This week’s product highlight features two pretty cool floor mats that are both effective for delivering a marketing message and easily updated to support the current promotion you are running.  Point Imaging offers  FloorWindo® and WipeWindo®.

A low-cost signage “billboard on the floor, ” FloorWindo is skid-resistant, adhesive-free and easy to reposition.  A scratch-resistant CleargriPTM window makes it ideal for even high traffic areas.  FloorWindo is also reusable – retail signage changes in seconds.

With its larger, re-designed carpet mat, the WipeWindo® captures dirt,  moisture  and your customer’s attention like never before.  Plus, this new version integrates with the FloorWindo® Next Generation making it simple to change graphics as often as you like.

I think about living in the Midwest with all the snow and rain.  Imagine how many people show up to your stores with wet feet and needing shoes or cold medicine.  These are two examples of utilizing mats like these to work for you.

FloorWindo®,  WipeWindo®  and other in-store marketing solutions are available through Point Imaging.

Description: U.K. based Arcadia Group Limited sought to open their second U.S. TopMan TopShop store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, Michigan Avenue.  Arcadia was referred to Point Imaging by one of our long-time clients to assist in the production of the graphics program for new store.   The project consisted of several high-resolution graphics as well as a good amount of cut metallic window graphic. The project also consisted of several site inspections.  A representative from Arcadia Group visited Point Imaging’s plant to confirm we had the firepower to get the job done and done right.  Topman/Topshop stores are some of the finest retail centers in the U.K.

Challenge: The immediate challenge was the timeline.  Site surveys could not begin until Aug 15th.  The project had to be completed by September 6th, a day before Arcadia Group’s high profile CEO, Sir Philip Green was to appear at a press conference announcing the store’s arrival.  All walls were custom cut to fit around the shelving mounting hardware per our templates.  We also had to produce approximately 3500 square feet of custom cut metallic and custom printed vinyl for various window and wall applications throughout the store.

Description: Since 2005, Point Imaging has provided Live Nation/Feld with event graphics for their Supercross motorcycle tour. Supercross is a national motorcycle racing tour, which stops in seventeen cities in twelve states and two countries. Typically held in large indoor venues such as Ford Field in Detroit and the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Supercross relies heavily on sponsorship, and in turn provides sponsors with highly visible advertisement on a nationally televised stage.

Challenge: Live Nation/Feld was experiencing several major challenges regarding sponsorship graphics.  Due to the high intensity of venue lighting, sponsorship graphics were experiencing television “light bounce”, thus rendering some advertisers’ messages unreadable on the TV screen.

Solution: Point Imaging developed an exclusive vinyl lamination process, which produced a solution to remedy television light bounce without compromising the color of the sponsors branding. This ensured that Live Nation/Felds’s advertising clients delivered their brand message clearly and prominently throughout the arena and on national television.

Results:  Six years later, we are still providing Live Nation/Feld with the light bounce reducing technology which we created in 2005. Our dedication to solving our client’s need was evident in the research and development of a light reducing laminate and it’s innovative process.   We are proud of the work we have done for our clients and the solutions we have delivered when others could not.

Description: Around the time Calvin Klein stepped up its multimedia marketing game by replacing racy billboard ads of seminude models in Times Square with a king-sized pixelated bar code, Mane Image was getting ready to launch its own interactive advertising campaign using 2-D technology.

Challenge:  The 24-year-old Merrillville, IN hair transplant business was expanding its surgical center.  They needed to advertise their new services and regain market share with their existing services.  What they got was a billboard campaign that was the talk of the area.

Solution: Marco Perez, Director of Marketing at Point Imaging, suggested using a QR code on one of Robinson’s 38 billboard locations between the Bishop Ford Expressway in Illinois and LaPorte County, Indiana. The QR code billboard could be seen on the south side of the highway near a Target store just east of a popular mall. The QR code could not be scanned from a car traveling at high speeds on the highway but travelers could park in the Target parking lot and scan the code.  The QR code directed consumers to a web page highlighting the new services, promos and an introduction to Mane Image’s new website.  ”The code should drive a viewer to something attractive like a video or information capturing “Giveaway” site,” explains Perez.  ”At that point, it was all about the buzz,” Perez said. “The goal was to gain attention. It was a gamble. She’s the first in this area to do this on this scale. It’s scary, and there’s a risk because the popularity is just growing in the U.S.”

Result:  Within one hour of the qr code billboard being up, Mane Image received their first call about the board and also an appointment for a transplant.  Within three weeks, Mane Image had set four procedures in excess of $60,000 total.  Website traffic was up 200% and the billboard campaign became the talk of the area.  ”One email I received from a friend summed the whole thing up for us.  She was working at a local grocery store stocking her company’s products when she overheard two women having a conversation about the various “Bald Head” billboards each has seen.  There were six different designs in addition to the QR code board.  My friend said she knew exactly who Mane Image was and what they did.”  The campaign worked beyond anyone’s expectation.

