Monday, March 26, 2007

Digital Signage: Is the Ad Industry Going the Way of Pluto?

If you read Advertising Age, you are probably familiar with Bob Garfield and his multi-year project entitled "Chronicles of the Media Revolution". As luck would have it, Mr. Garfield has added to his well authored series with a new article entitled “Chaos 2.0”.

This particular article is incredibly interesting to me because it does not simply predict (as some of his previous article’s have done) but references his “Chaos” article of 2 years ago and then diagrams out the time line of events that have taken place since that article was run. If you do remember the Chaos article, you will also remember the industry rumblings that surrounded it.

Chaos 2.0 is not only certain to send rumblings through the traditional advertising channels, but will most definitely send some for the hills. With comparisons to the recent demise of the planet Pluto and quotes from industry pros and even folks like Bill Gates chiming in, this is a must read for anyone involved in the advertising industry. And make no mistake; if you work with digital signage, you are in the advertising industry as well.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Digital Signage: Hey That Screen Is Talking To Me!

I’m fresh off the CUNA (Credit Union Nation Association) Marketing Conference in Las Vegas last week and, as you might imagine, digital signage was everywhere. What was even more obvious was the use of audio in more and more installations.

The best example was in the airport. Now the Las Vegas airport has had digital signage in some form for several years. The new additions are 32” and 42” LCD panels along the security check-in gates. The screens came dressed with some heavy duty enclosures to prevent tampering and were mounted from the ceiling out of arms length. This was a major installation yet I have not been able to find the provider despite some search time on Google.

What I found most interesting about this installation was the use of sound. It was well done, creative, unusually funny and incredibly targeted. It did what digital signage is supposed to do. It entertained, informed and brought down the perceived wait time to a tolerable level (and if you’ve ever been in Mcarren airport you know this is quite an achievement). The media included funny quips from Carrot Top, Pamela Anderson and other Las Vegas Celebrities. While I’m not sure what Carrot Top said, I’m quite sure Pamela asked me to get all of my documentation ready before I made it to the security person awaiting a few paces away :).

Audio has been a touchy subject with many a digital signage installation and industry pundits pick both sides of the fence. The ones that refute the use of audio argue that it can become annoying to employees and redundant information to customers. I would agree that this is the case, especially in retail situations where repeat customers exist and employees are in constant ear shot of the screen. However I could easily suggest that this can be avoided with diligent management and production of new, creative and entertaining media. So now it comes down to budget and employee resource available to manage a digital signage system.

Proponents of the use of audio might say it is an integral part of a marketing campaign. After all, television and any form of .mpeg video is most likely going to be heavily reliant on the audio to reinforce the visual message. This is also true but I could argue that other types of media such as Flash have a more functional use on a digital sign while requiring less bandwidth and offering a wider pool of talent to pull from for media as well as less money to create.

So what is the answer? To me it is clear. You need to do 3 basic things:

1- Be Creative- If you want to use audio on your signs, be sure that you have the resources to constantly create new and entertaining media. This is not a :30 TV commercial run once a day during the local evening news.
2- Be targeted- You have to know your audience. By this I don’t mean just demographic. I mean you need to understand dwell time, situational circumstances and environmental influences. The airport in Las Vegas has the luxury of using the same media for a longer time than the local Bank because the airport customer might not be back for days weeks. The Bank is well…. “banking” on regular customer visits (Sorry for the bad joke)
3- Be Different- You must, have fresh content on a regular basis. Yes, I know this is a repeat from #1. But it needed to be said again.
Hyper Smash