That old devil called price again

Last week I saw something I have not seen for ages and it still makes me smile for the simplicity of it all. I was in my car behind a bus in London when coming to a halt, I had no option but to read the advert on the back of the bus—you cannot miss it really being stuck behind a number 29 in rush hour traffic. ‘Reading this?’ it asked. ‘Well you and 150,000 other people have seen this today and the same tomorrow and the day after and the day after, advertise your business here, contact’.

Most of us would have seen this sort of thing before and when we read it we simply know that it is so true. Signs, other than road traffic type signs, are often referred to as advertisements. The whole point of advertising to my understanding is to attract attention and a call to action—or simply put, to get you to buy or do something. Even if you decide that you do not want to buy or do anything i.e. not responding to the call to action, the first part of the cunning plan has done its job and you have now been ‘advertised’ to. You will at some point recall the company or person trying to get you to open your wallet or do something and the ‘advert’ has achieved its primary function.

An advertising executive will tell you of course it is a lot more complicated than that and no doubt it is. Tsch—what do I know about advertising? Well for instance I do know that you are more likely to ‘notice’ a moving image more so than a static one, hence the proliferation in the digital signage industry over the last few years. The change in the signs around Piccadilly Circus are certainly a testament to that, not to mention shops, banks, post offices, garages, and tills. They are now all platforms for digital displays and advertisements, as businesses vie for your attention at every possible opportunity. And I am not going to mention how the way some static advertisements such as the ‘Hello boys’ Wonderbra campaign work. Oh no. I am not falling for that one, as I have had my diversity training.

Quality over price

I do however think that for every sign made, every graphic applied, every banner unfurled, they are made to do one thing only and that is inform. I must though personally exclude from this hypothesis when a car is wrapped in a style such as a stealth like matt vinyl all of one colour as that is not informing anything really other than the owner is having fun and possibly he (for invariably it will be a he) has some spare cash burning a hole in their pocket. But each to their own, why not flaunt it?


The reason the back of the bus made me smile was because I once used the same message as a tactic to help sell a rather expensive sign to a client who was obstinate that they wanted ‘big’ and ‘all singing and dancing’, but was just as adamant that they wanted it cheap. As if that scenario has never happened before.

The way around this I found was to ask how long the sign is going to stay in place (seven years was the answer in this case) and how many people will see that sign naming the company during that time. Add to that the old adage of, ‘the bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory’ and it became a simple ‘sign here please’ on the order form. One of my better days in sales.



We certainly cannot win them all, but by depreciating ourselves to the lowest price all the time may well be good in some respects and in certain circumstances. At the end of the day though, I have to ask, is it going to maintain a lifestyle that you wish to keep?

There has to be justification as to why product X may cost a bit, or a lot more, than product Y. And I do accept that sometimes, you are simply not given the opportunity to pitch your proposal. I also accept we do not live in an ideal sales environment where customers never try to screw you to the ground. If I can suggest something though, that is to simply ask for the opportunity to make your pitch. What is the worst that could happen? They say no and you are no worse off than you were before you asked. But if you did get the chance, well, the difference between try and triumph is a little umph.


A regular comment from sign company owners is that it is always about price regardless but I get the impression that the customer is nowadays so wound up in an ‘E-bay/Amazon’ way of getting the cheapest, that reminding themselves what they set out to do in the first place is very often lost. Yes, it is about price but it is what you get for that price that is the important bit. It should also be pointed out here that continuing to supply overpriced and over specified products is just as big a problem as having a reputation for cheap and tacky ones.

Pick your priorities

This brings me back to my theory that you can have any two of the following three requirements but not all three at the same time i.e. speed, quality, or price. Try it. I have yet to see a well-constructed sign that meets standards, using better than average quality products, designed, manufactured, delivered, and installed in less than a day—all at a price that is as if the cheapest materials and unskilled labour was used.

You can always get things cheaper but, pardon the pun, there is a price to pay. Even some of the corporate buyers have come to realise that if they now want to avoid seriously bad publicity, then they will need to stop trying to be clever by buying or maintaining signs on the cheap.

So, back to the back of the bus. Big yourself up, because like the advert on that bus, your work is going to be seen by a lot of people and possibly for a very long time. Not many other products have this ability therefore making it more unique and more valuable. And as Henry Ford once said: “The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.”


Public Notice:

• Moving images are more noticeable hence the growth of digital signage
• Signs have a main function of informing
• Focusing on the cheapest product can allow purpose to be lost
• Corporate buyers have realised buying on the cheap causes bad publicity

The British Sign and Graphics Association (BSGA) history dates back more than 70 years when a group of leading sign-makers formed the Master Sign Makers Association (MSMA) with the aim of promoting the sign industry and defending its interests.

For more information on the issues discussed in this article visit www.bsga.co.uk or Tel: 0845 338 3016


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