Archive | April, 2009
Once in a while, and mercifully only once in a while, a client has asked about whether the pots and pans I sold could support a digital screen network in a place like a ballpark or hockey arena. I even had one that was already doing that sort of thing.But generally speaking, it scares the willies out of me ... because it strikes me as way more complicated than everyone seems to think.A Gizmodo photo tour behind the scenes at the new ballpark where the Mets play is a great confirmation of that. Granted, this is a big stadium in a big city. It's going to be a less than typical job. But the tour pretty much confirms that this sort of thing is best left to the AV pros who build TV stations, because that's what's really shaking here.The control room for the 850 screens, all of them Sharp (except in the control room), looks very much like a TV control room, and the screen network does everything from pump live TV into the luxury suites you and I will never see, and the more public walkway and concession areas. You can see all the pictures on Gizmodo, including how a couple of $100K monster LCDs are used.
Well, it is no great reach to suggest nothing draws a Canadian to an event like free drinks.Which is my only logical conclusion as to why last night's mixer numbers dipped by about half. Sheesh.I also know some people who are regulars couldn't make it because on travel, commitments, kids, you name it.
Attract more viewers with this eyecatching brochure holder. It is this combination of paper and digital that makes the Counter Top such a strong presentation tool. It is a perfect solution to promote your products / services. Not only will you be able to display your images and videos, but you will have access to [...]
How to communicate to people that are not aware of interactivity? Collaboration with Master in Multimedia.
Cisco Digital Signage mpeg2 2008
Netkey Digital Signage Software Demo at InfoComm 2008
Paul Flanigan is a relative newcomer to the digital signage blogging community, but almost immediately started writing one of the more interesting ones, called Experiate.He runs the in-store screen network for Best Buy and spends his time thinking (and some spare time writing) about content and the impact of screens. Flanigan has a lengthy post this morning raising questions about the timing and merits of audience measurement, combining his own thoughts with quotes cherry-picked from a bunch of industry smarty-pants.At a time when technology and content are finally developing a synergy that enhances the experience, is it truly imperative that we start measuring right away? This industry is growing so fast that any statistical measurement done today could be obsolete within a few years, if not a few months. Network operators and venues are in no hurry to become metric compliant; media planners and buyers don’t fully understand the medium yet; agencies are still working toward a full understanding of creative and compelling communication techniques for OOH; OVAB is trying to enforce compliance with only a few dozen members; and there are other companies out there with different and perhaps stronger methods for measurement and definition. This feels like I should grade my daughter on calculus while she’s still learning to count to 10. Good stuff, and very relevant, compelling questions. I agree with Paul that the argument for audience measurement as it is now done is flawed, particularly as it relates to retail networks that are more about sales impact and shopper experience. But for full-on ad networks, SOMETHING, ANYTHING is needed to at least start herding the cats and creating some commonality in how networks sell themselves.The elephant in the room, though, when measurement results come in is the discussion around how many people are actually watching versus the raw numbers that have been used to tout audience size. Well worth a read ...
World Class Content Development: The most vital component of any digital signage network is the content that you play on your display screens.
SpinetiX presents HMP100, the world's first Hyper Media Player for Digital Signage. The HMP100 will replace the pc-based legacy solutions because of its amazing advantages such as small size, interactivity, low power consumption and the absence of servers ...
Magenta Launches New Cyan Series of Extension Products at Screen Media Expo.
Roku has sold more than 1000 new compact-sized HD media players for digital signage applications in Europe and world-wide
Magenta Introduces HD-One for HDMI Signal Distribution over Single UTP Cable - can be used to transport high quality HD digital signage signals and feeds.
