Shopping is boring. There’s too much to look at. Or you’ve seen everything. Shopping is frustrating. It takes too long to find what you want or compromise is required to get close to what you need. Shopping takes time. No one has enough time.  It’s one of the reasons that brand marketing programs are so successful. Recognition makes shoppers feel like they are in the right place. Familiarity puts them at ease. When they are comfortable, they spend money.

So what happens when you mix it up? What happens if your point-of-purchase display forces customers out of their old familiar comfort zone? Point-of-purchase displays are a prime opportunity to punch up a marketing campaign and snag lagging attention. It’s more than a box to hold a display at eye-level. It should engage the senses, invite a shopper to step out and experience the product. Even Costco, while minimal at best, does not accept a plain, solid color cardboard in its store displays.

An experienced P.O.P designer can help you create displays that balance the old familiar with the new and emerging. Look for innovation and interactivity to be the cornerstone of brand marketing programs in the coming years. Along with the design, color and user-experience, a good P.O.P. designer will incorporate other important design considerations such as shipping, set up and client usability.

Step out of your own comfort zone. Consumers are changing every day. Are you keeping up?

Recently at a big box pet store I observed very prominent placement of a display for doggie-wear. “Dogs Need Clothes Too!” proudly proclaimed the signage that swooped across a quite impressive wall of canine couture. Shirts, skirts, scarves and adornments dominated the aisle.

How would a reasonable person – say, one who might be the owner of a pampered pooch—respond to the statement, “Dogs Need Clothes, Too?”  A: You bet they do! Hand me that chemise! B: What dogs need clothes? C: They most certainly do NOT and where are the flea collars? D: What about cats? Don’t cats need clothes?

The point is that the statement can be construed as bordering on absurdity. No, a reasonable person would not likely argue that dogs need clothes, and would most likely notice that your display claims they do. So, it got their attention, what’s wrong with that? A couple things are wrong with the grab-their-attention-with-the-ridiculous tactic. First, it’s insulting. They know what you are trying to do. They know that every POP display or piece of signage in that store is driving a sale. It’s also wasting their shopping time. How about a bit of useful, convincing information about doggie clothing? Dogs need food, water, shelter and love. Turn those facts into statements such as “Protects their skin in harsh weather!” or “Doggie Clothes = Security in a Shirt.” Why make your clients struggle with a baseless fact that distracts from the purpose of the display in the first place?

Cats, for the record, do not have nearly the attire selection that dogs do. As any cat person will tell you, cats are unanimously opposed to being treated like dogs.