Popular Choice

Designing one point-of-purchase display for a range of products that are sold around the world may, in theory, seem straightforward. It makes sense to produce a single international solution rather than creating displays tailored to individual markets.

In practice, however, this leaves the designer with the difficult brief of creating a stand that makes the most of a company’s best-selling products in New York, as well as successfully promoting its top sellers in Abu Dhabi.

At least, unlike above-the-line advertising, point-of-purchase (POP) does not rely on words, so there is no need for different language versions in each country.

Display can speak an international language by reinforcing logos and creating visual brand images.

Stephen Henley, sales director at Fords Design, says of client Adidas: “It is a brand that has been re-energised over the past three to four years, and its design strategy is key to its success. On our stands, we make sure the product is always the hero.

We show the famous Adidas three stripes alongside other graphics and colour shots.”

There may be few words on POP displays, but this doesn’t mean there are no language barriers at all. Language can still be a problem, for example when people setting up displays may need to see instructions printed in their own language.

There are also climatic and cultural differences to overcome. A plastic display that suits the northern European climate may melt in the heat of some African countries.

Designers also have no guarantee that a retail outlet, whether it is in London or Berlin, will place eye-catching displays in the best position, or even have enough space available to show them at all. In the UK, floorspace is traditionally limited, but in many Eastern European countries there is often more room for displays, as well as a greater number of sales staff available to provide a more personal service.

Researching the global market is vital. As well as finding out information about a country’s culture and retailing patterns, this means analysing the latest market developments, and researching international competitor activity.

Jeremy Chillingworth, managing director of Graphic International Promotions, says the most universal type of display is shelf systems: “The displays are a good way to ensure products are visible and have a consistent image.”

Because flexible designs can be adapted to different markets, they are obviously cheaper than fashioning individual solutions.

Nigel Petty, managing director of Evans Petty, says: “We use the knowledge we build up about different countries and markets to get a design that will work in all of them.”

He explains that, to ensure products are placed in the right position, it is a good idea to produce a merchandising handbook that shows how the display should be used. “Just as with a newspaper advertisement, the right position is crucial. We reinforce this importance by using photographs, computer-aided design drawings or Photoshop images that show where the unit should be placed. This goes to distributors so they can get the best position in all the shops they visit.”

Evans Petty has worked on point-of-purchase for Smirnoff Vodka since the Pierre Smirnoff company was set up four years ago to develop and drive global branding. POP currently takes around one-sixth of Smirnoff’s marketing budget. The global theme – looking through the bottle – is integrated into all advertising and marketing.

Petty says: “Smirnoff’s penetration worldwide means we have to deal with a mass of different cultures and climates. In Africa, for example, this can range from five-star hotels to market stalls. All over the world bars are short of space, so POP materials have to be of a quality to reflect the bar’s image, and be practical, otherwise they will be replaced by a competitor’s products.”

Petty says Africa poses particular challenges. Posters bleach in the sun and rain, and metal advertising plates quickly disappear from walls to be used as roofs in the townships.

Thom Noble, Pierre Smirnoff’s marketing director for Africa, says POP “can be the main communication to the consumer. It’s advertising, it should be treated as such and we take it very seriously”.

Cultural influences on design include a country’s attitude to environmental matters. Petty says: “We have to know what materials are considered to be environmentally friendly in each country, and whether or not they should be recyclable. This is particularly important when working in Germany and Scandinavian countries.”

Once a designer has come up with a modular design that may be adapted to suit all extremes of climate, language and culture around the world, there are still the problems of distribution. As Chillingworth explains: “You have to learn the ins and outs of exporting, duties, invoices, even describing things in the right way. For example, if the displays are going to Eastern Europe it is important to state that they are not for resale.

“In the Middle East, all the paperwork has to be legalised by going through embassies. You also have to consider shipping time. It takes two or three weeks to get displays to the Middle East and once they have arrived there is still the clearance time.”

To illustrate the range of activities that are needed to put together an international POP campaign, Charles Kessler, sales and marketing director at Kesslers International, describes working on the campaign for the global cosmetics client, Revlon: “It took months of preparation. We had to talk to the markets and be aware of cultural differences.

“Revlon has a consistent global image, and we had to ensure this consistency was reflected in the style of its units. At the same time the units had to be flexible enough to display all the colours that were popular in different markets. In the end we came up with one unit that could work in half-a-dozen different sizes.”

Kesslers also needed a solution that would suit the Japanese market, where colour products are less popular than skincare products. Another problem was making sure the units would work in countries that had different electrical fittings. In the end, 37 different electrical systems had to be used.

Kessler concludes that to succeed internationally, designers must be learning all the time – particularly from experience – and investigating changes in the markets as they happen.

As more companies are selling to a global market, they are finding POP displays have the power to communicate strong brand messages. After all, displays are physical, three-dimensional objects that can speak volumes without saying a word.