Sign Biz President Predicts Four Macro Trends For 2008

Sign Biz, Inc., founder of the largest non-franchise sign chain in the US, featured its annual keynote "Macro Trends" report during their national convention held in March of this year in Orlando.

Sign Biz President/CEO, Teresa M. Young, well-known "trendcaster" since 1994, gave her annual forecast report for the Sign Biz Network, and introduced guest speaker, Ken VonWald, Chairman of the Board for the International Sign Association and President of Denco Sales, for some of the topics. Young is known throughout the sign industry for her "future trend" reports, as well as for her own definition of a "mega trend." She says, "Between Evolution, and Revolution you find Mega Trends." For 2008, Young's keynote address, "Road Signs of the Global Economy - Shift Happens" predicted four "macro trends" that will increase demand for the fast-growing, green-conscious digital sign company, and reshape the way businesses and workers communicate and collaborate worldwide. This year's trends were: * Economic Deficits and The Bar of Trust * The Green Movement / Cause * WEB 2.0 * Rebranding "Branding"� "Consumer confidence is the engine of our business," states Young. "A key element that frames the perception of consumers that leads to our macro trend is the environment of corporate and political malfeasance that continues to be brought to our consciousness "� So we need to strengthen trust. Trust leads to increased competitiveness, and trust boosts consumer confidence." From this foundation, Young and Von Wald built a series of examples that illustrated how sign companies will be able to demonstrate accountability to the client, and set a high bar for trust. "This gives a solid reason for prospects to patronize these businesses. We can give them exactly what they want and need." The Green Movement / Cause was illustrated by Young in a fast-moving PowerPoint presentation that began with the history of this "movement" beginning in the 1960s.

"America is the largest consumer of energy in the world. Most of it comes from fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources. The Roper Green Gauge Study in the US has shown that: 50% of all American Adults want to get involved in eco issues. In addition, business initiatives (GE, GM, Wal*Mart) and US states pushing the agenda are driving particular product sales at the store level. Retailers are going green and demanding action from suppliers. Employees expect their companies to do more. New expectations of industry leadership are driving change more rapidly than ever - almost to the level of "revolution." Business is increasingly seen as part of the solution," explains Young.

Young agrees with William Clay FORD Jr., who said, "Of all the ways the company will be judged over the next decade, none will be greater than our response to the issue of climate change."� Sign Biz, Inc. went "green"� last year, and founded EcoSignage.org, a website dedicated to reducing the carbon footprint of the digital sign and graphics industry. Five company websites were moved to green hosting providers.

Another example of how the green initiative changes business, the Sign Biz convention this year featured a paperless storage and retrieval system for some 50 documents per attendee. Paul Strauch, Sign Biz VP of Worldwide Product Development said, "These 200 sheets of paper were loaded on innovative wristband flash drives, sorted by workshop and events. We saved a few trees doing this, and gave more value!" Young reports that between 1997 to 2005, forty-five states voted to finance more than $30 billion worth of conservation measures. "Some of these measures are driving sales volume to our chain of sign companies. "LEED's Green Building Certification and rating system provides independent, third-party verification that a building meets a certain level of green performance standards. We have been building a bank of LEED-rated products and materials for use by our shops," Young explains The predictions also include the impact of a collaborative world: Web 2.0 means that social networking tools and virtual world meeting experiences will simulate the feeling on being there in-person. "You probably spend a great deal of time looking for ways to exploit these burgeoning Web 2.0 applications in support of your company's revenue goals. Think ROI, times 2.0!" quipped Young. The keynote presentation included tools and methods entrepreneurs will be able to use to leverage WEB 2.0.

What about that macro trend she calls "Re-branding Branding"? Young explains, "Increasingly, we make decisions based on the experiential wrapper that surrounds the core offering"�. This means it is not the old definition of "branding" that comes into play. But rather, it is the experience that surrounds it." This topic moved quickly to a solid collection of converging trends that yield a new advertising opportunity with high ROI. This final trend opportunity was covered in detail during the seminar. To ensure that business owners in attendance gained the maximum benefit from the trend convergence, supporting documents and templates were preloaded on the flash drives for attendees.

About Sign Biz Inc.

Sign Biz, Inc., founder of the largest worldwide chain of independently-owned digital sign & graphics businesses, provides turnkey equipment, software and education services for its member companies in the digital sign and graphics industry. Consulting, project management and ongoing education programs and publications are offered to Sign Biz Network Members on an exclusive basis.

"Our Mission is to provide an innovative and productive digital sign & graphics business model, the best education and equipment, and lifetime member services, to support entrepreneurship in the most successful network of full-service imaging sign companies worldwide." www.signbiz.com www.signbiznet.com www.lobbypop.com www.ecosignage.org Contact Us If you have any further questions or would like additional information about Sign Biz Inc., please contact: Paul Strauch Vice President Corporate Communications 24681 La Plaza, Suite 270 Dana Point, CA 92629 800-633-5580 [email protected]

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