Magenta Research Strengthens Presence in European Pro-AV and Digital Signage Markets Appoints Rob Muddiman to European Sales & Marketing Manager
This is what I would describe as a big reach, and funny, in a tortured, silly, shark-jumping kind of way. Somehow or other, the rather relentless freelance PR machine working for a small Maryland-area digital signage company has put Noventri and pop singer Madonna together in the same press release.Madonna Makes an Appearance on Noventri Digital Menu Boards at Minute Maid Park Madonna fans never missed a minute of the sold-out concert, says the press release, as they purchase goodies from food stands at the Minute Maid Park. The stadium's club level digital menu boards, previously installed by Noventri, provide tasteful and dynamic menu solutions with a live video feed of the concert to attendees.Madonna performed at the Minute Maid Park on November 16, 2008 for her Sticky & Sweet Tour. Noventri's Content Creation and Management Team, who continues to create and manage content for the stadium's menu boards, created digital menus that featured Madonna and her tour with a video feed that encapsulated the live concert to prevent fans from missing any part of the show. Oh, where to start ... It happened four months ago. It was embedded live video in a menu board at the hot dogs and soda stand (way, umm, cool). It was Madonna!!! At least if you are going to do this, somehow drag Barack Obama in on it. Or the Octo-mom-thing. The PR person, who is perhaps paid by the press release, has been mercilessly firing off marginal stuff about Noventri for several weeks now (she has my e-mail, and she's using it). With this one, she has officially helped her masters jump the shark. Now I don't know a thing about Noventri. They may have an amazing solution. But I'm not sure I subscribe to the notion that PR press, ANY PR press, is good press. This is just goofy press.
There's been piles of coverage about this today in various spots, but I will jump in nonetheless and note a press release today by my friends at Adcentricity, who have struck up a deal to get themselves mobile marketing-ready.According to the news release, Adcentricity and Toronto-based Impact Mobile (whose head office is maybe three blocks away from Adcentricity world headquarters) have worked an arrangement to offer a "full-service, cross-carrier mobile marketing solution" for networks and advertisers.By combining two of the fastest growing categories in advertising – digital out-of-home and mobile – advertisers can now take advantage of the unique opportunities within digital out-of-home executions and activate consumer dialogues where they live, work and play. By providing marketers with a holistic approach to their planning needs, ADCENTRICITY makes campaigns more powerful and dynamic with this added mobile component.“The convergence between digital out-of-home media and mobile is happening now and smart marketers are figuring out how to use these forms of media together to create the ultimate engagement tool,” said Rob Gorrie, CEO of ADCENTRICITY. “Adding a mobile component to a digital out-of-home plan is a great way to enable consumers to interact with your brand messages with relevance and introduces additional means to evaluate ROI.”Today’s mobile subscribers send more text messages than phone calls, according to Nielsen. The proliferation of iPhones, Blackberrys, increased bandwidth and unlimited texting packages have made mobile marketing a high growth category. With the addition of this service, ADCENTRICITY can plan and execute digital out-of-home campaigns among 140,000 screens across North America and is the only digital out-of-home provider that can bring scale and mobile applications to life at this level. ADCENTRICITY’s unique capabilities for digital out-of-home planning can be extended seamlessly into the mobile strategy, driving efficiency and impact.There have been stabs here and there for years now to integrate digital signage networks with the mobile world, particularly given the monstrous market penetration of handheld devices and the crack-like addiction many people have to them.Locamoda has done and is doing some very cool stuff, some bar-focused networks are doing things on platforms like Aerva, but it is still seeming to be very much a onesey-twosey kinda business in which network operators and their vendors have to start from near-scratch each time a new idea or request bubbles up.Having something baked in and ready to roll beats the hell out of the old "Let me get right back to you" dodge if and when the mobile question gets popped during an ad sales pitch meeting.I don't know how seamlessly anything can be integrated into dozens or scores of networks on a variety of platforms, but I think Rob and the boys are being smart in being able to actually walk the talk when this sort of thing comes up.
NEW YORK (April 13, 2009) – Traxon Technologies, an Osram joint-venture company (www.traxon-usa.com), today announced Monte Spencer has been named its director of North America sales for e:cue lighting control (www.ecue.de) products and systems, which includes user terminals, system engines, interfaces and software technology for the entire range of lighting and media control solutions.
“Monte is a true [...]
Legendary bank robber Slick Willie Sutton is probably better known for a clever quote than his lengthy criminal record. When asked why he robbed banks, Willie answered "Because that's where the money is." With a slight twist, we might apply Willie's wisdom to the digital out-of-home (DOOH) world and pose the question: Do advertising agencies think DOOH is where the audience (money) is? And the logical follow-up: how important is it to the long-term growth of the industry that the agencies jump on board?
