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24 Sep
When Hartford Hospital began looking for a “digital alternative” to posters for its in-house announcements, it turned to a startup company tucked away in a corner suite on the fifth floor of 57 Pratt St.
Since then Dsign Digital, a three-year-old firm with five employees, has installed high-definition digital signs in the hospital’s main lobby, its main cafeteria and the lobby of the Jefferson Building at 85 Jefferson St.
“It replaces a typical sign board or one of those boards where people have tacked events to,” said Winfried Quast, who co-founded Dsign Digital with David Kinney. “If there’s an event change, you don’t have to scribble it out and handwrite the new date.”
Because the costs of digital displays have fallen since its launch, Dsign Digital has seen its market opportunities grow. Quast and Kinney recently installed a sign for one of their Pratt Street neighbors, The Russell Restaurant. The Hartford bought one of their displays, and they recently helped produce a public television series on dining for CPTV.
“Three and a half years ago, we were trying to break into a new market,” Kinney said of digital signs. “But both of our backgrounds were in video production, and that was kind of the core of our business.”
Quast said that when he and Kinney focused on interior digital signage, rather than billboards outdoors, they ran into relatively little competition. He added that the system they sell is “pretty simple, so it’s a good selling point.” Hartford Hospital wanted to replace a variety of maps, flyers and old-fashioned signs with digital screens that can be controlled by the click of a mouse.
While Dsign Digital prepared the hospital’s system, produced the high-definition graphics and installed the signs, the hospital got total control of editing the signs’ content. The messages can be aimed at health care staff or the public and they can display advertising, general information or even emergency messages.
“It’s eye-catching and it’s a high quality picture,” Kinney said.
The hospital said it chose Dsign Digital because of the relative simplicity of its technology and because the signs fit well with its network environment. “Dsign Digital has been very professional and responsive to our needs,” hospital officials said in a prepared statement.
The uses of digital signs have expanded as they have become more common place.
The Russell Restaurant uses a Dsign Digital sign to show off its menu with pictures of its finest entrées, while The Hartford has installed a 65-inch digital screen as a background with local scenery for its senior executives when they make cable television appearances.
A driving factor in the proliferation of digital signs is declining cost, Kinney said. They’ve fallen by an average of 40 percent since the company opened its doors.
“In the case of The Hartford, they would never have dreamed of installing something that big even two years ago because it wouldn’t be possible,” he said. “It would have cost at least $25,000.”
Currently, the cost to install a single screen with the operating system is about $8,000.
“The lower price allows us to talk to more places,” Quast said. “It lowers the threshold to enter. Smaller places and businesses can use them as a communication tool instead of a luxury item.”
James Bickers, senior editor of the industry publication Digital Signage Today, described digital signs as “one of the most logical” business tools a company can deploy.
“It gives complete control of the company’s brand to the people who can make the most out of having control,” he said.
In a survey conducted earlier this year, Digital Signage Today found that 66.3 percent of companies use digital signs to further their brand message or marketing, while 54.3 percent said they used it for assisted selling and product information. Of the 600 companies surveyed, more than half — 53.2 percent — singled out retail as the industry with the most to gain.
Even with its digital sign business increasing, Dsign Digital may gain its most exposure in October when “Eating CT” debuts on CPTV.
Gary Doyens, account manager for CPTV, described the show as “Foodies Gone Wild.” The six episodes produced so far focus on restaurants in areas such as Middletown, Litchfield County and South Norwalk.
Dsign Digital, the production partner on the show, pitched the idea to CPTV officials, who then signed off on an initial run of six shows.
Doyens said Dsign Digital staffers were responsible for the show’s shooting, editing and post-production process.
“We’ve got six shows in the can, but we need to raise another $175,000 to $200,000 to do a full slate of 13 shows,” Doyens said. “We’re very excited about the show because there isn’t one like it in Connecticut and we’re thrilled to have it on our station.”