The Power of Consistency: How Signage Maintenance Elevates Your Branding

As winter approaches, every brand needs to consider the condition of its branding and ensure it's 'Winter Ready!'

Brand maintenance is the process of consistently nurturing your brand to achieve longevity. Regularly reviewing your brand assets ensures that they remain aligned with your identity and market positioning. One of your most important brand assets is your signage.

Signage does much more than simply pinpoint your brand on a map. Your signage acts as a powerful marketing tool that affects both customer engagement and brand recognition.

Your signage is usually the first touchpoint between you and your customers. It's a first look, a first feel. It can be the determining factor that either onboards a new customer or loses them....

Signage adorned with missing letters, defective illumination, or broken hinges for example, isn't going to welcome your customers with open arms. Keeping these assets regularly maintained is essential for customer retention, especially as the winter months begin to roll in and bring shorter days and poorer weather conditions.

As a UK-leading signage supplier, Astley understands the importance of keeping your brand in good shape. With decades of experience in all elements of branded messaging, we have supported countless companies in bringing their brands to life across numerous sectors, and continue to keep them in their prime.

Signage does much more than simply pinpoint your brand on a map.

So, why is signage maintenance so important?

"Hello, this is our business and this is what we value."

Your signage, no matter what size or colour, is sending out a message to the world. Not only do signs have a functional purpose (i.e. wayfinding, informational, etc), but signage also represents your business in a tangible form.

At first glance, you are given a first impression of the brand. A clean, well-lit, and professional sign will tell people that you are exactly that - professional. A damaged, half-lit, dirty sign will tell people that you are not investing in your brand - it instantly diminishes its value.

It is a significant financial investment for your business to implement good quality signage, and this is also reflected in the upkeep of these signs. It's therefore crucial to prolong its life by keeping it regularly cleaned and maintained.

External signage, in particular, is subject to abuse from weather conditions, vehicle pollutants, and even birds, causing them to become dull over time. Luckily, you can keep your signs in tip-top shape with comprehensive maintenance services.

Maintaining Visibility

Every brand's mission is to be seen. Signage is one of the key players in brand visibility, and so maintaining its qualities is crucial to standing out in such a busy landscape. If a sign becomes damaged or dirty, it completely loses it effectiveness. If your signs looks weary and tired, so will your company.

What can help to maximise visibility?

Illumination

Have you ever been motivated or demotivated to visit an establishment due to its appearance or exterior? However shallow this may seem, customer retention most often relies on first impressions.

Illuminated signage is the most effective tool to create a first impression and increase visibility. However, when lighting is flickering, partially-lit, or completely unlit, your company appears unprofessional, neglected, or even closed. A complete turn-off.

That's why it's important to remember that when investing in illuminated signage, you should also invest in its maintenance. When well-maintained, an illuminated brand can continue to dazzle its customers, year after year.

Cleaning

Dust and dirt can accumulate so easily on signage, especially on external assets. Regular cleaning of your signage estate is an easy way to keep your messaging legible and your brand professional.

It's important to also consider the proximity of your signage. Ground level signage will require more attention to detail with not only its design and finish, but also with its cleanliness. A higher level of maintenance will ensure that it is kept clean and appears polished and professional to passers-by.

Regular cleaning of your signage estate is an easy way to keep your messaging legible and your brand professional.

Maximising Safety

Safety is the most important purpose of signage maintenance.

The public's safety is always the first priority when repairing signage, especially when it comes to large metal structures and hanging signs. In these, cases, immediate repair, rectification, or even signage removal in the short term is required to ensure a safe environment.

Illumination is also incredibly important for safety, especially when the signs are being used for wayfinding purposes or to display crucial information. Fire exit signs, for example, must be well-maintained and illuminated to ensure the safety of the people in the building. The cleanliness and illumination of the sign, as well as any damage, can affect the visibility of the sign and its message.

Therefore, the prioritisation of signage maintenance not only looks after your brand, it also looks after people. By investing in a maintenance programme, this helps to minimise accidents and create a safe environment for the public.

The prioritisation of signage maintenance not only looks after your brand, it also looks after people.

Sustainability

Maintenance checks not only keep your signage assets looking their best, but they also identify opportunities for innovation.

Sustainability is a global critical focus, and the urgent need to adopt eco-friendly practices is now more important than ever. Maintenance checks allow the opportunity to make sustainable changes to current signage assets which includes identification of common faults so that specifications can be updated. Less failures = less visits = reduced carbon footprint.

For example, maintenance surveys can identify outdated lighting systems that can be replaced with a more energy-efficient alternative. LED's (Light Emitting Diode) have transformed illuminated signage, consuming around 80% less energy than traditional lighting. LED faux neon, for instance, can imitate traditional glass neon almost identically but in a much more energy and cost-efficient manner.

LED's (Light Emitting Diode) have transformed illuminated signage, consuming around 80% less energy than traditional lighting.

Other alternatives could include replacing static, promotional printed signage with digital screens. Digital assets allow real-time, customisable content and offer ultimate flexibility for messaging opportunities.

Businesses should take advantage of these maintenance surveys to establish how they can take sustainable steps forward through their signage estate. You never know how, or where, you could make a difference.

So, what do we offer at Astley?

At Astley, we offer comprehensive maintenance solutions that suit your requirements and budget.

From packages that cover the whole of an estate and include the highest levels of maintenance provision, to smaller and more bespoke packages that offer clients flexibility to address particular sections of their estate, we have the programme to support your specific needs.

Proactive Maintenance

Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) scheduled visits are an essential way to keep your signage estate looked after and help to identify any potential assets in need of repair before they fail.

Reactive Maintenance

No one wants to make a reactive callout, but unfortunately, these things happen. We offer expert reactive responses with a UK-wide network of experienced engineers to offer a quick and efficient response.

In summary...

Signage maintenance is much more than the tightening of screws and a lick of paint. It embodies a truly fundamental part of sign making - consistency.

Without consistency, touchpoints wouldn't align. Products wouldn't be connected. Brands wouldn't be recognised.

Most importantly, without consistency, signage wouldn't be safe. At the end of the day, it's more than just about the product, it's about the people.

Signage helps people navigate the world around us. It informs us, educates us, and communicates through not only words, but also through its appearance. Upkeeping its appearance is crucial to making a good impression, time after time.

Maintenance. It's a small effort with a big impact.

So, why not invest in a little after care?

There's nothing wrong with a little high maintenance.

Astley. We do signs.

Be prepared. Be consistent. Be persistent.

Check out our maintenance offering here: https://astley-uk.com/services/maintenance

To request a copy of our maintenance brochure or to make further enquiries on how we can support you, email us on [email protected] or call +44(0)191 8150970

Published by Bid & Content Writer, Sandy Lockyer