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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Roping up Fabric Banners for Rodeos

Fabric Banners for a Rodeo

Special events are an increasingly important branding opportunity for the Nackard Companies and the beverage brands it represents in the Arizona market. As the beverage distributor’s experience with Dew Downtown, the annual snow-shredding competition through downtown Flagstaff, has illustrated, a successful and growing special event provides brand saturation beyond the point of sale.

This summer is rodeo season in Arizona, and Nackard is branding at four different rodeos. The first one of the summer started just three years ago and Nackard was there as a sponsor and a print provider from the beginning.

The Chuck Sheppard Memorial Roping event at the Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo Grounds brings calf and team ropers together to honor Chuck Sheppard, a famous horseman and roper, and to support various area scholarships.

Fabric Banners by the Nackard CompaniesWith an average of about 30 sponsors per year, Nackard’s job is to provide 3×8 banners to line the fences around the rodeo grounds. Steve Lalio, P.O.P. shop manager for the Nackard Companies, created a template that includes one of Nackard’s brands and one of the sponsoring companies.

The rodeo’s first request was for banners that wouldn’t make a lot of noise when they flapped in the breeze and struck the fencing. It seems the animals get a little spooked when that happens, and the last thing a roper needs is a spooked animal in the ring.

So, Lalio suggested LexJet Poly Select Heavy for the banners, and the solution worked. Though it’s a heavy, durable fabric, it doesn’t make a lot of noise against the fencing if it flaps around, or at least enough noise to get up the hackles of a bull.

“If every sponsor notices what we did with the banners, they’ll want the fabric material because they print well, look nice and are lighter than typical banner material,” says Lalio, who prints the banners on the shop’s Canon iPF8000S. “What’s also nice about the fabric is that we can run them without lamination, so all we do is print, put Banner Ups and grommets in the corner, roll them up and send them out.”

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Holiday Spirit at the Point of Sale

Holiday Donation Train by Nackard CompaniesThe Nackard Companies recently partnered with a number of sponsors, northern Arizona police departments and area stores to help with a food, coat and toy drive this Holiday season.

This worthy cause is being set up around a Pepsi products display with 12-packs formed in the shape of a train. Shoppers can find out more from the informational flyers attached to the “train” and make their donations.

The Nackard Companies sales department, led by Daniel Josytewa, built the display and the P.O.P. sign crew printed the graphics that complete the “train” with printed wheels. All of the graphics, informational flyers and banners promoting the drive were printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polyproplylene.

Donation Train Display“For the indoor graphics we use a luster laminate to cut down on the glare from the lights, and outdoors we typically use a gloss laminate to give it a little more pop,” says Steve Lalio, shop manager. “We hand-cut each train wheel out and attached them to the display with double-sided tape. We’ve used adhesive-backed material before, and it looks great, but it ruins the packages.”

The “roof” of the “train” has a 1×1 frame with a sheet of 4×8 Coroplast and 6″-diameter PVC piping for the “smokestack.” The banners that point to the display are 3×10, the flyers are 11×17, the big wheel on the train is three feet in diameter, the smaller wheels are about 17″ x 17″ and the arms connecting the wheels are five feet and two-and-a-half feet long.

Toy Drive BannerThe display will be up and collecting donations, and thirsty patrons, through Christmas. “We’re trying to create displays that are simple and cost-effective, yet are effective in getting the information across,” adds Lalio.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Securing Valuable Advertising Space with Removable Wall Graphics

Inkjet Printed Wall Mural

The name of the game in the beverage distribution business is branding and securing as much space as possible to advertise the brands at the point of sale, whether it’s in a beverage center, a bar or any other place that sells beer.

Inkjet Printed GraphicsOne of the hurdles to overcome when it comes to plastering an establishment’s walls with branding is the potential damage adhesive-backed graphics can do to it. One solution is Photo Tex from LexJet, a repositionable and removable printable fabric.

In the case pictured here, that’s what sold the job promoting Brown’s Brewing Company and Angry Orchard. The owner of the beverage center expanded his office, creating new walls that screamed out for branding.

Seeing an opportunity, DeCrescente Distributing proposed wall graphics. The owner hesitated, concerned about the potential damage to the wall.

“We proposed using Photo Tex, and explained that it would come off the wall easily without damaging it or leaving residue behind. That’s a big selling point for us,” says James Lane, DeCrescente graphic designer. “It also applies a lot easier than a typical adhesive-backed vinyl. It’s been up for a few weeks and we expect it will be up for a long time.”

Wall Graphics for Angry OrchardAs you can see from the photos, the design the DeCrescente graphics team came up with printed flawlessly on the print shop’s Epson GS6000 low-solvent printer, and provides an almost three-dimensional illusion of walking toward an actual brewery as you saunter down the aisle.

The new wall mural also promotes the growler taps that protrude from the office wall. Lane says that was an important element the customer wanted to highlight.

“One of the reasons he extended his office was so he could have keg coolers in there with the taps coming out of the outside wall. People can come in and fill up their growlers with the beer specials of the day listed on the white board, which is what he has on tap,” adds Lane.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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More Print-N-Stick for Point of Sale

LexJet Print N Stick Fabric on Coroplast

Amanda Hill, graphics manager for the Odom Corporation in Wenatchee, Wash., says LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric is becoming the beverage distributor’s go-to adhesive-backed inkjet material for all kinds of point of sale projects.

