"How much for the 25%?"
There are 4 decent-size supermarkets in the town near where I live (Playas del Coco). Three of them are on the main road, and one of them (Mega Super) is hidden off a side road. On a future post I will do a video blog of just how bad the signage leading to the store is, and why it might lead to business failure.
Today I’ll talk about how marketing people should learn how to write before making a sign. How do I mean? Read this list:
I like to play soccer
I like to play chess
I like to play water polo
By repeating “I like to play” in every point, the actual different activities get lost in the list. The same thing happens with signage. By repeating “25%” and making it the only readable-from-twenty-feet element of the message on multiple signs, the whole promotional effort loses its value.
I thought this miscue was limited to a failing of the management of my local Mega Super. However, the picture above was taken at the Mega Super 100 miles away in La Fortuna.
I asked the local manager why they keep the numbers so big and the actual names of the things on sale so small. His reply was “That’s how we’ve always done it, and how head office tells us to write it.”
I told him head office was crazy and he smiled.
PS Mega Super ran out of pumpkins so we present to the world: our Halloween Watermelon. There was no discount.
Halloween Watermelon