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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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Setting the Scene with Special Event Point of Sale Signage

Point of Sale Inkjet Printed Display for Corona

The Nackard Companies and its P.O.P. sign crew are well known for creating enticing displays for all kinds of special events, whether it’s the astronomical anomaly called a blue moon (tied into Blue Moon beer, of course), the annual Dew Downtown in Flagstaff, Ariz., or anything in between.

The Nackard Companies team always seems to come up with something different to help drive beer sales around these events. The most recent example was a collaborative project between shop manager Steve Lalio and account representative Anthony Copetillo for Cinco de Mayo.

The pair came up with a basic concept that would be translated for various Mexican beer brands and placed in a number of different locations. The two projects pictured here were created for Corona and Dos Equis.

Inkjet Printed Point of Sale Display for Dos EquisEach display included a number of elements, highlighted by a faux water tower and an airplane toting a banner with buckets of beer.

Copetillo built the water tower structure with a combination of plywood circles for the top and bottom, held in place with plywood slats, Coroplast and furring strips. The “roof” of the water tower was cut-out cardboard painted black and brown. Copetillo created a palm tree using cut-out and painted cardboard as well.

Lalio printed a banner on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene that was about 42 inches tall by 115 inches long, which Copetillo wrapped around the structure. For the Corona display, Lalio designed the piece with a wood-grain background and added the Corona logo. It looks strikingly real, which is a testament to what great design and printing can do for a display.

The airplane, which is about six feet long and has a 38-inch wingspan, was printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene, applied to Coroplast and cut out in the airplane shape. The banner the plane flies behind it, as well as the other hanging banners, were printed on LexJet 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner and laminated with LexJet 3 Mil Gloss UV Premium Low Melt. Lalio laminated these banners because the customer wanted to re-use them.

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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How to Win Space at the Point of Sale and Keep It

Printing cooler wraps for the point of sale

A crucial ingredient in the beer wars is securing as much advertising and promotional space as possible at the point of sale, whether it’s a c-store, liquor store, bar or restaurant. And the key ingredient in making that happen is a combination of design and printing horsepower, a combination The Nackard Companies P.O.P. shop manager, Steve Lalio, has in spades.

Cooler wraps with adhesive backed materialThe Nackard Companies, based in Flagstaff, Ariz., serves the entire state, excepting the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas. The company’s wide reach demands a special emphasis on dominating as many spaces as possible for their brands in the market. A recent project completed in early December at Premier Beverage, a liquor store in Sierra Vista, Ariz., illustrates the power of point of sale printing to do just that.

In this case, the daughter of Premier Beverage’s owner happened upon a cooler wrap Lalio had created for a c-store in Flagstaff. Word got back to Premier Beverage and the request was made for the Lalio/Nackard treatment for the liquor store’s cooler.

Down came the competitive cooler wrap and in its place went Lalio’s handiwork. The concept was simple yet striking: A blue icy background interspersed with craft beer logos and bottles distributed by The Nackard Companies.

“Craft beers are taking off and we’re doing our best to come up with unique ideas to promote those products,” says Lalio. “In order to really understand it, you have to see it in person. That blue background really pops out and makes the store brighter and more alive. The question I ask before I design is, ‘What attracts you to something? It’s eye candy, and to me it’s the background. And, you don’t want to clutter it too much; you want to advertise what you really want to sell to the public.”

Advertising at the point of saleLalio printed the giant project – which is one main cooler graphic 27 feet long and 56 inches high, a corner cooler that’s 20 feet long and 56 inches high, plus the approximately 20” x 80” cooler corners – on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene with a Canon iPF8000S inkjet printer.

The prints were then laminated with 3 Mil Luster UV Standard Low Melt laminate and applied to Coroplast. In the end there were more than 20 panels created for the area salesperson to attach on-site.

“A gloss laminate looks real sharp with outdoor banners, but indoors we typically use luster because of the lighting. If it will be up there for a long time, like this one will be, we laminate in case they need to wipe it down for whatever reason,” says Lalio.

The real challenge was getting everything lined up just right so that the entire piece appears as seamless as possible. Lalio says it’s just paying attention to the minute details, taking extra time to scale everything and accounting for intrusions like air vents that ensure a big project like this comes together from print to installation smoothly.