Digital Signage News

The morning press - digital signage news for July 15

2009-07-15T10:10:00.001-05:00

Morning, folks. Here's some digital signage-related news for you:

Jeremy Lockhorn at ClickZ has posted a brief on the digital out-of-home landscape, and while not offering much new for those of us thoroughly embedded in the industry, it's a nice summary for non-techies and folks making their way over from other advertising industries. It would have been nice had Lockhorn referenced some newer material, rather than a bunch of studies from 2006 and 2007.

Seth Godin has an excellent post called The CPM gap which explains why we're OK with spending $1,000,000 CPM to attend a conference (and with some of the conferences I go to, it's probably even higher than that), but we balk at "high" online CPMs of $25, or "high" DOOH CPMs of $50. This is an argument that I make -- and continue to hear made -- so often, and just another reason why I always try to steer my customers away from CPM-based pricing if there's anything better or more appropriate for them to use instead.

Ad Lab has a neat little post on 3D signage that isn't digital. It seems to be a large-format poster with some kind of embedded lenticular lens or something. I haven't yet seen the effect in person, but I imagine in the right environment it could look pretty cool.

Hmm... where oh where have I heard about this before? "The Australian government established an information and communication center called NICTA who is working on a project which will represent a transition from dynamic to responsive technologies. They are trying to develop a device that once released to the market will revolutionize the way businesses reach out to their consumers. It is a combination of a digital screen and a camera that will analyze the customer’s physical characteristic and provide the customer a personalized advertisement." The fact that it's being sponsored by the government brings an extra dose of scary to the party.

And of course, if you're a privacy zealot, you've probably already seen CBS News's latest coverage of the "ads are watching you" argument. If not, Dave Haynes has a good recount. I've talked about this issue a number of times in the past, and don't think I need to add anything at this point.

Solar powered E-Ink shelf-edge displays run on indoor lighting

2009-07-13T09:44:00.002-05:00

While the guys at Intel and MIT are struggling to figure out how to wirelessly power a 60-watt lightbulb without giving us all cancer or microwaving small animals, a little company out of Korea has taken a different approach to powering useful electronic gadgetry: "solar" power from indoor lighting.

While that idea in itself is nothing new, their particular application is: Electronic Ink displays, designed for shelf-edge POP promotion, that have built-in photovoltaic cells that can generate enough power from the run-of-the-mill fluorescent lighting found in most retail shops:

While the prototype is still a bit crude, and the typical limitations of E-Ink still apply, this is a pretty clear indiciation (to me) of where things in the digital signage market are headed, and why sometimes the "green" initiative can produce seriously practical and useful benefits.

Tags: digital signage, electronic ink, e-ink

The self-host vs. SaaS debate, and the disingenuous security argument

2009-07-02T09:30:00.002-05:00

David Keene at Digital Signage Magazine proffered a short post yesterday wondering about whether self-hosted digital signage systems (he calls them "Premise" systems) or those offered in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model are better, and why. As he notes, people who doubt the SaaS model tend to believe that, "premise-based digital signage content management software packages are often more scalable, more secure, and more reliable because they are not based on a constant internet connection,". While tech novices might be easily swayed to believe these types of arguments, they're actually pretty poor indicators of the "quality" of a system for a particular application. They're also littered with presuppositions about how self-hosted and SaaS systems work. Here's a breakdown:

Unsubstantiated Claim #1: Premise systems are more scalable than SaaS systems

The fact of the matter: This one's easy. SaaS providers (like myself -- I'd like to point out that I have a vested interest here) live and die with their ability to provide service to their customers. I have literally thousands of devices checking in to my servers, for hundreds of clients. If there's any kind of problem, we hear about it very quickly. And our ability to win new business relies on our ability to quickly and inexpensively increase our capacity. How many networks hosting their own stuff can claim that? Very, very few.

