FOSTERING SIGNAGE QUALITY

The very first thing most prospective customers see of a company they are planning to do business with is its SIGN.

The sign does two things – it acts as a beacon, guiding the customer or visitor to the right location and, more importantly, it delivers a message about the business to the customer. Get it wrong and it will convey the wrong message and can adversely affect the willingness of the customer to do business.

Signage for businesses and other commercial organisations is one of the most important element in any marketing communications programme – and the good news is that in the UK there are a large number of superbly equipped, highly skilled and very creative specialist businesses capable of making sure that every organisation have access to signage of the highest quality.

Of course, as in any other business sector, there are also a number who will happily promise the earth, take your money and will then fail to deliver – ie. the cowboys.

How do you avoid them? One way is to check that your signmaker is a member of the British Sign and Graphics Association – the BSGA – the country’s only dedicated trade association for the sign industry.

Every member of the BSGA has been vetted, prior to acceptance, and every one has signed up to the association’s Code of Practice, which is designed to promote a high standard of quality, design, workmanship, health and safety and commercial practice within the sign industry.

It is essentially this Code that sets members of the BSGA apart from the rest of the industry. Any sign maker that has joined has agreed that the articles of the Association shall be binding on them and will be observed in letter and spirit. The fact that they are members is a firm indication that they are serious businesses and are serious about the sign industry.

If you choose a BSGA member to build and install your sign or signage programme, there is another distinct advantage - for you. In the (unlikely) event that something goes wrong and you are not happy with the outcome, you (or the sign maker involved) can call in the BSGA to provide a voluntary mediation/arbitration service – a no-cost stage which will, hopefully, resolve the problem before anyone has to resort to expensive lawyers.

And, should any member, be found to be seriously in breach of the Code of Practice, the BSGA will either suspend membership or expel the member completely.

Whilst the promotion of the highest standards in workmanship and customer service is a principal aim of the association, it is also a very pro-active organisation seeking to provide a constantly expanding range of services to its members and to represent and lobby legislative bodies which may affect the sign industry on an international, national and local basis.

Its services can be grouped under three general headings:

• Technical
• Education
• Marketing and Promotion
• Representation of the industry

Technical
Over the past 20 years the technical committee of the BSGA together with its advisors, have compiled the UK’s most comprehensive series of Technical Guidelines for the sign industry. The guides, given the innovative nature of the sign industry and the increasing application of new technologies in the industry, are a constant "work in progress" and are available in their entirety, free-of-charge, to all member companies.

Education
The association has been a driving force in the development and implementation of formal learning and training for people working in the sign industry. Courses in sign making are now available at colleges and specialist centres throughout the UK and provide qualifications to NVQ/SVQ to Level II and Level III. The aim of this effort has been to provide sign makers with a better skilled workforce, and to give those who are serious about working in the sign industry with a route to real qualifications and career progression.

Marketing and Promotion
The BSGA is actively involved in promoting the services of members to sign buyers and specifiers and its principal vehicle for this activity is its new website – www.bsga.co.uk - which was launched at the end of last year.

Albert Baxter, Director of the association, said that one of the main difficulties they had faced in marketing the services offered by members, was the difficulty in directing marketing activity at potential customers at the right time, throughout the UK.

"The internet has provided us with the opportunity to overcome this problem and we’ve invested heavily to make sure we get it right," he said. "The new website, in addition to providing a great deal of information and news about the industry, provides people looking for signmakers with a search facility which allows them to select by geographic location and then take a closer look at any they shortlist via detailed online profiles.

"It’s the only web facility of its kind in the UK and we aim to make it the number site for anyone looking for a signmaker. It will, in the very near future, be a sponsored link on Google," he said.

Another major promotional tool used by the association is the annual Sign Industry Awards. Now in their sixth year, the awards have become a focal point for the best the British sign industry has to offer.

"What the Awards demonstrate is the vast range of skills and technologies modern signmakers have to be able to offer," said Albert Baxter. "There are awards for the Best Architectural Sign, Best Illuminated Sign, Best Digital Sign, Best Vehicle Graphics/Livery, Best Interior Sign, Best Commercial Sign, Best Retail Sign plus the Wayfinding Scheme of the Year – which is awarded for a scheme designed and built to guide people round and through a building or facility – and a Craftsman Award, which recognises traditional signmaking skills such as hand-painting, carving and gold leafing.

"To create and build these signs, signmakers use materials ranging from wood, steel and aluminium to glass, acrylics, vinyls, paint and ink. They employ skills ranging from engineering, construction, and joinery through lighting technology and digital printing to model making, plus a lot more.

"The sign industry combines creativity, and traditional craft skills and with the very latest technology and modern production methods to deliver the results the sign buyers want to see."

Representation
Two current factors are having an effect on the sign industry. The new CSCS card – a construction industry requirement for anyone – including sign installers – working on major construction sites and the development of new Local Authority Plans, which may set unreasonable planning restrictions on signs. The BSGA has, through negotiations with the CITB, organised a means by which sign installers can get CSCS cards and is monitoring Local Development Plans on a national basis and is lodging objections when restrictions on signs are unreasonable.

"The principal aim of the BSGA is to support the on-going development of the UK industry, to assist, encourage and support signmakers in delivering product of the highest quality and to help make sign buyers in this country aware of what is available to them and where they can obtain signage that will do the right job for them," said Albert Baxter.

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