These particular back lits measure approximatively 10′ x 25′ on the sided and various sizes across the bottom.

Ask your professional Point Imaging project manager how you can make your scoreboard shine like this one.  Bring your team additional revenue by selling add space .  Let us help you with your next visual marketing project.

Quick Guide to Web Design & its Importance

As a small business owner, creating an appealing website is just as important as maintaining the quality of the products and services you offer. Today’s shoppers are very visual and like to view the image of the product before making a final decision on purchasing it. Businesses that showcase their goods and services on a viewable website are able to attract new customers and lure them into making a purchase. As a business owner, it’s important to look into your options for professional website design and speak with a professional about the best way to attract your targeted audience.

Web design companies offer a wide variety of options and styles. There are three general options when it comes to a business web design. Aninformation sharing website is generally based on a template and can portray up to six pages. Your company logo will be displayed, along with text about your company and product will be displayed. A showcase website are use flash based web design services to add a little glitz to your web design and are aesthetically pleasing to the average shopper. These sites can be customized to meet any of your needs. Finally, an e-commerce website allows for your website customers to view products offered and make a purchase over the Internet. These types of websitesalso allow for inventory control.

If you are looking to create a new site or are seeking website redesign services, it is important to shop around for different web designer prospects. Consider how long they have been in the business, ask about client feedback and reviews and compare their customer service skills with other potential candidates. Creating your business website is an exciting time and provides you with a creative way to notify others of your business and all of its offerings. Make sure you can easily communicate your needs and wishes for the site to your chosen web designer so you can finally be part of a website that you’ve always envisioned.

How to Choose a Web Design Company

If you just started looking around at various web designers in your area or on a national level, you are probably surprised to see how many web designers are available to offer their services. From template based websites, to full multimedia e-commerce sites with streaming music and video, your options are endless when it comes to a professional website design. Determine how much information you want your website to expand on, and then find a company that can carry out these web design services.

Before contacting a designer, study their personal portfolio of previous projects. Note if a designer’s portfolio of sites includes misspelled words, corrupt links, or over pixilated images. Make note about the different techniques and styles you like from each designer.

Once you find a few web design companies that suits your taste and website needs, see if there’s a way to contact their previous clients to assess how well the design company worked with the client. Take note of any given feedback about how well they worked with given timelines, how easy they were to get a hold of in times of need, and how knowledgeable they were about design. If possible, find a client with a similar business web design as the one you envision, and ask them about their speediness and efficiency during the design process.

If you are a novice when it comes to website redesign or web design in general, it may be in your best benefit to look for a company that offers all inclusive services. Ask your web designer if they can provide web hosting services to secure the domain of your page and perform any necessary maintenance. Once your site is completed, see how well the company can assist you when it comes time for website updates and additions. If you plan on selling products through your website, ask the designer if they can set up a merchant account or shopping cart program to make purchasing simple for your client and your business. Lastly, if you plan on using online marketing skills to attract new customers, see if the web designer has a specialist in house that can perform optimization and customer tracking.

Remember that your website is a direct reflection of your company and product. If a potential customer is comparing your company to your competitor, they may go with the company with a more appealing website. Keep this in mind and be creative with your web design to attract your current and future customers.

Steps to Make for a Professional Website Design

Professional website design is imperative for any type of business if theyare looking to use the Internet to exhibit their brand or service. Because

a website can be used as a direct reflection of your company, many business owners tend to shell out all of the bells and whistles when it comes to their business web design. However, your website doesn’t have to be entirely flash-based and chock full of information. The most effective website redesign will simply address all of the necessary information that customers should be interested in learning more about, links to contact information and correlating images to go along with the services and products you offer.

The first step for a professional website is to determine what type of information you want listed in your site. It’s important not to bombard readers with too much text because they can quickly get bored and move on to one of your competitors to seek products and/or services. Instead, include the basics and write content in a way that your readers will want to learn more about each item. If applicable, you may want to provide a link further down the page that a customer can click on to read more about a specific item. Don’t forget to spell check your content and make sure grammar is correct before sending it off. Various web design services are also available to optimize your content to make them more search engine friendly.

The next step is to provide appropriate imagery to correlate with your content. Today’s online consumers are greatly affected by visually stimulating images. Let’s say you sell gift baskets during the holidays. Have your baskets photographed by a professional to show all of the items included, and make sure the correlating text will provide enough detail about what comes inside the basket. These two factors, as simple as they seem, may attract a large amount of consumers that may have otherwise shopped at your competitors for a similar product. Web design companies will be able to handle images, their size and placement.

