A tale of the bright…and the not-so-bright

There’s the real thing – and then there’s the poorly copied and cheap replica.

This truism has seldom been more apparent than on a street in the New Zealand regional city of Palmerston North, where Steve Allen’s LJ Hooker real estate office glows by day and absolutely sparkles by night, thanks to a shopfront with a tasteful layout of VitrineMedia’s backlit static LED screens.

LJ Hooker Palmerston North devotes its VitrineMedia screens to its sales and rental properties.

Their presence is so powerful that just about everyone is talking about them. And more importantly, the display is helping to stop people in their tracks, have them take a closer look at what’s on offer and in a growing number of cases, even pop instore where their engagement has led to sales growth and a jump in property listings.

Across the way, there’s another business in the same game. But that’s where the similarity ends as their backlit LED screens are of the copied variety.

They’re replicas and it’s there for all to see. They look dull and uninviting – and the sad part is that the VitrineMedia screens probably cost just a tad more, reinforcing another truism that buying cheap is often your most expensive outlay.

“Our LED screens from VitrineMedia – we have 39 A3s, 24 of them devoted to our sales properties and the balance to rentals – are amazing and have exceeded everything we had hoped for,” says a satisfied Steve.

“And my advice to everyone can be captured in three Nike-like words: Just buy them!”

Steve, who describes himself as a person who values quality and appreciates the peace of mind that comes with choosing a recognised brand, adds that in researching options when his thoughts turned to backlit LED window displays, VitrineMedia stood out as the clear leader.

“I discovered that VitrineMedia owns the process, from product research and development, through design and manufacture and on to sales, after sales service and the industry’s best warranties and guarantees.

“Each screen has passed the company’s stringent quality control regime, which allows them to offer an 80,000-hour – or close on 10 years of continuous use – guarantee on the LED panels.

“The colour of the VitrineMedia light is sharp, cold and white while that of the replicas across the way seems to lean towards something that is closer to a yellowy beige hue and lacking in intensity.

“And when you’re operating in an increasingly cluttered marketplace, you need to look professional and stand out from the crowd – and our investment in the VitrineMedia backlit static LED screens has allowed us to do just that.”

Steve also finds the user-friendliness of the VitrineMedia products a major boon and points to how quick, easy and inexpensive it is to print images on the special backlit paper. Likewise, it is quick and easy to replace images and on the rare occasion when he’s had a query, VitrineMedia’s New Zealand Operations Manager Peter Gardner has been there to provide prompt and pertinent answers.

“In every aspect, we know we have made the right – and bright – decision while others, I suspect, have a touch of buyer’s remorse after their not-so-bright choice,” Steve concludes.