Digital Signage Talk

New Digital Signage Analyst Coverage

2006-10-31T10:56:00.000-08:00

Research and Markets, a Dublin-based analyst firm, has announced a new report, Digital Signage Market: Global Perspective.

Following is the table of contents (sorry, but I haven't read the report, but it looks interesting):

Content Outline:

1. Global Digital Signage Industry

2. Digital Signage Markets

3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

4. Supply Chain of Digital Point of Sales: Major Players

5. Recent Digital Signage Products

6. POS Application Software

7. Strategic Alliances in Digital Media Content

8. Market Opportunities

9. Market Barriers

List of Figures

-- Figure 1.1: Components of a Digital Signage Project

-- Figure 1.2: Evolution of Dynamic Digital Signage

-- Figure 1.3 Revenues: Worldwide Retail Digital Signage (2002-2004)

-- Figure 1.4 Retail Signage Market - Average Selling Price (ASP) Trends
(2003-2009)

-- Figure 1.5 Worldwide Retail Signage Revenue Growth Compared To Other
Pro/AV Applications (2003-2009)

-- Figure 1.6 Digital Signage Revenue Forecast For LCD And Plasma (2004-2009)

-- Figure 6.1 global shipments of POS Application Software (2002-2007)

Digital Signage - The Store is the Medium at Wal-Mart

2006-10-31T10:44:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from comments from John Fleming, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer of Wal-Mart on the company's 2007 Digital Signage Strategy.

I said [that the store is our #1 medium] about six months ago and it got picked up. The store is really our number one media challenge. It is the best way for us to communicate to our customers. Said another way, we have 138 million people that shop our stores every week. I know in your business everybody's vying for the best place to get your message out. In the advertising world the one that probably gets the most talk and hype is the Super Bowl. Well, at Wal-Mart we have a Super Bowl every week. We have 52 Super Bowls a year. So this is a great opportunity for us to reach our customers and communicate to them.

This is a powerful endorsement of retail digital signage by the biggest retailer of all.

Digital Signage + Text Messages

2006-10-31T07:27:00.000-08:00

We blogged about a company called Qtags before.

The company continues with interesting activities. It has signed a couple of restaurant chains, Red Robin and Popeye's, to campaigns.

Red Robin guests in Texas who use their mobile phones to text “rrmarqe” to 78247 (q-t-a-g-s) will receive a text reply welcoming them as a new Red Robin VIP, with instructions for redeeming a $5 voucher that can be used on their next visit. Guests will also receive future updates from Red Robin about promotions and news via the qtags’ text message service.

One of the ongoing challenges for advertisers with digital signage is measuring audience size. Qtags or similar texting technology could be a great way to demonstrate viewer response to digital signage content.

Phones + Kiosk = Personalized Digital Signage

2006-10-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

According to an article in Advertising Age, abstract here in Lisbon's airport, a digital kiosk is promoting Nokia's N-90 camera phone.

The kiosk automatically senses the presence of a passenger, swivels to the face the passenger and provides an advertising message for the Nokia phone, highlighting the phone's camera capabilities.

To drive home the point the kiosk then takes a picture of the passenger and displays it on the screen.

Are we ready for this level of customer engagement?

Getting Them When They’re On the Move

2006-10-31T06:52:00.000-08:00

The Globe and Mail (Canada) has a big article on digital signage out-of-home advertising here (registration required). Sorry, but I couldn't find any non-registered copies.

It's very bullish on the future of digital signage and other OOH media.

"The two fastest growing media are the oldest, out-of-home, and the newest, the Internet," says Roseanne Caron, president of the Toronto-based Out-of-Home Marketing Association, which was formed last year by a quintet of leading Canadian OOH media providers: Astral Media Outdoor, CBS Outdoor, NEWAD, Pattison Outdoor and Zoom Media.

The numbers support her claims about OOH advertising. According to the Canadian Media Directors' Council's latest Media Digest, OOH marketing in Canada was a $303-million dollar industry in 2004. Although this sector accounted for just three per cent of the country's $11.1-billion in ad spending that year, OOH has been growing steadily for the past decade - in 1996, the industry weighed in at $165-million.

