As with any advertising or communication medium, the

rules of basic marketing apply with LED signs too. For a

good treatise on marketing basics read "Ogilvy on

Advertising" by David Ogilvy, March 1985. Some basic

marketing principles are . . .

1) Know your audience

2) Keep message simple

3) Repeat message often

• This is an important basic marketing rule that is easy tooverlooked. First learn what motivates your customers to buyyour product, then tailor your advertising messages to sparkthose motivations of your audience.

• You may have the lowest price cars in town, but most customerbuy cars with loans, so the monthly loan payment, is likely moreimportant to your customers then your low prices. Turn yourlower prices into a lower monthly payment, so you can sparkmore interest in the larger group of customers seeking lowerpayments.

• Always keep your customer's interests in mind, as you decidewhat messages to communicate with them using an LEDsign. The key is to know your audience.

• This marketing rule you are almost forced to follow with an LED

sign, since the text displays are usually short. Don't be tempted to

create long messages, unless you are displaying for example news

stories to a target audience that is waiting for a long time in a

lobby, waiting area, or cafeteria type environment. Countless

times we have driven down a street and only have a few seconds

to read, and see something like the following on an LED sign . . .

• We just drove by the LED sign and have no idea what they are

selling. Everyone claims that they have courteous and

knowledgeable people, so there is no information presented

here. The same LED sign should have displayed something like . .

• With a simple message it is easier to repeat that

message for your audience. By repeating the same

message you help the audience remember what it is

you want to communicate.

• A message that is simple and readily repeatable

might include 3 to 4 basic messages with 3-4 text

displays for each basic message.

• Place your LED sign so your intended audience does not have to strain to

look up or down at the sign. Your target audience should be comfortable

when reading the LED sign. Eye level is usually your best bet.

• If you want everyone to see your message place the LED sign where they

will have to look, such as on a wall behind a sales or order counter, above a

doorway, or at the end of a hallway. If you want to draw attention to an

item that is commonly over looked, place the LED sign near that item or

area. The motion of the LED sign will naturally draw attention to that area

or item you want seen.

• Check to see that your LED sign comes with the mounting hardware you

will need to mount your LED sign on the ceiling, counter top or back

wall. When mounting your sign, take into consideration the power cord,

hiding it when possible.

• Sign Size - The most common mistake people make when purchasing an

LED sign is in the size of the sign. They tend to buy LED signs that are too

large for use indoors, and too small for use outdoors. 2" high character

LED signs can be easily read up to 80 feet away, so these are great for

offices, lobbies, etc. A 4" LED sign can be read up to 160 feet away, and are

too large for these same offices and lobbies. Then can work in an large 150'

cafeteria, ballroom, factory floor, or tradeshow booth.

• Lowercase Letters - Use all capital letters, since they are bigger than

lowercase letters. The bigger the letters, the farther away that people can

read your sign, thus increasing the time people have to read your sign,

especially if people are walking by or driving by in a car. Lowercase letters

are 30% smaller than capital letters. If you use lowercase letters, you are

reducing the distance that the sign can be read by 30%, and your reducing

the time people have to read your LED sign by 30%. Stick to all capital

letters.

• Colors - Red on black is not the friendliest color combination, but it is the

most noticed and therefore most read. If you want more people to see and

read your sign, stick to Red only. You can use a mix of colors in waiting

rooms, lobbies, libraries, offices, but for messages that you want read by

people that have only a few seconds, stick to red.

• Full Motion Video LED Signs - With the advancement of computers, you

can now purchase full motion video LED signs. You've likely seen these

while driving down streets. The problem with these is that most travelers

have but 3-5 seconds to view a sign, and with video it takes 15 seconds to

get a video message across, and there is no audio. That's why the smart full

motion video LED sign owners, just flash large screens of bold text on an

image, as they have learned that straight text is the fastest way to get

messages quickly to fast moving travelers. There is no reason to pay for full

motion video LED signs, when moving text displays are more effective.

• Scrolling Multiple Lines - If you are going to use right-to-left scrolling

messages, avoid scrolling more than one line at a time. Some LED

signs can show multiple lines of text at once. The human mind

cannot read more than one right-to-left scrolling line of text at a

time. Multiple lines work great for stationary information, or for

scrolling vertically from bottom to top.

• Reverse Scrolling - Avoid scrolling text messages over 5 words in the

left to right direction, or scrolling multiple lines in the top to bottom

direction. Western language readers are accustomed to reading in the

left-to-right direction so scroll longer text messages in the right-to-left

direction. Likewise, they are accustomed to reading from top to

bottom, so you should scroll longer text messages from bottom to top.

• Mixing Formats - If you will be using multiple LED signs, withsome displaying scrolling text and others displaying stationarytext, make sure the there is sufficient space between the scrollingand stationary text, like 1-2 feet. Humans are not design to read inmixed modes, so keep the two methods separated by lots ofspace. We've seen LED signs with the time and temperature inone non-moving text line, with a scrolling advertisement text lineabove, making this a very hard LED sign to look at, let alone read.

• Angles - People are most comfortable reading horizontal lines oftext, so mount your sign horizontally, and not at an angle.

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