Unsubstantiated Claim #2: Premise systems are more reliable because they don't depend on an Internet connection

The fact of the matter: In certain scenarios this might actually be really important. However, with the most common scenario (a player can't get onto the 'net to get content), I doubt there's really a difference in the majority of situations. Large files these days are usually downloaded ahead of time and stored on a local hard disk. And of course, if you don't have a good net connection, you won't be able to do streaming media, live data feeds, etc. regardless of what platform you use. If you have a network that you KNOW will never need to be connected to the Internet, I could see using this argument. Otherwise, it doesn't really resonate with most network applications nowadays.

Unsubstantiated Claim #3: Premise systems are more secure

The fact of the matter: This is the one that really irritates me when I hear it, because if the people claiming to be worried about security actually knew anything about computer security, they'd realize the flaw in their argument. That's because computer security essentially comes down to two things: technology and personnel. Any reasonably good product is going to have well-secured technology, including removing unnecessary programs, getting rid of common virus/hacking vectors, using recently updated or patched software, and implementing strong, non-obvious passwords. However, that's only half of the equation.

The other half is maintaining those systems over time, and this is where SaaS systems shine. At WireSpring we have full-time employees that do nothing but monitor our system status, read security bulletins, and continually maintain our software and servers. How many of those who host their own systems can claim that? We complete monthly security audits and maintain compliance -- at both the server and player level -- with strict standards like PCI-DSS and PABP. Again, how many self-hosted networks are going to go through the time, trouble and ongoing expense of that? I'd be willing to bet that it's a small percentage of the whole. Our servers are securely located in vault-like datacenters around the country, where physical access is limited via three-factor authentication, and armed guards patrol the perimeter. Meanwhile, I've had people tell me their "secure" systems are kept in a closet of their office.

Now admittedly, one place where self-hosted solutions *can* offer better security than SaaS solutions is when there's an "air gap" -- the network controlling the digital signs is PHYSICALLY disconnected from the Internet, and all activities like content upload and remote management must take place on this entirely separate network. In this case, it's physically impossible to compromise the network over the Internet (though local attacks are of course still possible). In reality, I'd be surprised if there were many such networks out there just because having such a gap is inconvenient.

The morning press - digital signage news for July 1

2009-07-01T09:52:00.000-05:00

Happy July, everyone. There's plenty of interesting stuff going on in the digital signage world. Here's some of it:

The DailyDOOH recently posted two articles that you need to read or re-read if you haven't. The first is on V.Pharma, who claims they're reaching their ROI objective in 12-16 months. In my experience, anything less than 18 months is pretty quick for our industry, so if V.Pharma proves correct, their model deserves some scrutiny.

The second was the announcement of the Imperative Group's rules for designing digital signage content for the audience. While only an introduction doc (pdf), it makes an excellent companion to our own best practices for creating digital signage content (wow, I really need to update that reference guide article, since it doesn't cover any of our posts on sound, screen placement, or the infamous ticker).

Next, I'd like to direct your attention to this NewTeeVee article on how advertisers are paying more for placement in The Simpsons episodes on Hulu than they do on actual broadcast TV. Even though we recommend against it, I know a lot of ad-funded digital signage networks continue to sell on a CPM basis, and are consequently faced with difficulty explaining why their $100 CPM is a great deal compared to the $20 CPM an advertiser might get for some other medium like local cable or print. Chris Albrecht does a great job of explaining that the thousands of Hulu viewers are likely to be more valuable to advertisers, who are thus willing to pay the premium. It's a good argument that's easily transposed to our industry.

Peter Breen, the Managing Director of Content for the In-Store Marketing Institute laid down some smack (do the kids still say that nowadays?) on people who continue to equate the newly-formalized discipline of shopper marketing with age-old POP advertising. While POP displays surely play a role in the overall shopper marketing program, as Breen notes such devices are only part of a much more complex system of advertising, marketing and promotional techniques to optimize the marketing message for the store -- the best possible place to connect with shoppers.

