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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing for Dew Downtown Flagstaff: Year Two for Nackard Companies

Graphics and signs for special events
Dew Downtown Flagstaff was a huge success and Nackard Companies, a regional beverage distributor, pitched in with most of the signs and graphics for the event. Photo by Rick Eselgroth.

When you organize a big special event for the first time it’s a nail-biting white-knuckle ride from concept to completion. While the inaugural year may appear to be the most difficult, an event’s sophomore year may actually be the most difficult, particularly if that first event was successful.

In the case of Dew Downtown Flagstaff, success from its first year would breed a more ambitious approach to the second annual event, which took place earlier this month. One of the key players in both the inaugural and sophomore events was Nackard Companies, a regional beverage distributor, and its always-busy print shop.

Signs and graphics for a special event
Nackard Companies' print shop, led by Steve Lalio, also produced signs, table tents, flyers and banners for surrounding bars and businesses.

Nackard Companies P.O.P. shop manager Steve Lalio was knee deep in signage in the months leading up to Dew Downtown Flagstaff since his shop was in charge of most of the event graphics. As the event grew from last year, so too did Lalio’s responsibilities.

Dew Downtown Flagstaff brings terrain park skiing and snowboarding down from the mountains and into the city of Flagstaff, Ariz. The main event takes place on San Francisco Street in Flagstaff with a series of rails and jumps all the way down, including the centerpiece of the competitive ride, two super-sized Mountain Dew can course obstacles created by the Nackard Companies print shop.

While both “cans” were printed on and wrapped with LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene, one was laminated and the other given a polyurethane coating. It was a test of sorts for future events: which would take the abuse as competitors hucked, slashed and crashed into and onto the cans?

In the end, the polyurethane-coated graphics fared best, but were still sufficiently marred that the can can’t be used again at next year’s event. Ultimately, there is no way to make the graphics ski/snowboard-proof as competitors slice and dice their way through the obstacles. However, if you know of a better way to protect the graphics from the ravages of snowbound competitors, let us know about it.

Printing specialty graphics for an event
The Mountain Dew can that was part of the ski and snowboard course on San Francisco Street in Flagstaff printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene by Nackard Companies' print shop.

Nackard Companies produced a variety of banners, window signs and other event signage for the main venue as well as the various special event and promotion tents, such as the areas promoting Mountain Dew Kickstart and New Belgium beers, and surrounding bars.

For the bulk of the graphics surrounding the event, Lalio printed LexJet 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner, LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene and LexJet TOUGHcoat Self Adhesive Water-Resistant Polypropylene, laminated with either LexJet 3 Mil Gloss UV Premium Low Melt or LexJet 3 Mil Luster Standard Low Melt, depending on the application.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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A Pot of Point of Sale Gold

Point of sale window display

What’s the point of point-of-sale advertising? As the term “point-of-sale” implies, it’s to drive more sales. In the beer market, there are a number of ways to do that, whether it’s focusing on pricing, special promotions or branding.

For Tennyson Lacasio, print shop manager for Colonial Wholesale Beverage in North Dartmouth, Mass., it’s all about driving sales with displays that make potential customers stop, look, think and buy.

The project pictured here for Landry’s Liquors did exactly that as part of last year’s St. Patrick’s Day promotion for beers brewed by Diageo: Guinness Draught, Guinness Extra Stout and Smithwick’s Ale.

“Those three front windows face the main road, so you can’t help but notice the display. There were people stopping by just to look at the sign, which brought Landry’s more business for those brands,” says Lacasio. “They kept the display up through July 4 because it was getting so much attention and the owner said the sales of those brands went up. It was definitely an impact display and high-quality advertising for the store itself.”

The display was created in three panels for each of the front windows, printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene, applied to Coroplast and laminated with LexJet 3 Mil Matte UV Standard Low Melt laminate.

“We didn’t have to wrap the laminate around the edges of the Coroplast since the panels are placed inside the window and there’s no danger of moisture getting in between the laminate and the print. The matte is popular because it cuts down on the glare so you don’t lose the image from different perspectives,” explains Lacasio.

Lacasio adds that this is one of the most intricate designs he’s created, especially when it came to finding and working with all the different varieties of leprechauns from which to choose.