Nearly five years ago, as a wide-eyed attendee at my first DS show, I heard this same question asked over and over. The response was always the same: "Unless the agencies get involved," one DS veteran told me, "this business is going nowhere." At that show, you could have fired the proverbial shotgun, repeatedly, on the trade show floor without hitting an agency person (though hardware and software sales teams would have suffered heavy casualties). Now, five years later, the scene has changed but the song remains the same. The question is as topical, and top-of-mind, as ever.
How important is agency involvement?
Image credit: Stephanie Carter
"It is critical," says Virginia Cargill, President of CBS Outernet, one of the largest DOOH networks. During my interviews with industry leaders I decided to play devil's advocate: "What if the agencies don't increase their involvement beyond the current level?" I'd ask. But none of the industry experts I spoke with took the bait. Rob Gorrie, President of Adcentricity (one of the top DOOH buying/planning/strategy groups) voiced the typical response: "The agencies are getting more involved and I think that will continue. But media is a wacky world." Wacky, complicated and lacking clear direction.
If you were to judge the market's health solely by the daily industry headlines, you might expect to see an agency stampede toward digital signage and DOOH. In just the past few weeks, Ad Age has declared a "Boon for Billboards" as DOOH is one of the few media "experiencing real growth." And ADWEEK weighed in on the fast growth of retail media, claiming that "retail has become a big media buy." It is worthy to note that there's significant research behind both articles.
So as Bill Murray might say, "We got that goin' for us, which is nice."
But that's the view from 30,000 feet. Dive down into the trenches today, and you'll hear a different story. Agency buyers and planners are clamoring for reach, frequency and measurement. DOOH executives counter by asking for more focus and energy from their agency counterparts. The frustration on both sides is palpable. "At the agencies, the out-of-home people understand the space but don't have the money," says Cargill. "The network people have the money but don't understand the space." The importance of measurement can't be overstated. DOOH business managers admit that they're struggling to provide it in a form palatable to the agencies. "What I hear a lot," Gorrie says, "is 'prove to me that the audience you say you are giving to me you are actually giving to me'."
Sensing little urgency to invest in DOOH, many agencies continue the legacy of buying TV, especially since large chunks of network time are drastically discounted due to economic conditions. But those old habits don't sit well with Ashley Swartz, a former VP at media firm PHD, and now the CEO of Ag8, a boutique "trans media" shop in London. Swartz knows whereof she speaks. And she doesn't mince words: "The agencies are lazy," claims Swartz. "One of the biggest challenges [DOOH] will face is that people will never get fired for buying a 30-second spot." Thus the onus is on the DOOH industry, Swartz believes, to make the process more user-friendly through standardization of the buy and (here it comes again) improved measurement.
What about Marketing at-Retail?
Retail digital signage, unlike purely ad-driven networks, feature a mixture of marketing, branding and product content married together. So that sector of the industry faces a combination of the agency-related ills and some problems all of its own. Fortunately, there are some experts guiding the way in that sector, like one Laura Davis-Taylor. If they ever build a digital signage hall-of-fame, Laura will surely be one of the first inductees. Coming from an agency background, Laura has been working the retail digital signage beat tirelessly for years. Ask her about the relationship between retail DS and the agencies and she'll tell you it's still very much a work in progress. One big stumbling block, Laura believes, is the lack of knowledge about the space. "The agencies know broadcast but they don't know retail," she says. "You don't learn retail unless you live it, and they've shown little desire to do that."
Another player in the retail digital signage game is Paul Flanigan. Flanigan produces the Best Buy in-store network, which touches virtually every aspect of the chain's operations, including collaborating (or cajoling) with multiple agencies on creative and content. Flanigan sings the praises of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, an agency that he says has become a great partner. Crispin made the effort to learn what works and what flops on retail screens, and has produced content specifically for Best Buy's in-store network rather than re-purposing existing broadcast content. That is a revelation unto itself, and, according to Flanigan, still the exception to the rule. "I have seen, first-hand, major agencies balk at wanting to engage in this space," Flanigan says. "They don't get it and they don't care." On more than one occasion, Flanigan says Best Buy's suppliers, the major electronics manufacturers, have gone around their agencies and requested that his in-house team produce content promoting everything from computers to cameras on Best Buy's in-store TV network.