If you plan on using your website as a model for Internet marketing, you will want to implement the most appropriate techniques to attract more visitors to your site. The most common online marketing strategy is optimization and email marketing, and you can include more complex strategies such as social media and pay per click campaigns. It’s important to have a professional business web design to represent your company on the World Wide Web. Creating a professional look is simple, as long as you have the right resources to use.

What to do When you Need a Website Redesign

As a seasoned small business owner, you’ve probably tracked your sales since the inception of your business until today. You’ve probably watched market trends to best dole out a new service, or conducted surveys to best suit the needs of your current customer base. For many business owners, they have noticed that a website redesign is all they needed to jumpstart their business revenue and attract another market of interested customers. Some start up business owners opt for a more basic website when they first open their business to save on costs and effectively analyze how well their website affects their revenue.

If you were happy with your previous business web design services, you may want to contact them and ask about their services regarding updates or additions to your current site. At the same time, there is nothing wrong with working with newer web design companies to completely revamp your website. Companies do it all the time and their customers also enjoy a change of scenery when viewing their website.

Web design services have advanced over the last several years and there may be design options out there that weren’t readily available the last time you were in the market for web design services. If you are looking to change your current site to a more image based website, seek a professional website design team that specializes in flash and multimedia.

Another factor that leads online business owners seeking a website redesign is the addition to a merchant account so they are able to sell products over the Internet to their customers. Do some preliminary research about ecommerce before you begin speaking with designers so you understand the basic terminology and transfer processes. You can also review sites that cater to designers to see the latest trends and topics. If your business has grown exponentially over time and you are getting requests from visitors all over the nation for the ability to purchase your company’s offerings, now is the time for a shopping cart application on your website. Speak with a qualified web design professional about your options and how to determine your needs for an effective website redesign.

Find web designers in your area by searching our Local Vendor Directory.

Point Imaging was founded in 1990 and has grown into one of the nations most well recognized and sought after retail graphics companies, combining 20 years experience in creative development,  print, distributional and installation.  ”We are extremely proud to be recognized as one of the country’s Top Shops again.  We’ve work hard at being a partner with our clients rather than a source” explains Director of Marketing Marco Perez.  ”We get inserted early on in the process and it makes a big difference in hiring a company that is more than a printer.”

Point Imaging serves the retail, advertisement, event, sports and mobile marketing industries with full color digital print, rebranding, billboards, interior and exterior signage and more.

Accolades for Industry-Leading Manufacturing Companies

AUBURN HILLS, MI–(Marketwire – March 10, 2011) – Plex Systems, Inc., provider of the No. 1 rated manufacturing ERP software, today announced that five of its customers have been selected by Managing Automation to receive Progressive Manufacturing (PM) 100 awards. Recipients of this prestigious recognition include CAMACO, ETCO, Inc., Marwood Metal Fabrication, Point Imaging, and Revstone (Vassar Foundry).

The PM100 awards are presented annually by Managing Automation to recognize best-in-class manufacturers from around the world who are using advanced technology to achieve business transformations. The five Plex Online customers were recognized in the “Data & Integration Mastery” category. In their award nominations, they identified Plex Online’s contributions to helping them achieve the following accomplishments.

• CAMACO has been honored due to its improvements in quality, productivity, and traceability.
• ETCO, Inc. received the PM100 award for improvements in shipping, inventory management, and quality following its launch of Plex Online.
• Marwood Metal Fabrication received the PM100 in recognition of improved inventory management, machine uptime, and shop-floor productivity.
• Point Imaging is recognized with the PM100 award for speeding its order entry processes and achieving purchasing efficiencies.  Point Imaging’s Business Systems Manager Brandon Huseman helped guide the  program through development, training, implementation and improvements.
• Revstone (Vassar Foundry) is honored for achieving savings in inventory and labor costs, tracking and minimizing scrap and optimizing throughput.

The PM100 awards will be presented on May 11 at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. During this event, Managing Automation will also announce which of the 100 companies being honored also receive High Achiever awards, Best of Mastery awards, and the Editor’s Choice award. Two companies will also be named 2011 Progressive Manufacturers of the Year.

“These five exceptional companies represent industry-leading highly productive, efficient manufacturing enterprises performing operations that range from casting to print manufacturing to automotive stampings and assemblies,” said Plex Systems Marketing Vice President Patrick Fetterman. “We are pleased that Plex Online helps them all achieve their business goals, and very proud to be part of their recognized successes.”

To view a list of all PM100 winners, go to http://blog.managingautomation.com/summit/pm100/.