Tags: digital signage, digital signage news

Looking for more digital signage info? Check out WireSpring's Kiosk and Digital Signage blog for in-depth industry analysis and even more news about the digital signage industry. While you're there, feel free to read up on our digital signage software and services

More marketers want to compare mobile with outdoor, TV and internet ads

2009-07-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

MediaBuyerPlanner summarized a new TNS study on the "digital cross-chasm channel" that marketers are faced with:

"Although marketers see the power of digital media and express optimism and enthusiasm, many are caught in the gap between expectations and reality,” the report said. “Until this uncharted territory is mapped, many marketers will continue to go with what they know and revert back to existing techniques and siloed channels."

Marketers cite the following barriers to cross channel adoption:

* lack of suitable metrics to measure impact and ROI (44%)
* lack of case studies to prove cross-channel effectiveness (37%)
* lack of technology (34%)

Looking ahead, once enabled to accept digital advertising, respondents expect mobile and TV to be the top channels for branding and response as well as the go-to channels for brand-response synergy:

* 68% of marketers cite mobile as the top channel to drive response, followed by TV at 40%.
* 76% of marketers cite TV as the top channel for brand building, following by mobile at 49%.
* 68% of marketers are interested in comparing TV and mobile compared with outdoor and mobile, TV and computer-based advertising and mobile and computer-based advertising at 62%.

Respondents to the survey also expect total market spending to grow by 30% over the next two years with a third of the market experiencing growth over 50%.

Given that the hype surrounding the mobile ad industry is even more deafening than our own, I'm actually surprised that so many marketers continue to ignore the most valuable of all possible conversions -- that of a browser into a buyer. But that's exactly what's happening if you take a look at the chart above. TV has massive reach, so it's no wonder that marketers want better TV-mobile integration and measurement since they have millions upon millions of potential touch points to follow. But the conversion rate isn't likely to be much better than that of a regular TV ad. Digital OOH, on the other hand, focuses on those locations where products are placed, readily available, waiting to be sold. It would seem that despite the smaller audience size, comparison data for these two media would be more valuable on a per-person basis.

Of course, marketers have never been ones to understand the meaning of "can't have your cake and eat it too," so what we're probably seeing above is their desire to meet their current needs based on their current media mixes (or those of their clients).

(chart courtesy of MarketingCharts)

Haynes goes out on his own, starts DOOH press/pr service. World cowers in fear. News at 11.

2009-06-29T10:42:00.002-05:00

Dave Haynes of sixteen-nine fame has made no secret of his recent ride through the economic turbulence, so the entrepreneur in me is thrilled to see him casting off the shackles of formal employment to pursue a life of adventure and mystique as a small business owner. Given his strong writing skills, popular brand (in our industry, at least) and large rolodex, he's basically taking his writing services on the road, first come first served:

A new media communications firm, called pressDOOH, launched today to help companies in the fast-evolving digital signage and digital out of home (DOOH) industries break out from a highly competitive pack.

pressDOOH (www.pressdooh.com) is specifically positioned to help established and start-up companies develop effective communications material, such as press releases, white papers and case studies, to help build market awareness and drive new business. What sets pressDOOH apart from established public relations and communications firms is that the company has a deep history and understanding of the industry.

The founder and principal of pressDOOH, Dave Haynes, is a well-known industry pioneer who made the leap from mainstream print journalism to new media in the mid-'90s and has been involved in the digital signage and DOOH sectors for more than a decade. Haynes is the writer behind Sixteen:Nine, one of the nascent industry's most widely-read and respected blogs.

"Writing is in my DNA, and this is really just a return to my roots," says Haynes, who for the past few years has done senior-level business development for two of the biggest names in the software side of the industry. "In fact, I'm writing this right now. And now I'm even writing about writing. Writing writing writing writing writing." (that last part was made up to see if anybody's still reading).

So if you're in the digital signage business, you have lots of stuff that you want the world to know about, and you can't write (which, sadly, I've found is often the case), Dave's services seem well worth checking out. And hey, you'll be paying him in Canadian dollars, so that's only like $0.85/each in real money!

