Content is King- Create and Schedule Media that Will Make an Impact

In the marketing world, presenting a unique and interesting message is critical to producing a positive result. Would be customers are bombarded with messages at an astounding rate and advertising, in any format, is often seen as clutter. With so many factors that play into Digital Signage, how can you ensure that your content stands out from the “clutter” today’s media presents?

Understand your Content Mix

Digital Signage can be used to distribute a limitless number of content types. Everything from live TV feeds to interactive kiosk applications populate screens. But in the Financial Industry, we find the most often used content types are as follows:

· Promotional Content- Represents specific products and service offerings.
· Entertainment Content- This might include live television, news feeds, stock tickers, trivia, famous quotes, riddles, local weather forecast etc.
· Community Events- Philanthropic involvement, local sports team affiliation, company awards, customer recognition and employee recognition to name a few.
· Training- This information could range from a previously recorded video on Cross Selling to a live video conference feed from the CEO to the branch employee or even a Training Manager addressing compliance issues.

Understand your Goals

With the types of content defined into the four categories listed above, it is now just as important to understand how each of those content types can contribute to the objectives of the institution. Below is the short list of goals our customers say Digital Signage can help them achieve and the correlation each has with specific content types.

· Lower perceived wait time.
· Increase product sales.
· Strengthen the brand.
· Promote goodwill.
· Lower training costs while increasing frequency of contact with front line employees.

As might be expected, content types and business goals are nearly identical. It is important to point out, however, that the right content mix contributes greatly to the successful attainment of each business goal. It is also necessary to recognize that goals may fluctuate from day to day and even from hour to hour. Considering the following 3 scenarios:



Paycheck Friday

Your branch is filled with customers from 1-5 and they come in waves. At certain times, you may have people in line for 10-15 minutes with the equivalent queue in the drive-thru lanes. Now is the perfect time to push product right?

The answer is yes but in moderation. We suggest a 60/40 mix of entertainment to branding and product content with the length of the loop as near as possible to the specific wait time during each event. In other words, if you have a 10 minute wait in your branch lobby line, mix in 6 minutes of content which concentrates on Goodwill, Community Events and general entertainment (trivia etc.) and use 4 minutes for your product promotions. By taking the edge off of the effort to sell product, you will have better success retaining the attention of the customer in line and ultimately make more impact when your product message is displayed.

Midweek Afternoon

It is Thursday afternoon and some of your commercial accounts are visiting the branch to make deposits. Your teller line is approximately 2-4 minutes in length and you know your customers are in a hurry. They are all in a hurry. Now is the right time to lower perceived wait time and impact the experience of your best customer’s right?

Not really. Small business owners have one thing on their mind- their business. Although the elimination of entertainment content is not recommended, a higher percentage of product content focused closely to this demographics needs is crucial. Again, it is important to consider the length of the loop as it pertains to the wait line in the branch. We like to suggest a mix of 70/30 product content to entertainment media in these scenarios.

Early Morning

It is Tuesday morning and you have a low number of customers in the lobby. Most of them are long standing clients that your tellers know by name and they are typically from the Baby Boomer Generation.

These customers like personal interaction and they place high importance on feeling good about the relationship they have with their financial institution. This is a great time to reinforce brand image and promote the goodwill events your institution supports. Make sure that the right product is interspersed with your goodwill campaign messaging and make the best effort to enhance cross sell opportunity.

The Basic Keys to Success

Keep it fresh:

No matter what make up your content ultimately takes, the single most important aspect to employing impact media is your ability to regularly update messages. As the previous scenarios represent, Digital Signage allows for the display of pertinent media based on time of day and location. Be sure you have the budget to allocate towards the consistent creation of new media and that you choose a vendor who supplies you relevant media on a continuous basis.

Flexibility:

Ensure the Digital Signage system you are employing allows you full access to change media when and how you want. If you have very complex scheduling requirements, be sure your vendor meets those demands without great expense or time commitment.

Continual Review:

Digital Signage is a powerful marketing tool and carries a significant investment to deploy. Once installed, it is important to continually review the success of your media plan as it relates to your business goals. There is no exact science which can be used to ensure performance but through constant review of branch statistics and content choice, the opportunity for improvement can certainly be narrowed.

Is Branch Growth The Answer to Deposit Growth?

When it comes to growing market share in the financial world, most institutions will say they plan to increase their scope through adding branches. And, if you look on any street corner on the main drag of any city across the United States, you will find most are populated with a bank. So with all the branch building going on, is it justifiable to make the assumption that location remains to be the single most important facet of successful growth?

