"If one advances confidently in the direction of their dreams, and endeavors to live the life which they have imagined, then they will meet with success unexpected in common hours."
-- Henry David Thoreau

by Jami Petersen

This week, we present an article from our archives fitting both for the time of year and for the new year. Store signage and displays are a necessary part of advertising and marketing, but how do you make them work to your advantage? Read the article and learn again why partnerships are key.  

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Adhesives

Occasionally Scrapbooking.com Magazine would like your opinions on different topics that are relevant to the craft industry. We would appreciate your valuable feedback about adhesives:

Click here to participate. . .
 

Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.

Condé Nast Pulls Plug on Teen Web Properties. Conde Nast suffered another blow with news that Flip.com, their online social-networking/scrapbooking site aimed at teenage girls, was shutting down effective December 16.
 

Unibind Unveils MyPhotoBook Starter Kit for Photo Book Creation for Labs and Retailers. Peleman Industries, Inc., manufacturer of the award-winning Unibind high-quality binding, lamination and presentation product line, announced the Unibind "MyPhotoBook Starter Kit," which lets photo labs, photo stores, retailers, and drug stores, quickly and easily create photo books for their customers with almost no investment in time or money.

More people are making homemade gifts. "Given today’s economic woes, you won’t be the only person going for DIY instead of reaching for the ATM. Craft-store officials say more people are considering making homemade gifts this year."

by Dennis A. Conforto, A-Z Media Group, Inc.

Point-of-Purchase (POP) is a part of the last three feet of your adverting budget. Think about it, if you’re a manufacturer, you spend advertising dollars in the industry magazines to drive traffic to retail stores that carry your products. If you’re a retailer, you spend your advertising dollars to drive traffic to your specific store. In addition, retailers spend marketing dollars on store signage, bringing in those who are driving past your store. Once the consumers are in your parking lot, you spend more money on your window displays to get them to walk through the front doors.

During each of these marketing steps, you draw the customer closer and closer to the store. You can measure these investments by feet. For example: 85% of your business will come from consumers within 25 miles of your store. If you don’t believe it, start tracking your sales by zip code and you will see this number for the most part is true; there are exceptions, but they are far and few between. In short, your email, postcard, newspaper, radio and TV spots are to get them to the road outside your parking lot - in other words, a few hundred feet from your front door. From there, your store signage pulls them into the parking lot; your window signage pulls them in the front door; and your category signage takes them to the product.

Now you’re down to the last 3 feet of what, in effect, will be your sale. Studies show that 75% of all consumer purchase decisions happen within the store. And this is key, because the other, larger forms of advertising drive the consumer to the store, but it is your POP signage that helps them to decide on what they want to purchase and how much.

POP advertising is a joint venture between retailer and manufacturer. A retailer can tell whether manufacturer is retail-oriented by the POP tools they provide when the product is purchased. Having said that, if the manufacturer isn’t retail-oriented enough to have POP tools then the retailer shouldn’t use that as an excuse for not having the POP tools they need to sell products within the store.

POP advertising tools are meant to attract the eye and typically have one of three messages: Click here to read the entire article.

If you would like to comment directly to Dennis about this article or have him address a subject matter in future articles feel free to email him directly at dconforto@a-z.com.

PSRO 

Dedicated to those helping consumers preserve treasured memories.

The Professional Scrapbook Retailers Organization™ (PSRO™) bridges together retailers and suppliers for insight into the memories market.

Through educational programs, business services, industry research, networking, and events, PSRO leads its members to discover, understand, and act on new business opportunities.

For more information, or to join PSRO, visit www.psro.org or contact our member service department at 517-788-8100.

NEW PRODUCTS MAKE THE BUSIEST SHIPPING DAY OF THE YEAR EASIER AND FASTER

This year, the holiday ritual of mailing cards and packages will be easier and faster thanks to new product features from Avery Dennison, including: Easy Peel Address Labels that feature the new Pop-up Edge™; Avery Shipping Labels that now utilize TrueBlock™ technology; and the newest version of the Avery Holiday Wizard.

Holiday Cards and Gift Labels

For holiday cards and gifts, Avery Easy Peel Labels with the new Pop-up Edge™ make it easier to peel labels off the paper backing. Avery® Easy Peel® labels with the new Pop-up Edge™ are available in both clear and
white. With the new Pop-up Edge TM feature, you just bend the sheet to
expose the edges and when you’re done, the sheet stays intact and goes back to flat.

For a limited time, a special holiday edition of Avery Clear Easy Peel® Address Labels, item #18660 will be available at stores. This pack of 300 clear 1” x 2-5/8” labels includes a copy of the Holiday Wizard software inside the package. The clear labels virtually disappear for a professional, custom-printed look.

Holiday Packages and Shipping Labels

Just in time for the holidays, Avery Dennison has introduced Avery Shipping Labels with new TrueBlock™ Technology, which completely cover up any writing or labels underneath so boxes can be reused, saving time and money, while maintaining a professional appearance.

“Avery Shipping Labels mean no more cutting and taping of handwritten pieces of paper,” said Sarah Butler, Group Manager, Labels for Avery Dennison. “With our labels, you get a clean, professional look in minutes. Now, consumers can save time and money by reusing boxes with a shipping label that completely blocks out what’s underneath.”

Avery Shipping Labels come in a variety of sizes suited for padded envelopes, mailing tubes, and corrugate boxes. Whatever your shipping label need, Avery has the size that is right for you.

Quickly Turn Address Lists into Festive Labels

The new Avery Wizard Holiday Edition, a free software download program available at www.avery.com, lets consumers create personalized holiday address labels and tags using the Wizard’s pre-designed holiday templates. The easy-to-use software also helps consumers incorporate family photos or other images for more personalized mailing labels and gift tags.

“The new Holiday Edition of the Avery Wizard will help simplify holiday tasks while also adding style to mailings and other holiday projects,”
said Brenda Dillon, Group Manager, Software Marketing for Avery Dennison. “Consumers can now easily create professional looking labels, tags, cards and even dinner menus on their home computers while still including that personal touch.”

The updated version of the software is now Windows Vista™ compatible and guides users through mail merges to effortlessly import address lists or other data from Microsoft® Excel and other popular database programs.

For more information about Avery-brand products, including the free Avery Wizard Holiday Edition download, consumers can visit the Avery Dennison Worldwide Office Products Web site at www.avery.com or call the Avery Dennison Consumer Service Center at 1-800-GO-AVERY (1-800-462-8379).