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Talk about floor graphics to Sheldon Hurst III, chief executive officer of Georgia Printco in Valdosta, GA, and a degree of amazement seems to enter his voice.
"One of the things I have seen is that most of my clients have no idea we have floor graphics available for them in certain applications," says Hurst, whose eight-year-old shop sells to middlemen who in turn sell to their own customers. "We have floor graphics appropriate for carpets, for indoor surfaces, and for sidewalks. And as soon as they learn that, they begin to market these items. They find it's a higher margin item."
That higher margin flows from the fact floor graphics are newer and easier and faster to produce than other media, Hurst says. And when clients see floor graphics, they're impressed and willing to pay more for this fairly recent marketing innovation. "Think of all the strip malls and retail locations, the sports stadiums and arenas," Hurst says. "Think of all the advertising space not utilized before. Now it's wide open."
It is, thanks to floor graphics.
Upsurge From Down Low
Floor graphics have gained prominence for several reasons, says Rich Hoban, president of Orangeburg, NY-based aitdigital, which produces floor graphics, banners, and vehicle wraps for Polo by Ralph Lauren, The Children's Place, and Manhattan radio stations Power 105 and K-Rock, among others.
First, he says, advertising is so pervasive today that advertisers are seeking new places to position ads. Second, studies have shown those visiting sporting and other venues actually spend much of their time looking down. Third, the technologies beyond floor graphics have evolved to the point where shorter runs can be highly cost-effective.
"Even in the mid-1990s, you could do [floor graphics]," Hoban says. "But the economies of the equipment at that time lent themselves to much longer runs, because there was so much waste. You'd have to print them on paper, then transfer them to vinyl. That process involved a lot of set-up and a lot of waste. With the direct printers we use today, you're getting a good image with almost no waste."
This evolution has yielded the ability to serve much smaller clients, Hoban says. To produce profit on floor graphics, shops once had to service those comparatively few companies that required many, many copies of the same image. Today, shops can earn a profit turning out work for very small enterprises, such as single entrepreneurs needing short runs of different images around a kiosk, he reports.
Floor graphics are also a growing part of the business at Spring Grove, IL-based Road Rage Designs, a nine-year-old shop originally known for its vehicle wraps. After adding an HP 10000, the business is now expanding to serve other client demands as well, such as floor graphics, says Road Rage president and CEO Mike Grillo.
One of the shop's recent high-profile jobs was a floor graphics installation at Regional Sports Center in Crystal Lake, IL, north of Chicago. "They want to start selling their floor as advertising space," Grillo says. "We're doing a 16 by 16-foot floor graphic for them, offering the message right when you walk through the door that they're making floor space available to advertisers. We're making it look like a swimming pool on the floor. It looks very 3-D, with the information floating in the 'water' to draw attention."
Road Rage Designs is also teaming with MG Designs of Kenosha, WI, and producing a floor graphic supporting L'Oreal at cosmetic industry trade shows. "They're going to take the design and take it out on the road," Grillo says. "We're outlining all their floors in a 15-inch perimeter strip that goes around the floor."
Another shop responding to greater interest in floor graphics is Quick William Inc., in Boscawen, NH, about 80 miles north of Boston. "We're getting more requests," says owner Bill Dorvillier, who recently produced an array of floor graphic samples for a local ad agency, which in turn sold a bank on the idea of installing floor graphics at one of its branches. Dorvillier hopes all 17 branches eventually adopt the graphics.
"This agency is very creative, and they understand you have to continue to try new things," he says. "It's like the general says, 'If you're going to commit your troops to battle, commit your whole army, and win the battle.' Don't monkey around...The bank really likes it. They tell us everyone sees it and comments on it."
Trending Toward Service
Hoban sees a number of trends influencing today's floor graphics marketplace. One of the most obvious is that advertiser interest in this medium is growing.
"The volume of customer requests for floor graphics has increased substantially in the year-over-year comparisons we've been seeing," Hoban observes.