Well Paul, I met Peter, your German brother-in-arms. While working as Germany CIO for Daimler, the car and truck behemoth, Peter Muller-Bruhl created a digital signage network in Mercedes-Benz dealerships throughout the country. He then moved on to a venture capital firm investing in the digital signage space. Now, he is at fischerAppelt tv media, a division of a large German ad agency. His primary responsibility: digital signage business development. "Is there anyone else working at a German ad agency devoted solely to digital signage?" I asked him. "I am one of two in all of Germany," Muller-Bruhl replied. "And it's not much different throughout Europe." An admitted DOOH evangelist, Muller-Bruhl doesn't worry that the agencies will fail to engage our medium. He predicts they will increase their involvement out of necessity. "Their clients will force them to jump on the bandwagon," Muller-Bruhl believes. "The agencies will claim to understand DS but will go for a quick fix using their existing resources. It will blow up and the clients will think DS doesn't work. The agencies will eventually develop specific expertise. But in the meantime, I'm afraid we'll see bad DS execution from the agencies."
But enough with the agency bashing and teeth gnashing!
Cutting through the emotion with a straightforward analysis is Jeremy Lockhorn, the director of emerging media and video innovation at Avenue A/Razorfish. Lockhorn would love to see our medium take off, but says that digital signage and DOOH is currently battling a double whammy: a terrible economy combined with too much supply and not enough demand. "The unfortunate reality for the industry," according to Lockhorn, "is the growth rate of inventory is grossly out pacing the growth rate of ad spend."
What's the conclusion? Our business has certainly come a long way. But we still have a long way to go. As Cargill says, "consumers are as out-of-home as ever," but capturing their attention, and monetizing that experience, remains a challenge for the industry. And the agencies? Well, they have their hands full trying to figure out mobile, social networking, online video, and the changing landscape of broadcast. Add DOOH to the mix and it's little wonder the agency folks gloss over whenever we start trying to engage them. We're working in a new channel. And with new channels, it takes time for everything to fall into place. Nonetheless, there is progress. There is energy. There is talent focused on this space as never before. "There is a recognition," according to Gorrie, "that this could be where the money is."
If Slick Willie Sutton was alive today, and planning his next job, he might take a long look at DOOH. No reason for him to look at a bank... there's no money there anymore. Click here to leave a comment What's WireSpring's Blog All About? WireSpring provides hardware, software and services for digital signage and kiosk projects. But our blog is a labor of love. Our posts cover everything from case studies to creative briefs, and are authored by some of the industry's most well-respected leaders.
There's been a lot of talk lately about "billboards that watch you back." Some of the news comes from the trade side, with new companies announcing products that identify individuals (either uniquely or generally along some demographic lines), and then serve them targeted content or record their presence. However, a growing part of the discussion is taking place in the mainstream press -- the likes of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal -- who are starting to wonder what effect all of this covert surveillance and tailored advertising is having on society. Since these entities are commercial and ad-sponsored themselves, I wouldn't count on them for an unbiased review. But one thing's for certain: people are starting to realize that we're entering the age of surveillance, and that for better or worse, this transition will change the way we work, play and shop.
Should you be worried about who's watching you?
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/arts_culture/Is_Digital_Signage_Invading_Your_Privacy_Infographic';
Maybe. When it comes to shopping and marketing at-retail, people generally like personalization. We know that loyalty card holders spend more, and that they rate their visits as more pleasant. (There's some self-selection going on there, of course, but that can't be helped.) We know that trade promotion and sampling programs work well and score high on customer satisfaction polls. And we know that people like getting personalized coupons, and are more apt to use them compared to generic coupons. But at some point, it seems like it will all break down. I'd probably be OK with a digital signage screen identifying me as a clean-shaven male and playing back a spot for new Gilette Ninja Xtreem Ultra Pro shaving gel. I'd be less comfortable with it knowing that I was shopper #12345, and that my Dr. Scholls might need replacing. And if it knew my name and started telling me about any of the more unmentionable products in the health care aisle, I'd turn around, leave the store, and never come back.
Where do we draw the line? Well, I've been getting calls and emails from tech vendors, journalists and privacy advocates asking what kinds of services can be offered at retail to help the shopper without seeming pushy, creepy, or violating their privacy. I let these requests stack up for a while now because, quite frankly, I just don't know. After thinking it over some more, I put together this chart to help illustrate the challenge:
Worried yet? Yeah, me too, a little. But let's take a step back and consider how the whole idea of the Uncanny Valley came to be, and how this relates to privacy and personalization.
