Neon Signs: How Brands Can Turn Physical Spaces Into Marketing Assets
Building a brand doesn’t end when a potential customer closes a tab.
You want the physical spaces and places where those folks encounter your company to evince the same kind of identity and facilitate the kind of shareable, memorable, genuine moments. Give people something Snapchat-worthy. Neon signs can be a way to incorporate office marketing statements, in-store branding, and all similar messaging. To work all that into an office space, a retail location, an event space, a restaurant, a taproom, or any other place where you come into contact with customers, guests, and fans, without just slapping a logo on a screen.
Turning Brand Identity Into Something Physical
Digital marketing offers ample opportunities for brands that want to communicate with their customers with images, visuals, or videos. Meanwhile, the real-world environment gives you a unique chance to engage with your audience and translate your logo, tagline, campaign message, or personality into something that people can physically interact with.
There are a number of benefits to using a sign to amplify your online branding. And, if your business is using signage that complements its website, color schemes and fonts, positioning, and messaging, you will be in the fortunate position of having a consistent visual brand that people will recognize in the outside environment.
Something visually bold/iconic, e.g., a sign behind the reception of an office, can set the space up with the tone of voice. Something small and branded, like a sign with a brand’s slogan, phrase, logo, etc in a retail or hospitality space can become a natural backdrop for people to take photos.
Why Neon Works Well for Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing is about creating memories, and memories last longer when they’re of something visual and interesting. Lighting is a key component of setting the mood in a space, and because it naturally draws your eyes to the light source, it can function as an interactive decor element.
Neon signs are great because they can be a branding element and decor item in one. Instead of taking up space with something that’s only there to promote a brand, design the sign to fit your business’s design, and it’ll look right at home. This makes it a better solution for brands that want promotional materials but don’t want them to stick out or overpower aesthetics.
They’re also great for social media. Customers are looking for beautiful locations with photo-worthy products, events, and experiences, and increasing spend to visit said locations. An Insta-friendly space will get you more free advertising from your own customers, which you can also tie back to your blog content.
Designing for More Than One Occasion
One benefit of custom signage is its versatility. The permanent sign made to hang over an office or retail unit communicates to those who pass it day after day. But a portable sign can be deployed at trade shows, launches, pop-ups, corporate gatherings, and other brand encounters.
The message does not need to always be a brand name. A good tagline or catchphrase will do. A product name or graphic can also act like a bumper sticker for the brand identity without wallpapering every room in the building with brand advertising.
Yellowpop offers a fun opportunity to make your mark by designing your own custom light sign. You can put the brand at the heart of your business and treat a sign as part of a comprehensive design language.
Making Physical Branding Memorable
The best branded environments often make people do a double-take. Maybe there’s an unexpected word, color, or image. Maybe a sign is placed in just the right spot to get a second glance. Maybe it’s a contrast between light and darkness. Whatever it is, people can’t help but notice.
For marketers, this is part of what makes neon signs more than decorations. If placed strategically, they can help connect a physical space with a brand, support experiential marketing, and give customers something visual to take home with them.
While digital and physical marketing increasingly support one another, memorable environmental branding is one more way for companies to make their identity in the world more visual, tactile, and shareable.