Display Advertising:

Point-of-sale display reinforces that vital urge to buy created by the initial publicity. This form of display does, in fact carry the last selling word to the customer, before he actually leans over the counter to deliver his order to the shopkeeper.

Here is a unique selling opportunity which no salesman worth his salt would dream of missing, if personal salesmanship at this juncture were both acceptable and practicable.

Why, then, do so many firms treat the creation of point-of-sale .display material as worthy of little more than second hand interest? The answer lies in the fact that the pulling power of this publicity medium has still not yet won universal recognition, despite recent advances in design and manufacture. There can be no doubt, however, in the effectiveness of counter and window displays.

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What are the ingredients of a good display piece? They are originality, sincerity and quality in that order. Originality because the display must above all else be ‘eye-catching’; sincerity because its sale-message must win home to the heart of the reader; and quality because a cheap and shoddy display reflects directly on the status and prestige of the company producing the product advertised.

Variation in Display:

There is one further important point in connection with displays which is often overlooked-and that is, one display can only be effective for a certain period. Allow it to remain too long and customers will not even notice it; it will have become part of the shop fittings. Variation and change-therein lays the secret of successful point-of-sale display, allied with the qualities listed earlier.

Packaging:

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Packaging in many respects is akin to point-of-sale display and is, of course, vitally important. Essential factors again are originality, sincerity and quality. The packet of a product is a constant advertisement and as such requires the closest consideration in design and production. It should be pleasing, durable and allow easy access to the product.

In the last few years great strides have been made in package design and today some of the best creative brains in the publicity world are engaged in this sphere of sales promotion and cannot be disregarded.

The Industrial Market Advertising:

From the domestic market we come to the second advertising front-the industrial market. Selling here differs greatly from selling in the domestic consumer field. Industrial buyers are precisely informed about their needs and generally about the range of products that are available for them to choose from. The products are not bought over the counters, but are ordered from visiting representatives, frequently supported by technical experts with a comprehensive knowledge of the particular industry being served. Some industrial commodities are bought on specification, so in theory there should be little difference between the products of competing suppliers.