Artisan Live's digital signage YouTube channel is up

2009-06-26T11:05:00.001-05:00

I continue to be a fan of the work of Artisan Live, the digital signage-focused unit of Canadian ad/marketing firm Artisan Complete. Their content continues to be among the best I've seen in the retail digital signage space, and every year they win a bunch of new awards to prove it.

The group just started a new channel to showcase their work on YouTube, and it includes some of my favorite clips, including the Mike's Hard Lemonade spot whose image is to the left. This one won some kind of POPAI award a year or two ago, and really demonstrates some of the best practices for digital signage content that we've been talking about for years now.

I'd certainly like to see more design shops putting up YouTube pages for digital signage content. Of course, for that matter, I'd really like to see more great digital signage content, instead of the ongoing slew of mediocrity I seem to come across in every airport, bar and store I visit.

Tags: digital signage, artisan, youtube

Another week, another set of digital signage news links

2009-06-23T09:18:00.001-05:00

Infocomm 2009 claims to have had its biggest East Coast show ever, with 29,000 attendees. I spent three days on the floor there, and while there were some very, very busy periods in our digital signage area, there were also some points where our entire hall seemed empty. Perhaps 29,000 isn't enough to fill the Orange County Convention Center. Or perhaps not all of the audience was into digital signage. Either way, I'm glad we attended, and wouldn't be surprised if we did it again next year, with a few changes.

Consumer-grade wireless video gear in the digital signage market. We've had a few requests for replacing the "last meters" of a typical wired digital signage installation with wireless in order to save on the cost and complexity of hauling out Ethernet cables, but up until recently the only options were impressive but wildly expensive offerings from ProAV and digital signage-specific vendors. New equipment from consumer companies like Iogear might start changing that real soon. While their devices require a line of sight from transmitter to receiver, and have limited range, neither of these may be a problem for lots of venues. And the devices only cost $350 a pair -- about 80% less than some of the full-HD alternatives out there.

Microsoft's recent withdrawl of a system that would allow very specific targeting of TV commercials spotlights a problem that the TV ad world shares with its digital signage brethren: the need to book spots ahead-of-time. There were some technical hurdles, but apparently the need to book slots a whole 11 days prior to air proved too much for advertisers. Last-minute buys and spot provisioning continues to be the most well-worn path in the ad world, regardless of medium, it seems.

Did you guys know that PRN's Michael Quinn has a blog? I didn't until recently. So far he has a few interesting posts and head-scratchers up, and I'm sure there will be more to come. Well worth checking out and bookmarking.

Ad network aggregator SeeSaw Networks seems to be getting more into the role of arbiter between the traditional agency and signage networks, this time by setting up seasonal buys for the very important back-to-school season. Their new media plans apparently allow marketers to reach 75 million students nation-wide, across 200 media markets. This is a great example of using a traditional strength of digital out-of-home (namely time and place-specificity) to intensify campaigns that traditional marketers already know to be of critical importance.

Technorati Tags: digital signage

Arbitron report good news for digital signage statistics enthusiasts

2009-06-10T13:20:00.001-05:00

Some day I hope to sell a line of digital signage trading cards. On the front is a picture of the screen. One the back, the vital stats. I'm not sure whether I'll go with a traditional baseball card-style collect-them-for-the-sake-of-collecting model, or something more along the lines of Magic: The Gathering where networks duke it out for the title of Grand Champion (or something). Either way, it looks like CARE Media would be one to have (though perhaps not its rookie year), if you believe what Arbitron has to say about them:

ADVERTISING RECALL:
With an average wait-time of 17 minutes while being exposed to CARE Media programming, the Arbitron study found that:
64% of viewers recalled at least one of the advertisements that was shown in the program they were watching
63% of viewers go shopping on the same day after being exposed to CARE Media programming and advertisers
After being exposed to CARE Media programming and advertisers, consumer's next shopping trip is to:
Grocery store - 38%
Drug store/pharmacy - 35%
The mall - 9%
Convenience store - 3%
After viewing CARE Media programming, consumers recalled advertisements for:
Child care products - 46%
Pharmaceutical products - 33%
Pet care products - 46%
Healthcare products - 26%
Informational websites - 32%
Retail outlets - 35%
Consumer products - 34%
MEDIA AWARENESS AND ENGAGEMENT:
A majority (92%) think CARE Media TV is a good thing for doctors' offices to offer clients while in the waiting area
91% think CARE Media TV helps to pass the time spent waiting
88% think CARE Media TV is a credible source of information that they find useful
67% think that CARE Media TV enhances the patient-doctor relationship
In addition, 76% of viewers plan on watching CARE Media TV the next time they visit this or any other medical office.