Targeting is viewed as a key advantage for OOH:

Debbie King, executive vice-president of Zenith Optimedia, a Toronto-based agency that buys media space for clients such as L'Oréal SA, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, General Mills Canada Corp., and Nestlé Canada Inc., attributes OOH's growth to a number of factors, including its ability to reach consumers on the go.

"Particularly in young demographics, we're becoming increasingly mobile as a society," she says. "Out-of-home allows us to target specific demographics while they're in vehicles, on foot and on transit."

Ms. King adds that as the media becomes more fragmented, OOH's ability to zone in on niche groups is a big selling point to media buyers. "Out-of-home offers environment-specific opportunities by targeting entertainment and business hubs or retail locations," she says. "It can also be demographically targeted: students on campus, trendy clubs, upscale restaurants, fitness clubs, and even further segmented through restroom advertising."

The article describes a couple of innovative uses of the dynamic nature of digital signage.

Furthermore, wireless technologies permit screen content to be synchronized to real-time events, and even allow brands to invite viewers to participate in the ads. One such example is OBN's 2004 Live Tuning Campaign with Toronto radio station Q107, which won a Media Innovation Award. Video boards across the city announced song titles as they played on the radio. "You'd be in your car and you'd see, 'Now playing Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town.' You'd push the button and the song would come on," Mr. Irwin recalls.

Yet it was OBN's 2005 Nokia campaign, also an award-winner, that quite literally turned heads. "We integrated product into the actual ad," Mr. Irwin said. "We went around taking pictures of people with the product [a camera phone]. Then, they turn around and there's the ad featuring them on the billboard. The images ran all around the city, next to the phrase, 'Picture Yourself Here.' "

British Digital Signage Survey

2006-10-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

AKA.TV reports on a digital signage survey of British retailers. Some key findings

The average number of screens per outlet is three
77% of retailers operate one channel
Content is most frequently updated weekly (41.7 percent) or monthly (33.3 percent)
48.8 percent of those surveyed – including retailers who don’t currently employ digital signage – are likely to increase screen use.

Burgers with Signs

2006-10-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

McDonald's has completed what sounds like a pilot project for digital signage in a Chicago restaurant.

The story describes only McDonald's advertisements and doesn't mention any third party ads. The description of the computing power necessary to run the installation is daunting:

The nerve center is the store’s tiny office, which looks like a server room, including the several CPUs the digital signs require, and the many other computers required to run a modern McDonald’s. TAP TV chief executive John Malec said the Linux-based computer systems use 2.2ghz AMD processors, Invidia graphic cards and 250 gigabytes of storage per computer – which gives many of their clients more than 1 terabyte of content storage.

Slopes Get Digital Signage

2006-10-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

An article in Media Life Magazine describes a digital signage installation at 31 ski resorts in California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Vermont. The signs are located at the ski lift corrals and near the trail maps.

These digital signage installations are ad-supported and also include information of interest to skiers including weather and snow conditions and optional safety messages, such as avalanche warnings.

The advertiser categories include some likely suspects, but also some that you haven't thought of.

Automobiles top the list, Rios says, followed by consumer food products that tie into winter sports, like energy bars, hot chocolate, teas and soup. Pharmaceuticals are also a strong category.

Bank Digital Signage - Retail or Not?

2006-10-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Digital signage in banks is and isn't like retail, according to a new study by the Platt Retail Institute posted at aka.tv.

In some ways, digital signage in banks is a lot like other retail locations, but in other ways, it's much different.

Among the benefits, according to the PRI, are not just sales uplift but also building customer loyalty and management of wait-time perceptions.

So far, so supermarketish – yet another big benefit of digital signage in banks is one rarely cited in the broader retail context, according to the PRI: employee productivity.

“With highly complex products, such as a mortgage, a great deal of personal customer interaction is required,” says the PRI. “On the other hand, when more routine functions are involved, such as opening a checking account, a lower level of service involvement is required. Matching the level of bank-employee involvement at the beginning of the customer-engagement cycle can have a meaningful impact upon branch profitability.”

Employee productivity is an interesting twist on digital signage benefits. Of course, some digital signage infrastructure can be dual-purpose - advertising plus employee training - see the Helius solutions as an example, but the Platt study says that even general-purpose digital signage should be viewed for its potential employee productivity benefits.

