Advertising rollout across a store network: schedule, installation, report

Stages: pilot, series production, shipping, installation, report

A rollout is more than printing 50 sets. Most problems do not come from printing but from differences between locations: a different window width, a different fixture type, an older-generation light box, a shopping centre manager who only lets the crew in at night.

1. Pilot – we produce and install a set in 1–3 representative locations. We check dimensions, materials, the fixing method and the crew's working time. Corrections are made here, not in 60 stores.
2. Series production – after the pilot is approved, we print everything. A series from one machine park holds the same colour in every location.
3. Kitting and shipping – each location receives a parcel with its own set, labelled with the site number and a contents list.
4. Installation – our crews, partners or store staff, depending on the type of elements.
5. Report – photos from every location, a list of comments, missing items to reorder.

At every stage the network needs one decision-maker. A rollout where five people from different departments approve the design is always late.

Schedule counted back from the campaign start date

This is a safe schedule. It can be shortened – printing normally takes about 3 working days, and express 24 hours – but only if the site data is complete and the design approved. Time is most often lost on approvals and collecting dimensions, not on production. That is why we ask for the start date in the first email; more on timing in our guide print turnaround times and 24h express.

The site list and the data you need to collect

The basis of a rollout is a spreadsheet of locations. The better it is, the fewer phone calls during the job. The minimum is:

• site number/code and the name used within the network,
• full delivery address and goods-in hours (shopping centres often have a loading bay and time slots),
• contact person and phone number,
• site type or fit-out variant (e.g. A – 2-pane window, B – 3-pane window, C – mall island),
• dimensions of the media that differ – windows, light boxes, walls, counters,
• installation constraints: hours, management requirements, cherry picker access, passes needed.

If there are no dimensions or they are out of date, we carry out an on-site survey and inventory (from approx. €85 net per site, refunded when you order production). Often surveying a few locations of each type plus photos from the rest is enough. How to organise this is covered in our guide site survey before a campaign, and the network's permanent signage rules are best written down in a store signage manual.

Our installation, partners and the client's teams

Not every element needs an installation crew. A sensible split usually looks like this:

• store staff – posters for frames, wobblers, price tags, roller banners, stickers on small surfaces; we add simple illustrated instructions to the set,
• our crews – window graphics, light box face replacement, wall graphics, elements at height; a 2-person crew at approx. €42 net per crew-hour, in shopping centres during closing hours approx. €65 net, travel approx. €1 net/km both ways from Wieluń,
• partners in the EU – locations abroad where sending our own crew does not pay off.

We plan routes so that one crew covers several locations a day in one region. Removing old graphics adds approx. €16 net/m² including disposal. Service details on the advertising installation in Poland and Europe page. For agencies we work as white label – crews without our branding, on the agency's behalf; more on the production for agencies page.

Photo report from every location

The report is proof for the marketing department, for the manufacturer that co-funded the campaign and for the regional manager. A good report includes for each location:

• site number and address, date and time of installation,
• before and after photos from the same positions (the window from outside, key media inside),
• a list of installed elements and comments: what did not fit, what was damaged, what was missing,
• a signature or confirmation from someone at the location.

When store staff do the installation, we ask for photos following simple instructions (e.g. three shots from marked positions) and compile them into one report. The whole service – from the site list to the report – is described on the network rollout with reporting page.

Complaints, shortages and reorders

With several dozen locations something always happens: a parcel damaged in transit, a store manager who threw away the box of graphics thinking it was the old campaign, a window of a different size after a refit. You have to assume this from the start.

What we do:

• we print spares of the elements most often damaged (usually a few per cent of the run) and keep them with us,
• files and production settings are saved, so reordering a single graphic takes a day or two,
• we keep a list of shortages from the report and send replacements in one batch,
• for rotating campaigns we can store the network's graphics (approx. €26 net per pallet per month) and ship them on demand.

Shipping the sets costs approx. €2.80 net per location for picking and dispatch and approx. €3.30 net for kitting the set, plus the courier cost. For 40 locations that comes to approx. €245 net for logistics handling, excluding postage. More on the logistics in our guide shipping to many stores. Prices are indicative – we prepare a specific quote once we receive the site list and scope.