NIVEN BLOG

Picture the inside of any local retail store. Aisle after aisle jam-packed with products. Dozens of competitors crammed next to each other. In these crowded spaces, where products compete for consumer attention, how do you make your display stand out? Here are six simple guidelines:

1. Embrace brand identity

Your brand’s identity not only tells consumers what you stand for, it’s key to how they experience it. This may seem obvious, but invest whatever time and effort it takes to infuse your brand’s identity into your product’s ads, packaging, and in-store displays. Challenge yourself not only to embrace it, but to express it in new ways.

2. Be different

The days of getting by with bland are over. Because consumers are exposed to more and more marketing messages every day, being noticed means being different and disruptive. So make bold design decisions. Invest in custom in-store displays. Include interactive elements. And take advantage of technology.

3. Disrupt the aisle

As you might expect, displays featuring sound and video can be very effective at grabbing a browsing consumer’s attention. But it’s not as simple as adding a screen to your display. The trick is creating content that is both helpful and entertaining, without being annoying. Also, timely content updates help keep your display fresh—and help keep shoppers from tuning out.

4. Keep it clean

While it’s tempting to cram as much information as possible into ads, packaging and displays, don’t. Not only has design evolved toward cleaner, more elegant looks, but too much information is a turnoff to time-strapped consumers. Focus your design efforts on marketing materials that make a clean and clear statement about what your brand stands for.

5. Go for engagement

You can’t always build custom displays. But when you do, make sure they give consumers a reason to stop and engage. Do your displays draw people in with an intriguing story?  Do they highlight specific product or brand elements? Are they consistent from store to store? Or do they simply jar shoppers with glitz and flash?

6. Be authentic

Today’s consumers are savvier than ever. And their brand expectations are higher than ever. So, circling back to our first tip, it’s important for your brand’s design, display and messaging to present an authentic image of your brand. If you don’t stand for something, you will get lost in the crowd.

The good news is, you don’t to figure it out alone. A reliable design/build vendor like Niven can help you with technology, testing—anything you need to create displays that attract, engage, and excite consumers.