Outstanding at Making You STAND OUT has been our tagline since 2013.
We love the play on words here but more deeply the meaning - this phrase challenges us everyday to be better at our craft.
To “Stand Out” has always been the root thinking behind most advertising and marketing campaigns, signage and print design, competitor analysis studies etc. But we like to think there’s a little more involved…
Standing Out for the right reasons is all that matters, especially if “it” matters to your target custom audience or avatar.
We love talking strategy with businesses to help them find the recipe to their marketing success.
At the end of each week we like to put out a little bit of Video Content that sums up our Week-that-was… it’s a fast paced short little look at the Projects, the People and the Antics that make up our every day lives here at Sign Network Limited.
Check out some of our 2019 Weekly Wraps…
Here’s some thoughts about creating content from our Strategic Director, Scott Walklin…
“Having a videography department on tap defiantly makes the process of creating weekly content a lot easier BUT the biggest piece I advice I have to other SME businesses is don’t overthink your strategy too much… just start putting out content on a regular basis. There is a learning curve to go through in regards to producing and distributing content and the best way to learn is LIVE in the big bad world… your audience will teach you more about the type of content they like just by their reactions and engagement than countless hours spent in a boardroom.
My thoughts on Marketing, going forward is that it’s something that should be taken on and carried out in-house, it’s too expensive to outsource over time and ultimately if you can turn all of your employees into content creators (whether it’s text, photo or video) you will more than likely tell a far more engaging, authentic story than somebody else.”
It’s one of those words that gets thrown around a lot… So what is the difference between a Logo and a Brand?
Everyone knows what a logo is. It’s that shape companies use to represent their company; like Nike’s swoosh, McDonald’s golden arches or Starbucks green mermaid.
But what’s branding exactly?
Branding is a more holistic perspective of how your customers experience your company. While a logo is only a small simple mark, a brand includes every single touch-point your customers have with your company.
So why should you care about Branding over just developing a kick arse logo?
Here’s why: your customers don’t experience your company in the form of a logo floating to them in a white Matrix-like void. They experience your brand through your website, walking into your store, your menu, your vehicle driving past them, a paid advertisement or through your social media pages. It’s important that the design company that is working on your logo understands that your logo is just one small part of a large collection of elements that make up your Brand.
If you were a superhero, what would your name be? The Straight shooter 🎯
What’s your favourite colour? Red
What chore do you absolutely hate doing? Washing
If you were left on a deserted island what 3 things would you want with you? 🍷 Wine, 🍸Gin, 🎵 Music
Describe your life using one word? Crazy
What are your 3 favourite movies? Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, ET
How do you feel about putting pineapple on pizza? Yuck no pineapple in 🍕
What is your favourite condiment? Southwest Chipotle
If you were a street fighter, what would your theme song be and why? ROAR - Katy Perry
Would you rather have to eat dessert at every meal or never eat dessert again? Never eat dessert again
What are you afraid of? My loved ones dying
Mcdonalds or BK? Maccas
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
Nike or Adidas? Adidas
Cat or Dog? Dog
Pizza Hut or Dominos? Pizza Hut
Say in or go out? Go out
Top sheet or no top sheet? Top sheet
When Did you start at Sign Network? April 2009
Research shows vehicle graphics are the most cost-effective form of marketing in today’s advertising-saturated market. A recent 3M study measuring Cost Per Impression (CPI) proved vehicle graphics outperformed traditional media like radio, television and print, mainly due to the following reasons:
Vehicle graphics are working for your business 24/7 (even when you’re not).
Vehicle graphics are usually not campaign-based with an end-date (like radio, TV and print). They work harder for longer, so you get more value per dollar invested.
In many cases, a lot of your travel is done between your home and workplace. This is also where many of your customers (and prospects) are, so the right people are seeing your message.
Vehicle are far more dynamic (i.e. they move) that static forms of advertising, so they get noticed and, more importantly, noticed, by people.
So what are you waiting for? Get your vehicle working for you. Get it wrapped, turn heads and turn profits.
Core Values are the foundation of Culture and Culture is the backbone of any Business.
The creation of Core Values is a team sport - this is not about the owners of the business sitting in an office designing what they want their Culture to look like - It’s about the team committing to an agreed set of Values that they are not only willing to be held accountable to but will also hold others responsible to the upkeep of the Values for the greater good of the whole team!
This is not about Performance Management, efficient working processes, profit or loss... it is a commitment to each other on how you want your work life to play out.
We all spend an enormous amount of time at work, often more than we spend with our loved ones so this is an opportunity to create the atmosphere (culture) that we want. How we feel about our work plays a major role in how we feel as a person, a husband, a wife, a parent, a friend, our mindset and how we apply ourselves to all other parts of our life - so this is extremely important to get right.
At Sign Network we’re extremely proud of our Values - you’ll not only see them displayed throughout the whole building but you’ll also see and feel them being lived on a daily basis!
We have created what we believe to be a unique offering in video content creation.
The Content Club is a 3 month immersion in video - in this short period of time we will film, edit and deliver you 20 pieces of video content all aligned to a bespoke strategy designed unique to you, your industry, your message and of course your target audience.
Our theory with video is that you should make the types of video that you enjoy watching - for us that’s short, captivating, intriguing and interesting. We want to build familiarity and trust with your audience for long term success, not ram an advert down their throats for short term gain!