Avoiding TiVo - Why Not Digital Signs?

2006-10-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

Interesting article on an attempt by the Fox Network-UK to avoid the effects of DVR's on commercials - a commercial that looks the same whether you fast-forward through it or not.

U.K. advertisements for Fox's new drama, "Brotherhood," which premieres in Britain in October, simply shows an image of Providence, R.I., where the show is set, and the program's logo.

Viewers fast-forwarding through the ad would see the image for a few seconds; those watching it normally would hear dialogue from the show in the background.

Time for digital signage, advertisers!

3G Cellular Digital Signage

2006-09-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

Helius has announced that it is offering 3G (Third Generation – read “high speed”) cellular network connectivity for digital signage.

Partnering with Sprint and Internet Connectivity Group, this technology will allow completely wireless digital signage installations – with a 3G cellular always-on connection to the Internet and wireless connections (via Helius hardware) to each digital sign.

An additional bonus is that the system lets restaurants and retailers offer a WiFi hotspot in addition to powering the digital signage installation.

Digital Signage Smells

2006-09-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting combination of technologies going on in New Zealand - digital signage plus the scent of raspberries.

According to an article in Stuff.co.nz, the Regency duty free shop at Auckland International Airport will show pictures of vodka company Absolut's raspberry vodka on a digital sign and, soon, as you walk past the shelves of vodka, the smell of raspberries will waft by your nostrils. This experience is based on a technology by a New Zealand company called OpenEye

"What we're getting into now is really something more than digital signage - it's more the digital experience," said OpenEye chief executive Gareth Croy. For smells, the sky is the limit. OpenEye can manufacture up to 2000 different fragrances to spray into different parts of the store at different times.

Big Growth in Retail Digital Signage Predicted

2006-09-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Display and Design Ideas reports on its 2006 At-Retail Media Survey focused on visual merchandisers, store planners, designers and brand marketers. The results include some bullish responses to digital signage:

Digital signage may see a boost in the industry in years to come, as 69.8 percent of respondents said that digital signage would be used by "significantly more" or "slightly more" retailers in the next three to five years. Just more than 9 percent of respondents said that digital signage would be used by "virtually all" retailers in the next three to five years. Vendor-retailer relationships may need to improve for digital signage to really take off in the retail industry; however, as 50 percent of respondents reported that "vendors are not at all involved" in providing custom content for digital signage, and 66.7 percent said that "vendors are not at all involved" in providing financial support for digital signage programs. Nearly 42 percent of respondents would like to see the ability to measure effectiveness (ROI) among the technological aspects of digital signage they would like to see improved.

There's an interesting implication in the responses that retailers believe that vendors should both provide content and financial support for in-store digital signage.

Digital Signage in the Grocery Store

2006-09-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Adweek reports that Nielsen Media Research has completed research on digital signage at at Pathmark and Albertson's grocery stores. Some major findings:

40% of shoppers are viewers of digital signs
68% of the shoppers surveyed said in-store messages would sway their product purchasing decisions.
44% of survey respondents said they would swap a product they had intended to buy for one advertised on a digital sign

Digital Signage Plus Satellites

2006-08-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

A recent press release from Hughes and Helius has some very interesting implications for the digital signage market.

Hughes is the largest satellite company in the world and Helius produces a variety of software products for IP video, including digital signage. The press release says:

HughesNet Digital Media services give customers access to a more complete, single-source, managed solution for the delivery and management of multimedia content for a variety of business IPTV and digital signage applications.

So how does this work? The satellite is the network for digital signage worldwide. A lot of digital signage networks are based on internet distribution. What the satellite does is provide a lower-cost way of reaching lots of different locations. The satellite is just like a big transmitter in the sky. It doesn't care if one location or 100,000 locations are receiving its signal. And the price for the satellite doesn't increase with additional receiving locations. A one-time charge for a small satellite dish on the roof and your store/gas station/office/etc. is hooked to a digital signage network.

One additional fact which isn't mentioned in the press release. Hughes is the world leader in VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal), a cheap two-way satellite earth station. According to Hughes website, the company has over One Million VSAT customers in 100 countries. Add digital signage software and you have a whole bunch of potential digital signage locations all around the world, including places that aren't wired for internet access.