According to the March issue of the ABA Banking Journal’s Community Bank Competitiveness Survey, 7 out of 10 banks have either built or renovated at least one branch within the last 5 years. Yet those same institutions that are building and renovating also agree that their markets are overbranched. In today’s hyper competitive environment, it should be expected to have a competitor and possibly multiple competitors just across the street from your branch. So the question must be; how do you differentiate your brand from the one across the street while at the same time defending margin and refraining from leading the relationship with an attractive but fickle product such as a CD? We believe the answer lies in customer retention and maximizing the sales opportunity the first 60 days of a customer relationship presents. With a solid branch retail campaign in place, Digital Signage can help augment these efforts.

Consider the following statistics for digital signage:

· Customers are 5-10 times more likely to notice dynamic signs over traditional static POP signage
· Customers are 2-5 times more likely to retain the information they see on the display(s)
· Financial customers have experienced a 10-15% increase in product inquiries after the installation of digital signage.

There are more statistics that populate digital signage reports as they relate to increasing sales but I believe these are the key indicators for the financial industry. They are of high importance because of the impact these figures suggest Digital Signage can have on cross sell success. Ultimately, if customers in the branch are more likely to notice, remember and inquire about the information on the display(s), the opportunity to penetrate a customer account with multiple products increases.

Digital Signage is certainly not the cure for all cross sell and retention challenges but if integrated with a well rounded plan, it can definitely contribute to the overall strategy and long term success of the branch campaign.

The facts about Contrast Ratio from the Pro's

After making my post yesterday regarding LCD & Plasma technology, I came a cross an interesting article in the most recent copy of Sound and Video Contractor. The article talks about the industry race to continually increase contrast ratio without putting due attention to gray scale performance. For the true A/V enthusiast, you may want to view the article and read it directly from the professionals at SVC.

LCD vs Plasma- What works best for your institution?

In the world of Digital Signage, the debate over Plasma or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) continues to rage among prospective and current customers. But to more knowledgeable professionals in the industry, there are clear lines on when and how to use each of these technologies.

A Burning Question

Plasma technology is plagued with a bad reputation that, frankly, is exaggerated. Yes, it is correct that plasma screens have traditionally been susceptible to what is now infamously referred to as “burn-in”. Burn in is essentially the possibility that images can become permanently visible on the screen after long periods of display This typically happens when static images are continuously shown over a long period of time. It also can occur when items such as a “news ticker” are extensively displayed at in a portion of the screen as is common with many digital signage applications.

The good news is that burn in can be limited and nearly eliminated if the panel is used judiciously. Some simple fine tuning can go a long way to prolong the life of any plasma screen. By lowering contrast levels and brightness, rotating static images and ensuring playlists have plenty of full motion graphics; the potential for burn can be greatly reduced.

LCD panels have a distinct advantage when it comes to burn. It simply does not exist with LCD technology.


Performance

Plasma displays outperform LCD’s in many areas which can be of high importance in digital signage. Most notable of these is what the industry refers to as “Contrast Ratio”. Contrast Ratio is the difference between the blackest black and the whitest white which can be produced on a screen. The greater the difference between the two, the clearer the images will be. LCD’s have traditionally fallen short in this area. To put things in perspective, I will recount a typical equipment specification for any Captive Indoor Media customer.

We like LG equipment and use it in most every customer installation. For Plasma screens, we commonly use a Commercial Grade HDTV with a 10,000:1 Contrast ratio and Brightness levels of 1500cd/m². For LCD’s, we also suggest HDTV enabled panels yet the contrast ratio is only 400:1 with maximum brightness of 450cd/m². To boil things down, contrast ratio and brightness effect viewing angle, clarity of images and ultimately the effectiveness of the media being displayed. And, as is clear from the manufacturer listed specifications, Plasma continues to out pace LCD in image clarity and brightness.

With the above said, I would be remiss if I did not mention that LCD technology is rapidly catching up to Plasma. In fact, 2005 was the first year that LCD shipments exceeded Plasma display sales.

Life Expectancy

As it stands today, Plasma and LCD displays can be expected to last approximately 50,000 hours. This was not the case just a few years ago when Plasma was expected to last closer to 30,000 hours.

In a branch scenario, where business hours typically do not extend beyond 45 hours, a 50,000 hour life expectancy equates to over 20 years. Reality would suggest that 20 years is a high expectation but more important is that both LCD and Plasma are mature technologies. Both can be expected to perform for many years.

The Price

Until recently, there were clear price advantages for both LCD and Plasma as it related to the size of the screen. LCD screens have traditionally been the dominant technology in the smaller sizes while Plasma has been most successful in the 37”+ market. For the most part, this remains true today although LCD’s are competing heavily for a share of the larger screen marketplace.

