Touch-screen technology is at the
heart of many common technologies and is one of the key ingredients to hybrid,
interactive digital signage.
Unless
you live in a cave, you’ve probably noticed Apple has launched its much
ballyhooed iPhone this week. AT&T, the phone’s exclusive distributor for the
first six months it’s on the market, has already added thousands of employees
nationwide to handle consumer demand at retail centers. It reports anticipating
sidewalk campers waiting in line overnight for the new phone to go on sale.
Without a
doubt, Apple’s iPhone is shaping up to be the next, must-have for those who
want to be a part of the hottest, latest, hippest trend. What makes the iPhone
so sought-after? The answer is probably a little bit different for each
customer, but many of those responses likely center on its cool, quick, easy
touch-screen interface that will let users dial their way into the next
generation of telephony -among other things.
Touch-screen
technology is growing dramatically, according to market research firm iSuppli.
The researcher forecasts that revenue generated by leading touch-screen
technologies will grow to $4.4 billion by 2012, up from $2.4 billion in 2006.
While the iPhones will play a part in this growth, touch-screen proliferation
should also see a bump from the momentum building for hybrid, interactive
digital signage.
Think of
hybrid systems as part digital signage, part digital kiosk. When in digital
signage mode, they playback video, sound, graphics, text and animation in a
linear fashion. In other words, Segment A is followed by Segment B, etc. What
sets them apart is when a viewer interacts with these screens. Immediately,
they switch to an interactive mode, allowing the viewer to drill down to
sought-after information. More often than not, the interface facilitating that
interaction is a touch screen.
Touch-screen
interactivity tied to digital signage is beginning to attract the attention of
marketers nationwide because it not only draws digital signage viewers into
their advertising messages and lets them communicate on a personal, customized
level, but also because it gives them something other media can’t: quantifiable
response metrics.
Think
about the last time you heard an ad on the radio. There’s a good chance the
announcer said something like, “Be sure to tell ABC Company that Joe Announcer
from WXYZ Radio sent you.” How about your last magazine? Was it filled with
bound and blown-in response cards for special offers? What about newspaper
coupons? They’re the same thing -an effort in part to quantify the reaction of
the public to a commercial offer.
The
wonderful thing about hybrid, interactive digital signage -most often driven by
touch-screen interaction- is it can deliver up-to-the-minute metrics about what
viewers are interested in, and if set-up properly, who those consumers are.
Think
about the value of gathering information from a network of hybrid, interactive
digital signage systems installed at hundreds of fashion locations across the
country. All day long, signs play back the retailer’s linear marketing messages
-building ambience, creating a mood and attracting interest. Periodically,
customers approach the digital sign and touch it to access information about
specific merchandise. The choices viewers make about what to touch can be saved
and/or transmitted in real-time back to corporate headquarters.
Having
that level of information about what’s on the minds of customers is invaluable.
Beyond simply letting the marketing department tweak its digital signage
presentations, information like that can help merchandise buyers identify
what’s hot and what’s not. Comparing it to cash register receipts can take
analysis of marketing messages to a whole new level.
Members
of the public are demonstrating they want to interact with technology to
improve their lives. Why else would anyone consider camping out overnight on a
sidewalk for a phone?
Desire like that among the public in the very
least indicates people like having a tactile experience with technology. Best
of all for marketers, those experiences can be tied directly to greater,
quantifiable interaction with the public. That can mean nothing but good things
for marketers wishing to influence buying decisions with their digital signage
messaging.
About the author
David Little is a digital signage authority with 20 years of
experience helping professionals use technology to more effectively communicate
their unique marketing messages. He is the director of marketing for Keywest
Technology in Lenexa, KS, a software development company
specializing in systems for digital signage creation, scheduling, management
and playback. For further digital signage insight from Keywest Technology
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