Move to the edge of a store. Any shop. What is the first thing you see? It is probably the shop, its silent appeal to the wide world. Storefront advertising is more than paint and glass, more than it is the soul of the street marketing and the hook and bait that every customer passing by can get. And really, that is where most companies win or lose the fight to the foot traffic.
Signs call, windows flirt with your curiosity, colors explode. Recall the situation when you had seen an aroma of bread. The sweet aroma wafts out and yet your eyes are stuck to where frosted cakes stand proudly, in the front line. You cannot resist taking a peek? How many times have you been wondering around and looked in? That is what a witty window arrangement does. The storefront advertising is a theatre, a billboard, a talk with every man on the street.
Let us begin with signs. Tedious, synthetic, dissolving in a pool of mediocrity? Not at all! Bold fonts, offbeat messages, and some humor stretch far. A sandwich board with the words, “We Have Cookies-And WiFi,” can attract a morning commuter to have coffee. Neon does not belong only to diners and tattoo parlors. When it is done well, neon signs will stand out at night and remain in the mind as a catchy chorus of a song.
However, signs are not the limit. Windows graphics and decals can convey a story without uttering a single word. Consider huge inflatable lemons in the case of a juice bar, or elegant figures in the case of a shoe store. Season changes? And dance with them the display. Pseudo snow in winter, twinkle lights, pumpkins in fall–all these small details throw down seeds that will bloom into impulse purchases.
And there is the art of space itself. Have you ever looked at a store where the racks are dumping right outside their door? Baskets of spice, books enticingly piled, bunches of flowers crushed along the pavement. This breaks down the boundary between the street and store, so that people who pass by no longer feel that they are potential customers, but as the visitors to an exciting marketplace. Rain will not even dampen this effect–a sporty awning, a chalk sign joking about the weather, and all of a sudden you are the cosy bastion of the tempest.
Interactive storefronts add more fuel to the fire. Windows to the QR, smartphones scan can be used to obtain a discount. Prize wheels, selfie areas, or even small freebies: these drag people out of autopilot into real engagement. Have you ever seen someone pull over, smile and take a photograph of a witty display? Voila, your shop window has just swiped that way into their social feed.
Lighting should have a chance in the limelight. You trot a block at dusk–many the shops are grey and dull. And yet just that one window all lit up, and everything shiny, it looks like a movie. Warm lights attract human beings as flaming moths. The correct mix will make your shop a hometown institution, with word-of-mouthreferring beyond your zip code.
Innovation is profitable. Do not merely advertise products. Advertise personality. When your show implies a hint of what is within. A laundromat filled with rows of rubber ducks in the window? Not easy to remember. A window of an ice cream shop that spins its cones? Children pull their parents to the door.
In the location where there is competition, advertising faces are the most important, and that is in the busy streets, the crowded corners or the streets where people walk rather than scroll. Take a bare-faced front, and say: Whom do I aim to impress? What will one look turn them around, smile, or stop? The responses could be crazy colors, an irreverent slogan or a continually evolving mural painted by a local artist. Nobody prefers to pass through a silent storewindow. Put some meat in their mouths.
Are stickers, chalk or weird props your ideas? If you are someone who thinks that only creative types use these ideas, then you are mistaken. Whether it is the smallest taco stand or the most expensive jewelry store, the storefront that sings does everyone a favor. The store you have is a story. Turn it into something a reader can not put down, or at least, a topic-of-conversation on the street. Keep in mind: you need not yell, but you must stand up.