Another prominent trend is a growing use of dye-cut floor graphics in an infinite number of innovative shapes. An electronic dye-cutter is used by aitdigital to create one-offs of any shape advertisers might want. That once was an expensive and time-consuming process, but can now be accomplished electronically by uploading a file to the dye cutter. The machine then automatically cuts the graphic to the shape desired.
The electronic dye-cutter was put to good use in work aitdigital recently finished for State Farm. The shop was assigned to recreate hundreds of red circle floor graphics reflecting the graphics in the current State Farm television campaign. The red circles have appeared in shopping malls throughout the country, Hoban reports.
Speaking of distinctively shaped floor graphics, Hoban says creating such shapes is easier than ever, and therefore increasingly cost-effective.
"For that reason, the designers will utilize that [technology] and not limit their creativity," he reports. "It's another tool they have without adding substantial expense."
While not necessarily a trend, displaying a customer-focused service mentality appears to increasingly resonate with customers, Hoban believes. "We tend to think of ourselves not only as a printer, but as a one-stop full service organization," he says.
"A lot of what we do is to help the customers deliver these graphics. We'll kit pack and drop ship them to various locations, usually 100 to 200 locations on jobs like the one for State Farm. We write and include instructional sheets, and even place the actual squeegee for the application in the box. So when the user opens the box, they don't have to hunt for anything. Once the package ships, we track the shipment and make sure the product has arrived and the right person has it in their hands."
Like Hurst, Grillo believes folks aren't yet widely aware of the possibilities of floor graphics. That gives shops like his the chance to sell and really create the kinds of images they want for the floors, he says. "The floor graphic at the sports arena is our own design and concept," he reports. "It's a market you have to create for yourself. People aren't breaking down your doors to have you do floor graphics for them.
"You'll see it at Menard's [Midwest home center chain]. But the small companies aren't necessarily thinking about floor graphics. You have to bring it to their attention."
Serving the floor graphic market can be appealing for a shop like Road Rage Designs because of the synergies existing between floor, wall and tabletop graphics, Grillo says. All these types of graphics can be marketed the same way, and often promoted together. They also can be created with the same substrates and printers.
Grillo reports using the same materials—a combination of Avery MPI 1800, a very aggressive material, and GBC's Arctic Floormat—for both floor graphics and table graphics at bowling alleys, such as one he's currently working on in Union Grove, WI. "They hold up well on tables and fantastic on floors," he says. "The same characteristics work well on tablecloths, and in fact last longer on tabletops than on floors."
As for Quick William's Dorvillier, he believes the creativity that is poured into the messaging and art in floor graphics will be key to how big a role they play in advertising. There are a lot of floor graphics in the typical supermarket, but customers don't really see them anymore, because they aren't very creative, he opines.
"If you look at graphics that get people's attention, they will be big and bright, with simple text and graphics, and offer images people relate to: a house, a car, other people," he remarks. "This is what people actually see."
A final crucial factor is how quickly graphics are replaced when replacement is needed. Dorvillier's team informs the personnel at the bank displaying his floor graphics to peel off the graphics when they begin looking worn, then to call Quick William for a new graphic. "Once they start looking ratty, you're giving the wrong message," he says.
Future Floors
Experts in this area of wide-format imaging believe there is solid growth ahead for floor graphics. "People are very smart, and they'll find additional areas on the floor and other spaces to advertise," Hoban says. "I also believe there will be advancements in materials that will aid in enhancing the appearance of the graphics, as well as their installation. Putting it down on the floor smoothly is an acquired skill."
Dorvillier is convinced floor graphics, when done correctly, have the power to sell. "I think it holds a lot of potential," he said of the medium. "There are a lot of possible applications for floor graphics that are being overlooked."
Hurst foresees the growth of floor graphics someday leveling off. When that happens, floor graphics will become a commodity that's part of a package every shop offers. Until then, he says, "we expect it to climb and climb and climb."
Jeff Steele is a freelance writer who specializes in the field of business management, marketing, and protocol, especially as they apply to wide-format printing firms. Contact him at scribsteel@ameritech.net.
author: BY JEFFREY STEELE