The Decision

When everything gets boiled down, we typically turn to the size of the area available for the screen, the size of the location and the budget of the customer to help us create the best equipment solution. Frankly we use both technologies with regularity although Plasma remains the most popular, mainly for the performance in the larger screen models.

Today, financial institutions are building bigger branches with more space for customers to gather. Common sense dictates that the larger the screen is, the more visible it will be to the audience and the better the impact it will have.

Digital Signage - An Untapped Opportunity for Ad Agencies

Media buying pros are a great value to community banks wanting to make efficient use of their advertising budget. In a recent ABA Marketing Journal article entitled “Say ‘Buy-Buy’ to Media Buying Woes!” Deborah Cover-Lewis, owner of Media Vision details the value of hiring a media buying professional. After reading this and drawing on my own experiences working with ad agencies I wrote the following article.

This article is intended to

· Recognize that most media buying companies in the market today are not actively recommending digital signage as part of their customer’s marketing strategy.
· Outline how incorporating digital signage would benefit both their agency and their customers.
· Suggest tips on getting started.

Advertising agencies have not caught on yet.Digital signage is obviously a point of decision merchandising technique and would be best compared to print/ship/hang static “in lobby” advertising. Media buying companies traditionally focus on getting customers into the bank through newspaper, TV, Radio and direct mail but are often times responsible for the entire merchandising campaign for the bank. Most agencies are in position and have the expertise to guide the bank to a successful digital signage campaign but usually default to static signage. Why is that?

Digital signage is relatively new as compared to printed in store merchandising. Ad agencies have developed relationships over time with printing companies and have a comfort zone with the process. They know the order and fulfillment process, their margin and it is what they have always done. Considering that there are only a handful of digital signage companies specializing in digital signage it is understandable why this hasn’t caught on yet.

Digital signage is complex. It involves expertise in a unique combination of audio visual, software, networking and graphic design. Confusion says no. How can an advertising agency or other media buying company get through a learning curve like that and succeed?

How can digital signage benefit my agency? What’s in it for me?
Digital signage is simply another medium to display the expertise and work of an ad agency. In most cases, there is a software component that allows the marketing department to upload content to a hosted library. Once uploaded, the media can be scheduled/distributed to desired screens at the desired times remotely. It is at this point that ad agencies can provide the most value to their client and be compensated for it.

In the aforementioned article there is a paragraph entitled “Use a rifle not a shotgun” which describes the expertise of a media buyer to determine the target audience. So, who better than an ad agency to guide the bank as to which media plays on the screens and at which times? If an ad agency creates content and/or brokers the content creation, determines the target market for specific branch locations, and helps determine brand strategy; doesn’t it make sense to leverage that work into a dynamic eye catching medium that is displayed daily to a captive audience of decision makers at the branch level where 96% of all core banking products are purchased? (ABA Marketing Journal/August 2005)

Another enormous benefit to the ad agency is having the right tool to run a promotion instantly and affordably. In another article written by this author entitled Digital Signage: A Dynamic Strategy for Credit Unions and Community Banks the advantages of running instant campaigns through digital signage are outlined.

How can I get started?
The first step is finding a vendor you can partner with. The good news is that you do not have to be an expert at digital signage. The key is finding the right partner that you can trust to demonstrate their product directly to your client, make the appropriate needs assessment and deliver a quality service without violating the protocol set forth by your agreement with the bank. The following questions will help you get started.

Can my client monitor and schedule media to multiple locations remotely?
Can the vendor buy and install the equipment?
Can my client upload media our ad agency created without an additional charge?
Does the vendor create media at an affordable price and is there a revenue opportunity for our agency?
Can I keep my client’s logo/brand prominent in the media displayed?
How much time will my staff have to invest in a digital signage campaign?
How much will training cost?
Will the system eat up my client’s available bandwidth?
Can my client buy the PC?
Can my client use existing display screens?
Will my client be charged annual maintenance fees on the equipment?
Can my client get access to local news, weather etc?
Do you have a revenue sharing plan? Does it include recurring revenues?

Another great resource for getting started is an article written by Brian Nutt, President of Captive Indoor Media entitled Tips for a Successful Digital Signage Deployment .

Media buying professionals are in position to add an enormous amount of value to their bank clients through digital signage. The expertise and work already accomplished by an agency can be leveraged into one of the fastest growing marketing strategies today.

About the Author: Greg Barrett, Director of Business Development, Captive Indoor Media.

Tips for a Successful Digital Signage Deployment

Over the past several weeks I’ve put some serious thought into how to make the most efficient use of our sales efforts. Many times when we call potential customers, they do not recognize what we mean when we say “Digital Signage”. With that in mind, I’ve boiled things down to one major area that would help not only Captive Indoor Media but our industry. That area is education.

