at a store waiting to check out, grabbed the small item on a nearby shelf and made an unplanned purchase? Point-of-purchase (POP) is defined as a place where sales are made; the point at which a customer decides to purchase or pass over a product. What are the components of a design that make your point-of-purchase design stop the customer and encourage them to purchase?

Take the road less traveled.
Your point-of-purchase design should stop people in their tracks; make a statement. If all the competition goes with red boxes, take the road less traveled and go with blue. You want to use a design that is going to let you stand out and be set apart from the competition; don’t blend in with the group, stand out in front. Ask yourself, “What is going to make them see my product first?”

STOP.
We face visual cues in our lives everyday. Have you ever wondered about the design of the stop sign? The stop sign was created as an octagonal shape so it was easily distinguishable from other traffic signs that were all of similar shapes and sizes and so it could be identified even from behind. Designers (or more likely roadway engineers in this case) knew that this sign carried an important message to be conveyed. The only way for it to succeed in doing so was to be visually compelling and stand out amongst all the other signs on the road, hence the 8 sides and the bright red color. Can you think of another sign that looks the same?

Apply the STOP concept to your design.
Although that stop sign is certainly not trying to sell a product, it succeeds in the area of stopping the eye visually, which is the effect your point-of-purchase design needs to have. Make it POP. Think outside the box, perhaps literally in this sense. Products don’t need to be unappealingly stacked upon one another in a plain box with just your brand identity logo displayed, or do they?

Be true to your brand.
The first step is to know your brand and to know the competition around you. If your brand identity and overall brand presence is very clean and sophisticated, I would suggest avoiding the neon flashing lights, backed by hoards of bells and whistles. Sometimes clean simple design is all it takes to stand out from competitive point-of-purchase designs around you that are crammed and cluttered with information and other elements.

Start your own trend.
If your brand happens to be a little more energetic and bold, have some fun with your point-of-purchase design. Consider materials outside the norm and colors that will stand out that will make people think, “HEY, I’ve just got to see what this is”. Take a look at what your competition is doing and, perhaps, go one step in the other direction, or more importantly, one step above and make yourself stand out. Start a new trend instead of following the current one.

Want your point-of-purchase design to POP and STOP customers in their tracks? Give us a call and let’s make some stop signs together.