New market opportunities for the sign industry

New market opportunities for the sign industry
By Denise Nathan

Today our industry can offer a huge array of applications to both the advertising and decorative market.  As printing technology improves and new self adhesive products are developed, we are in a position to expand into new markets and offer an increasing range of services.

Often our technology can replicate or improve on existing advertising media or decorative solutions or offer a completely new dimension to a potential campaign. The solutions we offer can be more price competitive and

versatile as self adhesive films are not permanent and can be installed and changed easily.

The biggest obstacle to expanding business opportunities is making corporates, graphic designers, ad agencies, specifiers, architects, interior designers and other potential users aware of the technology and also the value graphics can bring to their business. Some customers still see the sign market and technology how it was 10 to 15 years ago. Self adhesive prints are seen as simply big stickers that are not always complementary to the environment and a cheap way to advertise or decorate, fine for some clients but not high end advertising or interior design. New technology allows self adhesive films to blend into the environment in a much more attractive way. (For example exterior wall films can be conformed seamlessly into brick and textured surfaces making it look like part of the substrate , ultra clear glass films which are undetectable on window applications and textured wall films that look just like wallpaper).These types of innovations are highly attractive to high end agencies and customers and challenge their perceptions of self adhesive in a positive way.

What has also changed in the market is the way people spend their days. Life is increasingly busy and people spend more time outside the home. People are not as available to engage in the more traditional advertising mediums of television, newspapers and magazines. Also the younger generation are more likely to connect and be responsive to new technology. Products like self adhesive rear projections films offer a new type of technology in signage that can appeal to this generation. These are applications not traditionally associated with our industry.

 In the current market we only service a small range of potential applications and the more bread and butter applications are becoming increasingly more competitive. By looking for new opportunities in today’s market, a sign business could easily add one or two new application that could be a profitable addition to their current portfolio.

Below is a list of all the markets and applications we have the technology to service today.

Denise Nathan is Marketing Manager - MACtac in Oceania
denise@mactac.co.nz