“It’s very easy to use; it doesn’t stick together when you take the backing off of it and doesn’t stretch when you peel it off the substrate to realign it. You can apply it to a surface and it won’t take the texture off the wall or leave a sticky residue behind,” says Hill. “The colors and imaging are very vibrant. It’s not a very porous fabric, so the colors stand out a lot and are true to the colors in the original file.”

Window GraphicsHill reports that Odom Corporation has been using Print-N-Stick Fabric for windows, cooler wraps and applications to Coroplast.

Since Hill sends out the prints she creates to a staff of about 50 salespeople in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, it’s crucial that the print material is as easy as possible to apply, stands out in a market crowded with point of sale materials, and is durable.

“The sales staff installs most of their own signs, and they say it’s a lot easier to put up alone; most applications don’t require two or more people to help. I’ve only applied it to Coroplast, and it doesn’t take long at all; it’s a very smooth, fluid, quick process,” says Hill. “Here in Wenatchee we’ve had some hot temperatures this summer. I’ve had other materials bubble quite a bit that tend to pull away from the surface, but with Print-N-Stick we’ve it in direct sunlight and it’s been 95 degrees here and it looks just as good as when we put it up.”

For more information and to order LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538. Print-N-Stick Fabric sold out quickly, so it’s currently out of stock. However, the product should be back in stock by Monday, Sept. 16.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Print-N-Stick for Point of Sale

LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric at the Point of SaleLexJet’s new Print-N-Stick Fabric™ is making its mark at the point of sale.

In fact, it’s making all kinds of marks without leaving a mark behind.

That’s the whole point of the adhesive-backed repositionable inkjet-printable fabric: apply, re-position, remove and re-use without leaving any residue behind.

Add that to a brilliant white point that provides photographic image quality and watch it sell brands at the point of sale.

At least that’s been the experience of Canyon Distributing in Yuma, Ariz., which has been branding practically everywhere and everything with the inkjet fabric.

Point of Sale Promotional Graphics
The “painted” Blue Moon bottle has been a popular point-of-sale piece at Canyon Distributing. Here’s a print before it’s contour-cut and applied to any variety of flat surfaces. John Fritz of Canyon Distributing says the images really pop and look quite realistic when printed on LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric.

“Our account reps have been asking for the material a lot lately. Everyone likes it for the point of sale application ideas they’ve come up with, in addition to the application ideas I already had. It’s quite versatile,” says John Fritz, production manager for Canyon Distributing.

Fritz says Print-N-Stick has been stuck onto chalkboard menus at restaurants, windows, coolers, doors, and bar tops and sides, among other applications. One of those applications, pictured here, is the application of Blue Moon bottle caps to floors.

“We laminated the floor stickers so they could be cleaned and are more durable. Then, they can be easily removed and placed somewhere else,” says Fritz.

Fritz adds that the bottle cap prints and “painted” Blue Moon bottles are the most popular images among Canyon Distributing’s account reps, which are usually applied as cut-outs. “The painted bottles look relatively realistic when they’re applied,” adds Fritz.

Point of Sale Graphics and Promotions“I really like the image quality we’re getting from the Print-N-Stick Fabric; it actually prints better than most of the adhesive-backed materials we use, including vinyl,” says Fritz. “It’s also amazing how forgiving the material is when you apply it; minor bends and whatnot that would ruin other media during application are easily fixed with this material. This makes it ideal for passing out to sales representatives who lack experience with media application, eliminating the need to do it myself at our accounts.”

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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No Windows? No Problem with Big Wall Graphics

Atlas Distributing Wall Graphics

In a previous post we discussed how big, bold graphics on the exterior of a retail location set the stage for interior point-of-sale graphics that reinforce the message and drive consumers to the brands inside. In that particular case, rows of big windows provided the perfect branding palette.

If you don’t have any windows to work with, walls will work just as well, as this recent project by Atlas Distributing illustrates. It’s a 48-foot long and four-foot high super graphic promoting Coors Light that ties in with the local favorite and Stanley Cup contending Boston Bruins.

Located on the outside of a local bar-and-games establishment, graphic design manager for Atlas Distributing, Brent Lee, says, “The side of the building faces a high-traffic area and a parking lot, so customers and others driving by can’t help but see it. They see Coors Light outside and then we reinforce it inside. They might have gone there just to play a couple of games, but they see the sign and it plants the seed that maybe they’ll have a beer with their friends.”

Lee adds that Atlas Distributing’s solid point of sale work on the inside helped secure the space on the outside. Lee took graphic elements provided by MillerCoors corporate, rearranged and stretched them out for a pleasing and appropriate super graphic, and brought a proof of the design to the account.

Needless to say, the client loved the concept, approved it and Lee got to work printing out the graphics in panels on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene with a Canon iPF9400. Lee applied to polypropylene to six sheets of Coroplast. “I just line up the edge of the print with the edge of the Coroplast. There really is no trick other than making sure you’re slow and steady when you apply it,” says Lee.

Meanwhile Atlas Distributing merchandisers drilled anchors into the wall to which the decorated Coroplast panels would be applied. This method will allow Atlas Distributing to quickly replace the graphics when the time comes.