“I found that there were two basic types of leprechauns: cartoon and scary. We obviously went with the cartoon style. From there, I had to find those that matched from a compositional style and then properly crop and size them so they fit with the overall design,” explains Lacasio.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Promoting More than Beverages for Dew Downtown Flagstaff

They say everyone loves a parade, but be that as it may, Nackard Companies used a recent Christmas light parade in Flagstaff, Ariz., to promote the city’s upcoming Dew Downtown Flagstaff.Dew Downtown Flagstaff is an annual freeride ski and snowboard competition that plows through San Francisco Street, Flagstaff’s main drag. The course is strewn with urban obstacles – cars, tires, rails and barrels – which competitors navigate to the finish line, winners awarded with medals made by Nackard Companies with LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene applied to metal.

Medals aren’t the only thing Nackard Companies and the beverage distributor’s P.O.P. shop manager Steve Lalio will make for Dew Downtown Flagstaff. Besides hundreds of signs for the event, Lalio also plans to wrap one of the 55-gallon barrels being used as an obstacle so it looks like a Mountain Dew can.

“They’ll put the barrel in the ground and put snow on top of it, so when the skier comes – they’re jumping over cars, tires, handrails and other urban obstacles along the way – this will be one of the obstacles they hit,” says Lalio, who adds that the event, which takes place Feb. 9-10, is open to skiers and snowboarders and practically all ages.

To make the event bigger and better each year, luring more sponsors and crowds to Flagstaff, the promotions are being ramped up. One of those promotional opportunities the Nackard Companies was involved with was the Christmas light parade. Nackard Companies decorated the Dew Downtown Flagstaff “float” with banners along the side, a Coroplast skier finishing a ramp ride and a large logo with the basic facts about the event.

Lalio printed everything on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene. The prints weren’t laminated, except for the big logo circle since that particular piece will circulate around town at street corners and businesses to continually promote the event in town. The extra time out in the weather and the repeated handling necessitated the addition of the LexJet 5 Mil Luster Standard Low Melt laminate.

For more information about Dew Downtown Flagstaff, go to www.dewdowntownflagstaff.com/, and to read about last year’s event and what Nackard produced for it, click here.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing Branding Backgrounds for Beers

Wall murals and graphics for stores

The cooler wrap is tried and true for selling beer at the point of sale. It becomes even truer when you can translate it to any room in the house, so to speak, and create a branding background that gives your brand the highest visibility.

Printing wall murals for store signageTennyson Lacasio, sign shop manager at Colonial Beverage in North Dartmouth, Mass., took the inkjet printed cooler wrap to the next level with two recent projects at local liquor stores. Both projects were printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene and laminated with LexJet 3 Mil Matte UV Standard Low Melt.

Lacasio says he laminated the prints first (each project had anywhere from three to 12 printed panels) then applied the laminated pieces to Coroplast. This method helped hide the ridges that normally show through when you apply the print material directly to Coroplast before laminating.

“When you run print material through the laminator directly to Coroplast it bonds so closely that it shows the creases in the Coroplast. When I laminated the material first, it gave it a nice, fine, seamless finish,” says Lacasio.

Inkjet printed wall muralsAlso seamless was the paneling, particularly on the Blue Moon background display. Lacasio says this was mostly due to the fact that the wall he applied the panels to in the new building was perfectly square. Moreover, and most importantly, this 12′ x 19′ Blue Moon mural did its job rather effectively.

“You see it right off the bat when you walk into the store. The walls are light blue, which complements the graphic and draws your eye to the back of the store. The owner just wanted to do one brand, which allows you to focus on the strong points of the brand,” says Lacasio. “The image is not pixilated at all and it’s very impressive to stand right in front of it. After we installed it, people were walking out of the store with Blue Moon and they commented on the enticing feel of the image.”

As per usual Lacasio paid special attention to brand details in the designs, including such minutia as the types of glasses in which you serve the beers.

The other two wall murals – featuring Coors Light, Miller Lite and Leinenkugel’s – are on either side of a walk-in cooler door. The Coors Light mural, themed as an American fall, is 8′ x 13′. The Miller Lite/Leinenkugel’s mural, themed as a German Oktoberfest, is 8′ x 10′.

“Fortunately, they’re placing a minimal amount of cases at each display and replenishing them regularly so that you can see most of the display from just about anywhere in the store,” says Lacasio. “I had huge canvases to work from, which makes all the difference in wall branding graphics.”

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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A Once in a Blue Moon Point of Sale Display

Point of sale display printed for Blue Moon beers

It happens once in a blue moon… That is, a blue moon. No, the moon doesn’t literally turn blue. Technically, it means there’s an extra full moon once every two and a half years, on average. This month, Aug. 31 to be exact, is the next blue moon, which won’t show up again until 2015.