What is your favourite colour? Black
If you were a superhero, what would your name be? The Half Empty Hero
If you were left on a deserted island what 3 things would you want with you? My phone, Jamesons Whiskey, My PS4
What chore do you absolutely hate doing? Mopping the Floor
Describe your life using one word? Full On!
What do you think about clowns? At the Circus… cool, anywhere else… creepy
How do you feel about putting pineapple on pizza? Don’t do it
What is your favourite condiment? Garlic Aioli
If you were a street fighter, what would your theme song be and why? All I Do Is Win - DJ Khaled (this was my ring walk song for boxing)
What are your 3 favourite movies? The Green Mile. From Dusk Till Dawn, Star Wars
What are you afraid of? Heights
Would you rather have to eat dessert at every meal or never eat dessert again? Never
Mcdonalds or BK? Maccas
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
Nike or Adidas? Adidas
Cat or Dog? Dog
Pizza Hut or Dominos? Dominos
Say in or go out? Go Out
Top sheet or no top sheet? Top sheet
When Did you start at Sign Network? April 2009
If you’re not following us on your Social Media Channels then you are missing out!
At Sign Network we like to think that we are leading the way in our Industry for our Social Media Content Strategy.
We’re trying to perfect the balance of Informative and Educational posts, Project overviews and recent jobs, mixed in with a nice dose of humor and quality antics that our team gets up to on a daily basis.
We have embraced video in a big way and aim to deliver bite-size amazing content that our audience just can’t wait to gobble up.
We’re also pretty smart under the hood of the Facebook Ads Platform and Business Manager so if you need any help getting started or want to talk social strategy we’re here to listen!
What is an Accredited Master Sign Maker?
The Master Sign Maker brand is recognised as a mark of exceptional quality and is awarded by the New Zealand Sign and Display Association board, after a very thorough appraisal of applicants work practices and ethics, production techniques and business practice.
A NZSDA Member who holds this accreditation falls into the elite category of the finest in our industry. This member has proven to be highly proficient in a wide range of signage solutions, design, branding techniques and production methods. They have demonstrated over a sustainable period to be reliable, trustworthy and competent business practitioners …… making them genuine Signage Masters.
The team at Bacon Bros desperately wanted a hanging lightbox that complimented their iconic Little High site whilst also helping them “Stand Out” from the other food vendors.
This sign project just won (2019) a Bronze Medal at the New Zealand Sign and Display Association for Illumination - we’re extremely proud of this result!
With a completely open brief (and a trusting client) our design team went to work.
The illumination of the logo was pretty straight forward, utilising push through opal acrylic panels routered in-house on our CNC machine.
The rest of the job was anything but standard… We welded, grinded, beat, scratched and layered a bunch of paint effects to pull off the “aged gem” look that we wanted and complimented the paintwork with 34 incandescent LED bulbs to give the whole project a believable yester-year effect.
The lightbox was then installed and it instantly looked like it belonged there all along!
Services: Design, Illumination, CNC, Effects, Installation
Nationwide Rebrand
We worked really closely with the Fairview National Marketing Team and in total rebranded 16 sites (external building signage and internal showrooms) and approx 50 vehicles across the South Island and collaboratively designed the signage for most of the North Island sites.
The dramatic rebrand really transformed each site and we have some amazing before and afters to prove it!
We looked to partner with a painting contractor to complete this project but logistically it was too hard and we made the decision at a very early stage to undertake all of the painting work ourselves - This allowed us to control the timeline on the projects and minimised any budget blow-outs, plus, more importantly, we were able to offer a consistency to the project to ensure the brand was rolled out perfectly from site to site.
Each site had its own set of logistical challenges from finding suitable accommodation for our team, the remote location of some sites and of course the weather played a major role.
Technically this rebrand allowed us to showcase a variety of skills from the large hand painted “Love Your View” to the custom printed wall papers used in the showrooms - this lead to us winning a Silver Medal at the New Zealand Sign and Display Association Awards for Corporate Branding and Identity. We were extremely happy to share this achievement with the team at Fairview shortly after at their South Island Conference.
Services: Collaboration, Painting, CNC, Wall Graphics, Vehicle Graphics, Installation
There’s an interesting debate around print that it is dead and no longer viable in today’s digital realm.
At Sign Network we couldn’t disagree more!
Sometimes the best way to STAND OUT is to do the complete opposite of what everyone else is doing… So in an age of digital campaigns all competing for your eyeballs and waning attention spans an actual physical, tactile, tangible, marketing asset may just give you the edge over your competitors.
The reality is you can’t blame the medium you advertise on you can only really blame the content and the lack of understanding of who your audience is and how they like to consume their content.
At the end of the day that’s what marketing is really all about… to help identify the solution a product or service brings to the world and to then find the people that can most benefit from it. Once the audience is discovered we then display it to them in a way where they can easily understand the value that it could bring to their life.
The BEST Fried Chicken in Christchurch
Even if it’s a self-proclaimed title, once you taste this stuff you will become a believer.
The story of Jayden Smith is an awesome one… A passionate cook who served his time in some of Christchurch’s best hospitality establishments before realising his dream and starting a business of his own.
At Sign Network we love being involved with peoples business ideas from the get-go! It gives us the greatest chance to help guide them through the really difficult, yet exciting, start-up phase.
We’ve been there before and we’ve also helped tonnes of businesses from many different Industries navigate the same murky waters - This has given us a unique insight in how best to define an audience, create a marketing message that gets heard and develop a brand.
Jayden and the Empire Chicken team are heading from strength to strength - watch this space!