Technorati Tags: digital signage

GlobalShop Digital Signage

2006-07-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

I hadn't seen that Globalshop is having a Digital Signage Day at its 2007 conference.

Very cool.

Hat Tip to Digital Signage Trends.

Cost for Digital Signage Content

2006-07-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

There's a good thread over at The Digital Signage Forum on the cost of creating content for digital signage.

A couple of excerpts:

If a client gives us a :30 and its a straight upload, the charge is $50.00. If the spot needs altering or editing of any type, then we charge by the hour. Our "shop rate" is $250/hour but we have a discounted rate for contract customers of $150/hour. Original production is usually quoted per job, or ball parked at the shop rate.

It sounds like you would want to negotiate hard with these guys.

Another approach:

We create content for the retail industry and can send you some examples of our work. Hourly Rate is $120, for a 15 or 30 second spot using your assets the range would be $120-$360.

This thread reminds me to make another plug for The Digital Signage Forum. I have no affiliation with the site, but find it to be a source of good information and opinion.

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage

Digital Signage is "Exploding Market" in Restaurants

2006-07-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

There's a very enthusiastic digital signage article in QSR Magazine.

The article features a company called OOH Vision that has built a digital signage network in a series of diners using digital signage hardware and software from Helius.

The OOH Vision CEO says the market is "exploding".

Here's how the physical layout works:

The chrome diners, which seat about 200 and are located in affluent areas, have been outfitted with five liquid crystal display televisions strategically located in order to grab the attention of as many patrons as possible. Four of the screens measure an impressive 42 inches, while the fifth measures 23 inches.

Each screen is divided into three sections: Two-thirds of the screen broadcasts constant video advertisements, typically for local and regional businesses, and share space with the left third of the screen, which is reserved for whatever the diner wants to broadcast. Diner managers can advertise specials or welcome the mayor with three or four shuffling still images, says Mike Tippets, executive vice president for Helius.

At the bottom of the screen, OVN provides a live news ticker, complete with news, sports, weather, stock quotes, and traffic information tailored to the zip code.

This sounds like an optimum local network setup. There is no sound because OOH Vision decided that it would be a negative experience for the diners.

On the larger portion of the screen, OVN’s digital signage network broadcasts a seven-minute advertising loop. This setup is specifically designed to get the most advertisement impressions from each customer. “In the diner environment, OVN figured the typical patron stays in the diner for 42 minutes, and we want them to see the advertisements six times.

The network operator sells the advertising.

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage

Pet Projects - Digital Signage

2006-06-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

There is now a Digital Signage Network for Pet Stores. (HT: Digital Signage Forum)

The Pet Vision Network currently has locations at pet stores in 10 East Coast states and the list of national advertisers include Blue Ribbon Pet Products, Kong, Precision Pet and many more. The Pet Vision Network will target more than 12,000 independent pet stores that operate in the United States.

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage

Giant Scale Digital Signage

2006-06-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a huge take on digital signage - Active Skins

This article basically says that the entire outer shell of a building can be computer controlled for color, movement, etc.

Building façades and walls are changing before our eyes, reacting with apparent intelligence to the news, the weather—even our physical proximity to the structures. Some announce the activities they contain or the building's use and occupancy ("open to the public," for example, or "home team plays tonight"), in ways both transcendent and trite.

At Herzog & de Meuron's Allianz Arena in Munich, the form and active matrix are one. The stadium's exterior is a blanket of 2,874 lozenge-shaped cushions, each an inflated membrane just 0.2 mm thick, and illuminated from behind by red, blue, and white fluorescent tubes.

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage , Digital Billboard

LCDs Rule for Digital Signage

2006-06-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

PC Magazine's columnist, John Dvorak, has a digital signage blog entry about LCD displays.

There was one overriding phenomenon: LCDs rule. Though the biggest and most spectacular display was a monster plasma from Samsung, it was all too apparent that LCDs are about to overrun every other technology in this space.

Are the days of plasma over for digital signage?

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage , Digital Billboard

Bookend Digital Signage

2006-06-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

The latest in digital signage from Times Square (New York Times - registration required)

NASDAQ (on the left in the picture) and Reuters (on the right) are going to allow advertisers to buy bookended digital billboards, so you see coordinated advertisements on each one.