When machines become too much like us: Exploring the "Uncanny Valley"
Image credit: BradBeattie
Back in the 1970s, sci-fi was entering mainstream culture and the field of robotics was just getting off the ground. In this early period, Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori first described the Uncanny Valley. As Wikipedia tells us, "When robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The 'valley' in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot's lifelikeness." Basically, the more human-like something tries to appear or act, the more we scrutinize its non-human characteristics. This is the effect that allows It's Christmas, Charlie Brown! to be cute and endearing, but makes The Polar Express seem creepy and... well, creepy. But...
How are new technologies influencing marketing and consumer privacy?
As I started thinking about this, I discovered that Seth Godin already had it all figured out. As usual, Seth also explained the issue more eloquently (and less loquaciously) than I could:
We love cute dogs, cute monkeys, clairvoyant websites, smart voice mail systems.
But we get totally wigged out when a website knows too much about us, when we start talking to a voice mail attendant like she's a real person or when a photo or a robot is just too good. A magician is fine, an actual mind reader we burn at the stake.
The relevant issue here for marketers is what happens when our databases and predictions get too good. I don't want the hotel to automatically serve me the same breakfast that I ordered during my last trip, or for the doorman to pretend he's my friend just because he read a database entry about me.
How can you navigate this environment -- and what's the upside?
The Uncanny Valley begins and ends in different spots for me than it does for you. Heck, you might even have liked The Polar Express for all I know. But ensuring that marketers don't overstep their bounds and shoppers continue to trust and enjoy their retail experiences is going to require a real, ongoing dialog between those that sell products and those that buy them. This will have to go beyond mere disclosure of surveillance practices or robust opt-in and opt-out policies, though those will certainly need to exist and be enforced too. But there's real upside to be had, if the graph above is to be believed. At some level of personalization, we ought to be able to get through the valley and deliver higher levels of service that people will genuinely appreciate. While personal shoppers are probably going to be off-limits to all but the super rich for the near future, there may be some low-cost, low-touch method out there that gets past the valley, boosts sales or loyalty for retailers, and leaves shoppers with a warm, fuzzy feeling all at once.
Where does your Uncanny Valley begin? What in-store technologies are you looking forward to as a shopper, and which ones do you think are just plain creepy? Click here to leave a comment What's WireSpring's Blog All About? WireSpring provides hardware, software and services for digital signage and kiosk projects. But our blog is a labor of love. Our posts cover everything from case studies to creative briefs, and are authored by some of the industry's most well-respected leaders.
As one of just a handful of people who can claim to have worked in the digital signage industry since 1991, I suppose I could be called 'old school.' In fact, the term 'digital signage' didn't even exist when I helped build and program the Blockbuster TV network in their 900 locations at the time. But as the store count grew (at a rate of 1.5 openings per day back then), it became face-slappingly obvious how powerful a medium this new thing was. Fast-forward 18 years, though, and while there has been plenty of progress in our industry, there are still far too many companies attempting to launch networks blindly -- when they should instead be drawing on the huge body of experience that we now have at our disposal. One of my biggest gripes comes while I'm wearing my creative agency hat, since I continue to see network owners skip some vital steps of the content creation process. This leads to bad results and in turn, a negative view of our industry.
Whither the Content Strategy?
I have witnessed so many networks, particularly the in-store variety, skip any discussion of a content strategy. It's one of those things that gets mentioned often at seminars, but is rarely explained in detail. Consequently, few networks really understand the process of building an effective content strategy. Granted it can be a somewhat complicated process, but the experience pays a huge dividend. It basically starts with getting a clear understanding of the network's objectives, their integrated marketing communications plans, and the physical limits of the network itself (audio or video driven, passive or interactive, where it is merchandised, dwell time, etc).
Image credit: HikingArtist.com
The early phase of a content strategy session feels a lot like reverse-brainstorming. This is the time to toss out questions rather than ideas, and as in a creative brainstorming session where there are no "bad ideas," at this stage of the content strategy no question is out of bounds. It's the time to figure out where there might still be lingering doubts or uncertainties about the content program, and begin shaping the content to match the client's marketing plans.
