THE SIGNAGE FOUNDATION FOR COMMUNICATION EXCELLENCE, INC.

Given that the American retail and service economy and the role signage plays within it defy generalization, it is still possible to come to a databased determination of a sign's cumulative value prior to regulatory action or decision. Rather than compounding the problems inherent in defining and regulating signage, market-based valuation approaches provide insight into the phenomena and its use by today's sophisticated business community.

Two basic approaches, utilized throughout the marketplace, can be applied in most situations. These approaches are well established and backed by innumerable data-based studies undertaken over decades by advertising and marketing specialists. First, communication sells, and media providers daily research the impact of their particular medium on sales volumes in order to know how much to sell the communication for, or conversely, how much the client will pay. Secondly, advertising cost/benefit data is utilized by the commercial real estate appraiser and tax assessor in valuing commercial properties, including the "visibility component."

The Agoura Hills litigation provides an excellent example of the use of databased research, as well as common sense, to conclude that on-premise signage represents a valuable component of a retail/commercial site. To avoid a sign code which has the demonstrable effect of hindering the ability of certain types of retail and service providers to succeed because they rely on signage for the majority of their customers, it is important that all community stakeholders become familiar with the common language or "currency" used to determine the true economic worth of a particular sign or signage program to a commercial site. What follows, then, is a discussion of advertising effectiveness measures and the use of these measures in standard commercial appraisal practice. (Specific advertising/marketing studies will not be presented in this publication; rather the text attempts to ground the reader in basic knowledge of underlying methodology and how value determinations are reached.)