Winter is upon us and we all know what this means in the upper half of the country.  Cold weather, falling leaves, Superbowl  and brutal sunlight.  Yes, in the Northern Hemisphere the sun is actually closer to the earth in winter. The sun can make driving at certain times almost impossible.  It also poses problems for businesses with glass fronts. One dilemma for business owners is that if they pull down their shades or tinted roller blinds, one might mistake them for being closed or vacant.  I know I’ve passed up open businesses because they appeared dark had their blinds closed.

A great way to utilize your window space is with perforated window film.  Perforated window film, also called “see-through” window decal, is a printable film that shows a graphic on one side, but allows the viewer on the other side to still see through the film unobstructed. PWF also doubles as window tint, reducing sunlight exposure and lowers the temperature inside.

Some other features and benefits of PWF include:

* Attract new business to your stores.
* The graphic does not obstruct the view from inside.
* An outdoor-grade laminate extends the life of PWF for 3+ years.
* PWF are affordable and they can work for you.
* In most cases, PWF’s increases security by making it more difficult to see through windows.

I have included a photo of a custom window graphic designed by the talented and creative group at Mix Design in Schererville, IN (www.mixdesign.com).  The photos show the view from both inside and outside.  The outside view is a vibrant and attractive graphic while the reverse side reveals only a hint the image and allows full exterior visibility.

Perforated window film comes in various light allowances and widths.  Panels can be put together to create large coverage.  Have you been to Las Vegas recently?  Ever wonder what those massive Las Vegas show advertisements on the sides of hotels are made out of?  That’s right!  Perforated window film.  They allow guests to see out of their windows while creating a larger than life billboard on the outside of the glass.

Point Imaging can design, produce, distribute and install perforated window film on your windows.  Please contact your Point Imaging account representative or project manager to get started on your visual marketing plan today.

www.pointimaging.com 888-881-2454  action@pointimaging.com

When Mane Image owner Leslie Robinson bought her parent’s company twelve years ago, she immediately decided that the biggest differentiator she held over her competitors was her company’s investment in technology.  Leslie understood technology’s impact on her business.  So when it came to marketing,  it was no surprise  she was the first in our area to try something new by utilizing  qr code technology.

This past fall, Mane Image began talks with Point Imaging to completely overhaul her current billboard campaign. Mane Image was in the midsts of a major expansion with the addition of two surgical rooms and introducing  surgical hair transplants.  They were also flying world-renowned surgeon Dr. Shelly Friedman in each month to perform hair transplants.  This level of investment required a “Big Splash” marketing campaign.  The creative advertising and print team at Point Imaging got to work on what would become one of Chicagoland’s most recognized billboard campaigns.

Leading the team of marketing specialists and designers was Point Imaging’s director of marketing, Marco Perez.  ”We knew coming in that Leslie had a lot riding on her investment,” explains Perez.  ”We needed to create a billboard campaign that was eye-catching, entertaining and memorable while delivering the vital information.”  What Point Imaging created was one of the most talked about billboard campaigns in recent history.  ”There is a distinct theme to Leslie’s boards,” says Perez.  ”We hit on local pop-culture that received a good amount of buzz and even controversy, but nothing like the publicity we generated by adding a massive qr code on a billboard adjacent to a parking lot near a Target store during the Holiday season.”

The buzz was felt almost immediately.  One hour after the qr code billboard went up, Leslie received her first call regarding the board.  More importantly, it led to an appointment for a transplant consultation.  By 5pm that evening, her first sale was made because of the qr code billboard.  By week three, her entire marketing campaign was paid for.  In fact, so much buzz had been created by the mysterious looking square that the local newspaper ran a story about the board and how technology was impacting printed media.  ”We found out that people were calling and writing to the newspaper asking about the billboard and what the design meant,” Perez explains.  ”Frankly, I wasn’t concerned with people using their smartphones to scan the code as much as I was about just generating the buzz.  I feel that eventually, qr codes will be part of our daily lives when it comes to being advertised to.  Being the first in this area to take the leap with interactive print was what created the buzz.”

The overall success of the marketing campaign was more that Mane Image could ever had hoped for.  ”We weren’t sure what the qr code board or the other billboards would bring us, but we trusted the marketing and print pros at Point Imaging and they more than delivered,” says Leslie.  ”They are way more than just printers.  They are advertising experts with a creative team that rivals any ad agency. I am very satisfied.”

About Point Imaging:  Founded in the back seat of a Pontiac in 1990, Point Imaging has grown to become one of the nations most well recognized and sought after producers of visual communications by means of printed graphics.   Services include print, design, distribution and installation of graphics for the retail, event, out-of-home, sports and mobile marketing industries.  From conventional offset, digital and variable data printing, to web-based marketing solutions such as personalized URLs to wide-format, high impact visual graphics, Point imaging delivers the revenue generating solutions that are used by some of today’s largest brands.