Advertisers will have the option of running the same ad on both signs, or even half of the ad on one building and the other half on the other building. Or the two signs could work in tandem. "It just made a lot of sense to put the two together," said Bruce E. Aust, the executive vice president of the corporate client group for Nasdaq. "You're getting two of the most dynamic towers in Times Square." The companies dubbed the deal "Times Square, Squared.

There's a photo of the two digital signs in the article.

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage , Digital Billboard

Digital Signage Forum

2006-06-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

If you haven't found it already, you should check out Digital Signage Forum.

This is an excellent source of discussions on all aspects of digital signage ranging from content creation to audio solutions in digital signage.

This is a good resource. It's listed on my blogroll, but I wanted to highlight it more.

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage

qtags and Digital Signage

2006-06-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Look at the message on the photo of the digital billboard at the bottom of this post (shows up in IE, but may not show up in Firefox unless you click on image block) for an interesting content provider for digital signage applications - qtags. There's a company blog that has more information.

Basically, qtags offers an cell-phone text message promotional service to advertisers. When you text to 78247 (qtags), you immediately receive a text message with information about the advertisement or promotion displaying the qtag text service.

Technorati Tags: Digital Signage , Digital Billboard

Digital Signage Techologist

2006-06-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

I just discovered a nice blog - The Digital Signage Technologist .

It has some great information about technology standards including content formats, endpoint devices, etc.

Definitely worth a visit.

Digital Signage - Would You Like Gas With That?

2006-06-05T08:51:00.002-07:00

Sorry fans, but I'm slow to pick up the latest big announcement in digital signage - a new company created just to do this stuff at the gas pump - Gas Station TV . I got beaten to this by both JB at Digital Signage Trends and the Digital Signage Place gal. To be fair to myself (if I'm not fair to myself, who else is going to be?), Blogger had some technical issues that slowed me down this morning.

Here's the scoop - 20 inch LCD's with stereo sound at the pumps and (maybe) in the associated convenience store. The announced gas station partner is Murphy Oil, a relatively small player that is mostly in Wal-Mart parking lots.

The most interesting aspect for me is the claimed advertisers - Allstate, Chevrolet, ditech.com, Goodyear, Pepsi and the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company - and the fact that ABC will provide both the content and "exclusive national sales representation for the network." Does that mean someone else sells local ads? Also, other than ABC, who builds the content?
Technorati Tags: Digital Signage

Best Digital Signage Solution

2006-05-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

There's a new short article at Helius entitled Digital Signage – The Optimum Solution.

The article makes some interesting points, particularly about specific features a digital signage solution should include:

-- Both live feed and recorded video display supported

-- Split display for multiple content types

-- Centralized content management and delivery

-- Generate detailed reports showing play times, frequencies, etc.

-- Playlist creation and advertisement insertion should be provided via a simple, graphical user interface

-- Sophisticated bandwidth management to assure timely content delivery to all network locations

-- Still and animated file display

-- Support satellite, terrestrial or combination networks

The satellite/terrestrial support is a good point. I think a lot of digital signage planners default to terrestrial when satellite is more cost-effective, particularly when you're going to lots of locations and update your messaging regularly.

Technorati Tag: Digital Signage

Digital Signage - Publicis and Simon Group

2006-05-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

I got beaten to the punch on this one by Digital Signage Place, but Publicis and Simon Property have put together a new entity, OnSpot Digital Network (they're so digital that they don't have a website).

"OnSpot is a digital network that complements TV," said Stewart A. Stockdale, who is the chief marketing officer at Simon as well as the president at its Simon Brand Ventures division.
"There is a movement to go to the point of sale to speak to consumers, so we think this is a big opportunity," he said. His reference was to initiatives to expose consumers to ads while they are inside stores, which range from in-store TV networks operated by retailers like Wal-Mart to video monitors being attached to store shelves by a retail services company called Vestcom.
A major reason marketers are looking to run more ads at the point of sale is that this type of environment is already heavily commercialized. Unlike television, where commercials are widely deemed to be interruptive annoyances, shoppers expect ads in stores. Indeed, Simon malls and malls owned by other companies display ads in the common spaces between stores on devices like backlit directories.