The reality of Digital Signage is it can be confusing. To the unknowing, implementing a network can appear so large, it is hard to know where to begin. Personally, I like to keep things simple. And, for those who know me well, they will recognize an expression that I often use. That expression is “Confusion says No.” Part of what we are trying to do with this Blog is limit the confusion which persists in our space by post interesting and educational articles as they relate to our technology and both it’s proven success and potential success. The best way to get started seems to be a list of the items we feel are paramount to a successful deployment of any Digital Signage Project.

For the purpose of this posting I am going to list each point with a brief description and follow up to each one in detail with future postings. I am also going to assume our readers have an understanding of what Digital Signage is. Keep checking back for more information as it relates to evaluating both product and process for Digital Signage.

1 - A Plan- This sounds elementary but it continues to surprise me how many of our customers come to us looking for digital signage because of the “me too” factor. In other words XYZ Bank or Credit Union has it so “I want it too.” The unfortunate reality of a Digital Signage project is it typically involves many departments within an organization and requires careful planning and therefore role allocation within the company before installations can begin. Some key components of the plan as we see it are:

· Marketing Project Manager- Manages the media plan for the system.

· Technical Project Manager- Manages the security and technical system design.

· Facilities- Ensures proper wiring and validates construction elements for each location.

· ROI Team- ROI for a Digital Signage project within a Financial Institution can cover several departments from HR to Marketing. It is important to define the objectives of your deployment before moving forward with a system.

2 - Player Equipment- The equipment used to store and play media in a Digital Signage Network is the biggest contributor to system downtime. It is critical to consult with your software vendor to confirm what hardware will optimize media performance and system uptime. I recently read an article on tech builder which did a great job describing hardware as well as some of the other facets involved in Digital Signage.

3 - Content- We preach heavily about content at Captive Indoor Media and we have the team in place here to help our customers design and implement the best media for their retail situation. The success of a Digital Signage project is ultimately determined by the content presented to customers so it is paramount to take great care to craft the right message for the medium. Repurposing existing content does not work in most situations. Our medium is visual and often lacks sound which makes experience in creating content specifically for a screen critical.

Beyond the quality of the content being displayed, the mix of entertainment to product promotion must be addressed as well. We like to suggest a 60/40 ratio of entertainment to product with a constant News ticker in the bottom or top portion of the screen. With that said, there is no sure fire solution and each institution should experiment with what grabs and holds the attention of their customer base best.

4 - Software- As the Digital Signage Industry continues to boom, more and more products are populating the marketplace. Products such as Scala, and Clarity combine both content creation and scheduling into one system while others like our platform Codigo stick to producing a software scheduling component and rely on existing design programs such as Macromedia Flash and Swish to create content.

As I’ve mentioned before, I like to keep things simple and our product reflects this. Our system is not a one to one comparison to Scala or Clarity which both have some really neat features but also require a steep learning curve to master. My point is there are some great programs in the marketplace and it is critical to define your objectives which will help you set the roles within your organization and ultimately define your abilities and requirements when it comes time to review systems.

5 - Budget- The expense of a solid Digital Signage network spans beyond the capital requirement for PC’s, Software, Displays, initial content design and Installation. For long term success, constant review is required by internal resources and continual revisions to content creation and scheduling are requirements.

6 - Benchmark for Success- This refers back to point #1 and should be part of the objective definition period. The key is to know why you are installing the network in the first place. Is it purely sales uplift? If so, do you have the internal process in place to track sales as it relates to the media on the screen? Are you interested in lowering perceived wait time too? Do you have a large number of branches in extended parts of the region or country which could benefit from training integration via Digital Signage? Do you need interactivity?

7 - Remote Management- Codigo is a purely web based product and we like it that way. I’d suggest you read my previous posting on February 15^th which talks about purchasing software as a service rather than buying outright and tasking your IT department to manage a complex system. With Codigo and others which take a similar approach, all you need to get up and running is an internet connection at the branch and an outlet for power supply. From there, the user can access all of their media files on the web as well as execute full scheduling capability.

8 - Scheduling control- In retail environments, different customers shop at different times of the day. Banking in particular has unique traffic patterns which typically can be defined based on location. With this in mind, it is important to discern the scheduling capabilities within different software programs. Our system allows for full day part differentiation with recurring settings so users can have specific media playing on certain days/times and not on others. On the other hand, some systems do not allow this flexibility at all but may suit the requirements of the customer better than Codigo.

The above are but a few of the components to both the initial and long term success of any digital signage project. Check back soon for more on each of them.