Skimping on Development Means Spending More Later
A second area in the content process that is often overlooked is the creative development stage. I have recently been part of two RFPs/Creative Briefs (reluctantly) where the parties believed the next step after delivering the RFP or Creative Brief was the execution, i.e. a finished video or animation, ready for in-store viewing. However, skipping the creative development stage (including the presentation of concepts, storyboarding, developing treatments, writing outlines, creating animatics, and so on) is akin to making a movie without a script. Heck, even reality shows have scripts these days, so it always amazes me when clients want to skip this all-important series of steps. There is a saying in the film business that a bad movie can be produced from a good script, but a good movie can never be made from a bad one. Now imagine the movie made with no script and you have an idea of where we are going by sidestepping the creative development phase.
I understand that all clients want their projects to come in ahead of schedule and under budget, but I doubt any of them would agree to those terms if it meant that the final product was poorly thought-out and executed. What would be the point of that? Yet many still seem surprised when creative agencies bill for their hours during the development stage -- even though this step can take as much time and effort as final production. Moreover, spending enough time at this stage will likely save the client money in the long run by bringing down production and execution costs, yielding content that performs better, and preventing the need to reinvent the wheel when everyone is wondering why the network is not performing as promised.
There are a lot of tangential benefits of these creative pitches too. In my experience, it has led to better creative that's functional, but more in keeping with the client's own desires than something we might put together without the development process. It involves the client on a deeper level, as sometimes they are not quite sure what they really want in their network at the brief or RFP stage. Consider someone who buys a plot of land and wants to put a house on it. It certainly is easier to visualize the house after it's built, but by that time it's too late to make major changes. That's why houses aren't built without architectural drawings and blueprints. Likewise, it's much easier to satisfy the client if they've had a chance to make their suggestions and voice their concerns before the production phase. Not every idea needs to be storyboarded and presented, especially as the network grows and matures. But in the early stages of a digital signage network's deployment, or when the client decides that the overall content strategy must change, it is indeed vital.
Don't Forget to Roll with the Punches
Our content strategy at Blockbuster did change over the years, so it's important for agencies to constantly review their strategies with their clients. For instance, when Blockbuster's business model moved to a revenue-sharing deal with the studios (vs. outright purchase of the movies), our content strategy changed too, since our higher-margin products turned out to be the paid-for and dust-collecting catalog titles. This in turn led to different creative. That all changed again when Blockbuster started selling advertising and developing more marketing partnerships. By 1996, so many internal departments were involved in the input process that the network was seen as a critically important, enterprise-wide program, used by marketing, buying, training, corporate communications, and even HR.
So in this time of 'hope and change', I hope that we can move forward as an industry, and that more of us will stress the importance of a sound (yet flexible) content strategy and creative process. As I noted at the beginning, I came into the in-store TV world backwards, with no true strategy and no creative plan. But that changed quickly after I took a few trips to Blockbuster stores around the country, and was finally able to visualize how our in-store program would interact with the environment. Starting with that seed of understanding, we then developed a content strategy based on Blockbuster's business model and marketing initiatives. Each concept that we deemed appropriate got a full treatment and outlines with the goal of maximizing its presence in the store. By the time we started conducting research on the program's effects, we were pleased to find that it was responsible for increasing rentals and sales by 8% (which was the main objective identified in our Content Strategy). Within a few years, we were able to fine-tune our content strategy and creative process to yield a program that would boost that number to more than 15% on average.
Want to learn more about Gary's techniques for creating in-store media programs that really work? Be sure to catch his talk on the "Basics in Content Strategy, Process and Design for Out-of-Home Networks" at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas. His presentation is scheduled for February 26 at 3 pm. Click here to leave a comment What's WireSpring's Blog All About? WireSpring provides hardware, software and services for digital signage and kiosk projects. But our blog is a labor of love. Our posts cover everything from case studies to creative briefs, and are authored by some of the industry's most well-respected leaders.
Mobile marketing might be the only industry surrounded by more hype than our own right now, and that's really saying something. The mobile marketing folks have conferences, launch parties and industry associations that make the digital signage bandwagon look cautious and reserved by comparison. Yet when it comes to showing real, meaningful results and genuine conclusions, they're in the same boat as we are. Thus, I was extremely amused to come across a recent blog post that humbly declared "digital signage is dead." The killer? Mobile marketing.