It will be interesting to see if this combo does very well. I assume that Publicis must have someone to sell ads, which is a necessary part of a digital signage network. I would love to know how many of the advertisers listed, Cingular Wireless, Coca-Cola, Garnier, Nintendo and Visa as well as retailers like Aéropostale, EB Games, Gap, PacSun and Subway, are Publicis clients.

Technorati Tag: Digital Signage

Locking Your Fast-Forward Button

2006-05-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

The New York Times published an article on Sunday entitled, Digital Domain: Someone Has to Pay for TV. But Who? And How? discussing the problem of TV viewers using TiVo and other DVR's to assassinate commercials. (I don't know if the NYT link will expire. Apologies in advance if it does.)

What is Phillips' solution to this problem? They have filed a patent application for a system which would disable the fast-forward button on your DVR.

the proposed design would uphold the right to avoid commercials, but only for those who paid a fee. Those disinclined to pay would be prevented from changing channels during commercials. If the viewer tried to circumvent the system by recording the program and skipping the ads during playback, the new, improved recorder would detect when a commercial segment was being displayed and disable the fast-forward button for the duration.

Now there's a wonderful, consumer-friendly idea.

This is another example of the need that digital signage fulfills - a new medium without a fast-forward button that people actually like (assuming, of course, that we do a better job of building content than some digital signage applications do today).

Technorati Tag: Digital Signage

Jupiter Misses the Digital Signage Solution

2006-05-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Jupiter Research has just released a cool study (I can't afford it, so if someone who can could post details that would be great) that says that more than half of DVR users (which I assume include TiVo numbers as well) skip commercials, that could cost TV and cable advertisers $8 billion per year.

Jupiter (usually smart folks) goes completely doofus on the solution, however:

To cope with the technology, the researcher recommends that TV networks and advertisers develop programming and ad strategies that work with the overall capabilities of DVRs. The firm advised against penalizing DVR users, such as by charging for prime-time reruns via DVR technology, saying such actions do little to boost revenue.

I'm not a genius, but could we possibly whisper -

DIGITAL SIGNAGE!

Nobody skips a digital signage ad. They don't have to look at it (just like at home with TV), they don't have to believe it (ditto), but they can't hit the fast-forward button.

Technorati Tag: Digital Signage

Non-Retail Applications of Digital Signage

2006-05-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

Good article about Orkin using digital signage technology for distance learning is entitled Narrowcast networks support distance learning .

Pest control company Orkin recently launched Orkin TV, an interactive satellite television communications network that links the company's 8000 employees through live broadcast technology.
The 105-year-old company commissioned three firms to develop a system that creates a live virtual classroom for Orkin's employees across the country using satellite broadcasting and digital content delivery. A critical component to the network is an interactive-video-on-demand (IVOD) function that allows employees to play back past programming and participate in past broadcast events. Furthermore, IVOD participation is tracked and recorded in Orkin's learning management system. Orkin's branches will have the ability to play back past programming stored on each receiver's hard drive. While trainees are not able to communicate live with the instructor, they can respond to questions in real time and view survey results.
Orkin is using the satellite training system to add interactive distance learning to its employee training programs. The system will help Orkin save time and monetary resources related to traditional employee training, as new hires will no longer have to travel to the company's Atlanta headquarters for initial training sessions or wait for an instructor to visit their region. And, the time needed to make a new employee productive will be cut in half.

So you buy the infrastructure for digital signage and then also use it for corporate training. That lets you spread the cost among more than one department.

Technorati Tag: Digital Signage

Monitor for Digital Signage

2006-04-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Sony has a new digital signage monitor. It's discussed at Digital Signage Place and Digital Signage Trends (sorry - can't figure out a permalink to the post there)

In-Restaurant Digital Signage Installation

2006-04-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

A short write-up on a digital signage network owned by a third party - OOH Vision - and installed in 28 restaurants in the U.S. Northeast.

The technology is satellite-based and includes hardware from Helius and Microspace:

Content for the entire digital signage network is centrally managed and aggregated using Helius’ MediaWrite platform. MediaWrite, a content-distribution-and-management system located at Microspace’s Raleigh, N.C., facility, is used to determine the content displayed at each diner’s location. The content is then sent to the specific diner locations using Microspace’s VELOCITY® satellite service and presented at each diner via a Helius MediaGate Router.