This relatively rare event was the perfect opportunity to promote – what else? – Blue Moon beers. It also happens to coincide with a MillerCoors display design contest, so account representatives Anthony Copetillo and Vinnie Montemurro and P.O.P. shop manager Steve Lalio of The Nackard Companies in Flagstaff, Ariz., collaborated on a display concept for a Wal-Mart in Show Low, Ariz.

Printing a point of sale beer display“MillerCoors put out a creative display incentive for August and September, which included Blue Moon. They showed us some examples of a full theme, and I thought this concept would be perfect for the season. It also gave us an opportunity to educate customers about all the characteristics of Blue Moon beers,” says Copetillo. “I give Steve some ideas and the points I want to see on the display, then he comes up with the design theme. Steve always has great ideas that are exactly what I’m looking for, so there are rarely any changes to his design.”

Lalio’s design is divided into three parts to comprise the full backdrop behind the beer display – in-depth information about the different Blue Moon beers (year-round, seasonal and specialty), a centerpiece to draw attention and illuminating copy about what a blue moon is – plus the phases of the blue moon that “float” in front of the backdrop.

“We submitted it to MillerCoors and it caused some ripples. They were happy to see that we’re educating the customers about Blue Moon,” says Copetillo. “I’ve been doing this for 18 years and now more than ever people want to know what food to pair it with, the flavors and the characteristics of each beer.”

Printing point of sale display for beer companies
Here's a similar display conceived and executed by the Three Musketeers of The Nackard Companies: account reps Anthony Copetillo and Vinnie Montemurro and P.O.P. shop manager Steve Lalio.

The backdrop was printed on a Canon iPF8000S on LexJet 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner in seven 36″ panels, which were then stapled to the wall. Lalio says he designed it in Photoshop and used the ONYX RIP to properly tile it so that it could be spliced into one seamless backdrop. The total size is 21 feet wide by six feet high.

The moon phases, which dangle from fishing line a few feet in front of the backdrop, were printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene, laminated with LexJet 3 Mil Luster UV Standard Low Melt and applied to a heavy card stock.

“I used the PolyGloss Banner for the backdrop because I knew the Blue Moon and fall colors would really pop out with that material. We designed it so that it was informative about not only the beer, but the blue moon,” adds Lalio.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing Unique Promotions that Stick at the Point of Sale

Printing cornhole boards for tournamentsPrinting point of sale promotions and advertising can become a bit humdrum: banners, cooler wraps, window signs… They’ve all been done, but that’s the beauty of the plethora of the latest printer technology and printable materials; you can advertise on just about anything.

At Caffey Distributing in Greensboro, N.C., production manager Bob Korabek has been finding new places to stick adhesive-backed materials to boost their brands at the point of sale, like cornhole boards for tournaments and on mini-fridges.

Cornhole, in case you’re not familiar with it, is a bean bag toss game that has swept through bars and pubs across the nation. Rumor has it that the game, at least the version now being played, was popularized in Cincinnati, moving its way south as transplanted Ohioans moved to warmer climates.

Whatever its origin, Korabek saw promotional opportunity and ran with it as local bars began holding cornhole tournaments. It’s a simple process: Korabek prints LexJet Extreme AquaVinyl w/ PSA on one of his HP Z6100 inkjet printers, applies it to the approximately 4′ x 2′ board and cuts out the vinyl where the hole at the top of the board is located.

“The bars set up four sets of boards for the tournaments, and the winners get some kind of big prize. I printed some with Miller Lite, Blue Moon and other beers we wanted to promote, usually tied in with a beer special,” explains Korabek. “Instead of just a logo in the middle of the board, I covered the entire board to give us more promotional space.”

Printing mini fridges with logos and promotionsThe printed cornhole boards have been a huge hit in the market, creating widespread interest and driving demand for both the game and the printed versions of the game.

Another popular application for adhesive-backed materials that Korabek introduced to the market is decorated mini-fridges. The graphics are usually tied to whichever sport is in season, whether it’s football or basketball.

Because the temperature of the mini-fridges can vary, Korabek was looking for a material that wouldn’t expand and contract as the fridge got colder or warmer. His customer specialist, Kelly Price, recommended LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene.

“They’re very popular and our accounts will often buy a couple of extra ones. For one of the March Madness promotions the contest winner got a fridge with the team they wanted on the fridge. It’s a little perk that our competitors don’t provide; it’s something extra special we do for those accounts,” says Korabek.

“When I first started here 16 years ago all I had was a Gerber EDGE and a plotter. The technology has moved so quickly since then and Kelly is awesome because she keeps me up to date on new products and she gives me great suggestions that work for my printers and any application I’m trying,” adds Korabek. “Plus, with LexJet’s distribution network I get everything on time; turnaround time for me is super-fast.”