Well, I'll be the first to admit that some areas of digital signage are pretty sickly these days, but really... dead? Of course, I'd be willing to be swayed by a sound argument, but there I found the blogger's argument to be somewhat lacking:
My point is, there is an emerging market that is interested in emerging technology. The fact is, (as I heard it said recently), digital signage is not an emerging technology.
...[With mobile marketing] all that is necessary is to explore and invest in methods to deliver a message or a useful tool with pertinent content to the device. There is no commitment to hardware screens and player solutions with a shelf life, that has been put off onto the end viewer who now owns the system, and carries it with them wherever they go. That alone is a deal breaker for traditional methods of narrowcasting that have been, in recent years, re-packaged as "Digital Signage".
Why mobile won't kill digital signage
Image credit: John Manoogian III
To be frank, a scenario where the iPhone and other handheld devices eliminate the need for digital signage seems very unlikely, and I'll give you three reasons why:
Numbers: Apple has sold about 10 million iPhones since the device's debut in 2007. Assuming that all of them are still in the US (which is mostly true), that means about 3% of the population has one. Since the device and its required service are expensive, those 10 million people will naturally clump together in the high end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Now, how many of those 10 million have done something to make themselves available to mobile marketers in the first place? (I'd be surprised if even 5% of users have done so). In contrast, Walmart TV had over 130 million viewers each month, and that was way back in 2005. Today, something like 80% of Americans shop at Walmart, giving it a reach that mobile -- even spanning all "smart" devices -- won't be able to match for a decade or more. And that's just one digital signage network.
Context: Enter a store and you are, by definition, entering a place of commercial enterprise. You're probably there to buy stuff. But even if you're just browsing, there's an understanding that the retailer wants to sell you things, and you have some interest in seeing what's available. There is a shared expectation that the store will contain marketing content, and you're at least mildly interested in consuming it. Because of this, the retail store is the most natural environment for advertising that you'll ever find. And provided that retailers steer clear of using digital signage in ways that compromise viewer privacy, this mutually-beneficial relationship should remain in effect for many years to come. Don't like the content? You're free to leave, and as soon as you do, the ads are gone too. I wish all ads were so contextually relevant. TV commercials would only show up when I was in the mood to make a purchase, and newspapers would be full of -- gasp -- news.
Control: Digital signs give the marketer complete control over when, where and how a message is delivered. Mobile devices on the other hand, remain in the control of the consumer. While that's as it should be, there might be a hundred different, non-commercial reasons why I whip out my cellphone. Maybe I want to check sports scores. Perhaps I'm looking up an address. I could even want to call someone. Unlike an in-store digital sign that has a fixed purpose and is operated by the store as a retail fixture, my mobile phone is mine. Unless I request the content specifically by visiting your website or sending a text message, you have no way of reaching me through my phone unless I'm part of the tiny minority that has enabled you to do so whenever you wish. (Yes, I realize that there are whole demographics that might fit into that tiny minority, and that mobile is a great medium for reaching those people. I'm talking big-picture here.)
Digital signage and mobile marketing are natural allies
People love their cell phones and are becoming more dependent on them every day. In time, more cell phone users will be willing to accept mobile marketing. It'll happen a little bit this year, a little bit next year, and in seven or eight years, the available audience will be pretty big. In the meantime, mobile marketing will focus on those niche audiences that have a natural propensity for buying the latest gadgets and giving out all sorts of personal information in exchange for a chance to win a pair of Kelly Clarkson tickets. Billboards, posters and digital signs will continue to use "easy" mobile marketing like SMS text messaging to engage viewers and measure audience interaction.
One thing is clear, though: as long as most people either don't want ads on their mobile phone (or are unable to receive them), that medium simply can't displace well-run digital signage networks. Likewise, as long as there are brands who need a guarantee that their messages will appear at a certain place and time, there will be a need for a media channel that the venue can control. Digital signage and mobile marketing are natural allies when considered in the context of multi-channel marketing campaigns, but there's simply no way that one can do the job of the other.
What do you think? Is digital signage on the verge of being replaced by another medium? Or, will emerging media actually make digital signs more important and effective? Click here to leave a comment What's WireSpring's Blog All About? WireSpring provides hardware, software and services for digital signage and kiosk projects. But our blog is a labor of love. Our posts cover everything from case studies to creative briefs, and are authored by some of the industry's most well-respected leaders.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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