Satellite delivery provides a method of delivery allowing greater bandwidth and more convenient, flexible delivery options with the greatest ROI. Helius’ MediaSignage solution provides the centralized scheduling and control of the content. The satellite bandwidth is paid for once with the first installation. As diners are added to the network, the satellite distribution costs per site decrease because OVN is spreading the cost across the entire network. As more locations are added, the opportunity for additional revenue increases.

I wonder if this is the real model for both restaurant and retail - independent entrepreneur installs the network and sells advertising as a revenue source.

Content for Digital Signage

2006-04-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

A short item at Digital Signage Trends on Content for Digital Signage.

Digital Signage Pros and Cons

2006-04-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Interesting post at The WiseMarketer.com (registration required) on Pros and Cons of Digital Signage.

Many digital signage programmes are designed by technology companies that have little background in the retail store environment, so the technology may be brilliant but the message sometimes remains unstructured, and lacking impact.
Retailers, marketers and brand managers should start, Watt suggests, by meeting known consumer needs, and by using digital signage to actually enhance their shopping experience rather than force-feeding them with irrelevant messages.

The second paragraph sets up a phony choice - enhance experience vs. force-feeding irrelevant messages. How about offering relevant messages?

Forrester Research and The TiVo Effect

2006-04-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

From 10e20 Web Design News, The TiVo Effect: Advertisers See Less TV Ad Spending

The survey of 112 marketers, completed by Forrester Research and the Association of National Advertisers, found 68 percent of advertisers feeling unprepared to deal with ad-skipping technology, while 75 percent said they would cut their ad budgets as a result. Of those marketers saying they would cut spending on TV ads, 75 percent said they would scale back at least 21 percent.

More basis for digital signage.

Watching the TiVo Effect

2006-04-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

Business Week Online has a story entitled Watching the TiVo Effect which is a clear description of the opportunity for digital signage.

Consumers in about 9% of U.S. homes currently use TiVo or devices known as digital video recorders (DVRs) to skip commercials, according to Standard & Poor's Equity Research. S&P expects that DVR penetration of U.S. homes will climb to between 30% and 35% by 2010.

There's no fast-forward button for digital signage.

Digital Signage Trends

2006-04-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

Just discovered a new digital signage blog, Digital Signage Trends. They have a link to some digital signage photos.

We'll watch it to see what develops.

Philadelphia Inquirer Article

2006-04-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

Big digital signage / digital billboard article in yesterday's Philly paper entitled Advertising Goes Interactive.

New technology lets companies combine that mass exposure with a chance to talk directly with customers who actually care. Something as simple as adding a text-messaging code to Doritos billboards in Chicago and New York last year resulted in responses from 40,000 consumers in two weeks, said Jodi Senese, executive vice president marketing of CBS Outdoor.
"The overall trend is to seek new ways to engage consumers rather than just blend into the background as wallpaper," said Hallie Friedman, group marketing/sales development director for Van Wagner Communications L.L.C.

The article is primarily focused on billboards, although it does mention in-store signs.

Wal-Mart TV

2006-03-31T15:17:00.000-08:00

Over at Brand Autopsy, we find a skeptic that Advertisers want their Wal-Mart TV.

I couldn't agree more. Wal-Mart TV gives digital signage a bad name. Problems include:

Lousy Screens
Horrible Placement (often up in the rafters with the pigeons)
Miserable Content - It's like being chained to the Shopping Channel

It's an open secret that Wal-Mart strong-arms vendors into paying for commercials in the same way they strong-arm them for price cuts about five minutes after they land in Bentonville.

We need to do way better.

The Next Killer App

2006-03-31T15:09:00.000-08:00

For my first post, I'll point to The Next Killer App, which is over a year old, but still includes one of the best short intro's to digital signage I've seen.

The true benefit of digital signage is the ability to deliver relevant, meaningful content in the right place at the right time to cause the desired response from the viewer. The ability of a networked digital sign to adapt its message according to time of day, day of the week, geographic location, and even inventory levels or current events is what ultimately lifts digital signage to the position of a true “new media.”

Sounds good to me.