VD POP & Display Llp. is the newest firm under the Mumbai-based digital printing solution major Vijas Digital Group, which has celebrated its silver jubilee, recently. For all these years, the Group has continuously been making its presence felt in the printing business catering to a wide cross-section of customers that include corporates, outdoor media owners, specialist agencies, POP producers, and the like. The Group, which has been one of the leading names specialising in indoor-outdoor digital printing solutions, sensed the void in POP segment right in time. Accordingly, it forayed in the segment five years back in order to gain the rapidly increasing opportunities.
With firm belief that strict adherence to good quality standards alone will deliver sustainable business growth, the company has traversed through an elongated journey starting with pre-press activities. In 2003, the firm forayed into digital printing for the indoor and entered the outdoor space in 2007. In 2009, the firm broadened its activities with offset packaging and started commercial offset printing in 2011-12. It was in 2013-14 that Vijas Digital entered the POP space. We at Sign & POP World met Ravi Pawar, the company’s COO to know more on what made it to diverse in POP segments and how is it fairing in it. Here are the excerpts to follow:
What all constitute the infrastructure at Vijas Digital?
We started as a pre-press processing unit in 1995 and travelled a long way to become a pretty diversified solutions provider in the world of large format digital printing. In order to further expand portfolio of services by strengthening our production & quality, we have recently augmented our infrastructure by giving a kind of reincarnation to the entire setup.
As far as our versatility goes, Vijas Digital has long been providing an array of services to its clients starting from designing to prepress, printing to post-press, short-run digital printing, offset printing and everything one can think of, under one roof. We are known as a ‘One Stop Shop’ for all digital solutions.
What made Vijas Digital enter into POP & Display?
It is around five years back that we started discovering the art and the value of point of purchase and point of sale. Following which, we have started specialising in FSUs, that is POP Printing & Fabrication and are looking forward to fulfilling innovative advertising needs through the same. We then moved on to setting up a special production unit for designing, developing and delivering POP solutions on a large scale. It was in 2015 that we setup VD POP & Display Llp., a separate firm under Vijas Group, which is focussed on POP/POS solutions.
What synergies did you find in POP with your existing set of services?
The addition of POP/POS solutions in the portfolio of VD’s offering is a strategic escalation of the services that we have been offering since last two and a half decade. We have added base to our infrastructure recently by installing Esko Kongsberg XL 44 table, which is meant for processing corrugated sheet especially to serve the POP needs. With this installation, we are now able to serve our highly valued clients with better and improved POP/POS solutions for their rapidly escalating branding and promotional requirements. Our area of focus now also includes 3D designing, fabrication and merchandising, wherein we will keep adding newer technologies as and when announced by the technology giants.
What constitutes the infrastructure at VD POP & Display?
Our dedicated facility for POP solutions is in Nala Sopara near Vasai. Spread across 35,000 sq. ft., it is well-equipped with advanced machines from reputed manufacturers like Felder, Esko, HP, EFI VUTEk, etc. The facility boasts of state-of-the-art machinery infused with latest technology fulfilling 3D designing, pre-press, digital & in-house offset printing, which helps us deliver complete solution in-house, right from ideation to execution. We are very much focused in POP fabrication and are looking forward to fulfilling innovative ideas through the same.
Which all POP & Display solutions do you offer?
We have been designing and executing POP units for brands in various forms which include – floor standing units, counter-top displays, gondola cladding, CATMAN primary bay branding lit / non-lit, activation kiosks, end-cap dressings, etc.
How VD POP & Display is positioning itself?
We understand the uniqueness of brands. Hence, we strive hard to make distinct POP solutions for every brand that can turn memorable and help boost its sales. We want to be a progressive retail partner in providing turn-key solutions to our clients in serving their needs for integrated marketing communication solutions such as design, point of purchase, visual merchandising, signage, store rollouts and project management.
We help create brand recognition with our eye-catching displays. We offer purposeful creativity that includes semi permanent to permanent display units for our clients using different types of materials like metal, acrylic, wood, corrugated sheets, etc. We envision becoming the only destination for our clients for their complete retailing needs.
How do you see the market readiness when it comes to highly advanced innovative POP solutions?
Indian retail atmosphere is not yet ready to accept all these developments as the market is still in its initial phase. In the first year of our foray in this segment, we started with standard POP solutions. Then in the following years, we kept adding something more from our side based on our experience and expertise in designing and development of new concepts. But as you know retail is the most happening industry and accordingly the trend keeps changing in almost no time. Nowadays, clients ask for short term high level of POP/POS solutions with enhanced customer engagement, which can have better takeaways for customers in terms of experience.
How is the demand helping VD POP & Display to innovate?
When the customers ask for something new there is always a kind of provocation for us to develop something unique that can help our valued clients to enhance customer engagement at the retail stores. At the same time, they do not demand any particular POP solution in big numbers as the requirement of such premium POPs differs with the stores’ location and the target audience in the vicinity. This is because a retail store is primarily meant to serve the need of people residing in that particular locality. Even the renowned brands keep changing their POPs according to region.
What is the current trend in POPs?
They want something different, each single time they require POP solution. This forces us to keep innovating and inventing things at our end so much so that POP innovation has become a constant feature at VD POP. Moving in the fray, we have recently started integrating digital screen with the POP solutions. We have also done a couple of tie ups with Software Development Company for new software that can help us bring innovation in our designs.
The trend is also that POPs are not common. Nowadays, customised POPs are asked by the brands under which they show us the space and ask us to give the solution. Corrugated sheets have also made an entry this year allowing us to develop eco-friendly POP solutions in various shapes and sizes. This is because advertising brands and specialist agencies now insist upon the use of environment-friendly materials.
Where do you get the ideas for innovative POP designs?
We have a very strong and highly experienced design team which is capable of transforming concepts into tangible things. Further, we keep travelling abroad to observe what is trending in developed economies and its viability when it comes to bringing the same in India.
Where is the potential coming from?
Vijas Digital largely caters to the western part of the country with particular focus on Maharashtra and Gujarat. However, with the addition of POP & Display solutions in our portfolio, we are now serving brands which not only have national, but also overseas presence.