Creating a landmark for your station can range greatly in price depending on budget. In this Media Information Bureau encore presentation, we chat with Lauren L. Darr, President of LOI International, on many landmark examples that range in price and difficulty.
For Darr, Landmarks are only limited by one’s imagination.
Get Recognized … and Remembered
When you take a drive down a road like Route 66, it becomes obvious that landmarks make a difference. For travelers that are just passing by, it’s something to make them stop, take a picture, and stay for a while. When they are frequenting your area, they are also most likely spending money.
For people that are local, landmarks become something ‘stuck in their mind.’ They’ll reference it when giving directions or setting up a meeting. It becomes ingrained in their mental recall. This gives your company not only brand recognition, but also builds loyalty.
Creating a landmark for your station can range greatly in price depending on budget. Following is a list of many landmark examples that range in price and difficulty. Landmarks are only limited by one’s imagination.
• Flags: This can be done in a couple of ways. First you could have a large set of flags ala the governmental landmarks. Or, display a gargantuan flag. In one town, a car dealership always had an enormous flag that was seen from miles off and they would always advertise “Under the flag…”
• Light display: People love light displays, especially if they are timed to music. Doing this has become easier with technology as software has been developed to create synchronized light/audio displays. This could be something that is done seasonally during the holidays or created as a year-round display.
• Have the World’s Largest (or other adjective) Something-Or-Other: When you have the ‘world’s largest, etc.’ people have a natural curiosity for wanting to see it. As an example, a furniture company has outside its main entrance The World’s Largest Chair. People come by to see it. And, it encourages them to go into the furniture store, which has a wide price range of items. There have been restaurants that have the world or area’s largest pipe organ and create entertainment around it.
• Vintage transportation: People love seeing things from the past— especially if they can experience them. Old-time cars and racecars are always an attraction. If you live in an area where a boat— military, historical, or ultra-modern— could be used to generate attention, it is a way to create traffic. Some companies are located along a train station and could have a rail car as an experience. Another type of vehicle that gets attention in the United States is a double-decker bus since they are rare. A pizza shop has a double decker bus inside that
• Build a character out of product: Many companies may think of themselves as having a ‘boring’ product that can’t be used as a landmark, but it’s an opportunity to get creative. A metal shop created has used different types of metal scraps to create a tin man outside its shop. A company that supplies large plastic pipe for drainage systems and culverts created a waving character out of its product.
• Paint a mural (or have it painted): Art is a way to display thoughts, ideas, and history. It’s a fantastic way to make people slow down as they are used to viewing art on a canvas. So, large murals catch their attention. Blighted areas of communities are revitalized when artists take paintbrushes to old, weathered buildings. People also take photos of it and in front of it, especially if it’s a scene where it looks like they are a part of the painting. A new phenomenon has come about with more advanced technologies in paint, which is interactive art. A large ‘chalkboard’ might be painted on the side of a building with a question where people can write as an example.
• Structures make of fiberglass or other building material: People love when inanimate objects become bigger than life. A candle company has a candle as large as the building attached to its main sales center. There is a basket company in Ohio that has its entire building shaped as a basket. There are many ways to get creative with this type of landmark. It can be very costly, but coupled with the right location; it could easily pay for itself in the long run.
• Plant a garden: With the movement to be sustainable and eco-friendly, a garden is a great way to display this value for a company. A garden can range in size and be an area for people to rest. Or, if there isn’t room along the land, companies in larger cities are creating wall gardens that run up and down the side of their buildings. When done correctly, these can be great branding tools. For example, a gardener could create a wall garden where your logo is a part of the garden itself in a different color than the background colors used.
• Use an inflatable as a temporary landmark- or permanent if built correctly. Inflatables attract attention whether they are a mascot or other character/item. They can be temporary and re-used or perhaps more permanent, if built properly. For example, they might be used to make a billboard into a 3D billboard.
There are many branding benefits to creating a landmark. One good reason is that it’s usually just good business for the community to have something that makes people stop and patronize the area. This is meant to be a catalyst for creating ideas on how to create a landmark for your company. If you’re a local radio or TV station, this may generate thoughts on helping clients with a landmark or creating a temporary one when doing promotions.
Lauren L. Darr is President of LOI International (www.loi-international.com), a strategic marketing vision firm that she founded in 2004. She can be reached by email: [email protected].
This column originally appeared May 1, 2012 at RBR+TVBR.