I'd like to see some research as to why certain types of ads were more memorable than others (though it could be anything from production values/budget to frequency), as well as whether or not there was any correlation in media exposure and purchasing behavior (which would be a pretty neat trick, considering that you'd have to somehow isolate the effects of that media exposure from all of the other contributing factors).

Get yer somwhat-relevant digital signage news fix here...

2009-06-10T11:10:00.001-05:00

Between the growing number of high-caliber bloggers out there who are actually pumping out some decent content, it's getting harder and harder to come up with new, relevant content and/or analyses here. But thankfully some of our sister industries have been leading the way with news for them that's clearly becoming more and more relevant for us. For example:

Cablevision's about to offer same-day VOD ad insertion to its advertisers, allowing the operator to improve their relevance (time-wise, anyway). Beginning this summer, the cable operator will be able to swap out existing creative within 24 hours of receiving notification from a client, which of course means that clients will really need to be on their game to get finished spots to the operator in a timely fashion.

The DOOH industry is about to face another source of competition for viewer attention: mobile video. I know, I know, that's something already on the radar, but now that the digital TV switchover is about to happen here in the US, all of the bandwidth previously used to send analog TV signals is being reused and reassigned, and you can bet that mobile video providers want access to that spectrum. It's hard enough catching somebody's attention in a supermarket or a train station or anywhere else where there are a number of things to look at. Now imagine trying to compete with all that and last night's rerun of Idol.

Mediabrands, the parent company of the IPG Emerging Media Lab, has decided to start a digital advertising network, Cadreon, and seems to have its sights set on another SeeSaw/BookingDOOH-style cross-network and cross-medium ad management system. Adweek notes that "in addition to buying, Cadreon will provide real-time dynamic ad creation to help clients build and serve units on the fly. The system utilizes a host of different parameters, tailoring both creative content and messaging to specific client audience profiles." While the initial focus seems to be online, the company clearly wants to cross the chasm into the real world when the time (and money) are right.

Another article talks about advertisers making lemonade from lemons via advertising on vacant storefronts. While it's nothing we haven't seen before, it's nice to see the kind-of win-win that is advertisers paying a fraction of what billboards cost while landlords get to fill a bit of barren, unproductive space.

As a reminder, if you plan to attend the Strategy Institute's Digital Signage Technology conference tied to Infocomm next week, you can get a 10% discount by mentioning the code "9015-DSN10" when you sign up. Full details are at: http://www.strategyinstitute.com/061609_dsts2/dsp.php

Going to Infocomm? Want to stop in at a Strategy Institue conference? Read on, get 10% off...

2009-06-03T12:38:00.001-05:00

In spite of their curious habit of NAMING THEIR CONFERENCES IN ALL CAPS, I'm generally a fan of the Strategy Institute's digital signage seminars. We've sponsored a bunch, and I've attended more than I can count at this point. The next one I'm heading to is right up the road (well, a long way up the road) at Infocomm 2009 in Orlando. Their "2nd Annual DIGITAL SIGNAGE TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT" is going to focus on 11 case studies from users in the education, corporate, government, transit, healthcare facilities, convention centers, airports, public spaces, and hotel/hospitality sectors.

While the TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT sounds like it has a lot to do with technology, it's less of a nuts-and-bolts affair and more of a strategic planning session to help people integrate digital signage solutions into their rate cards. Since Infocomm tends to be AV- and IT-vendor heavy, there will probably be coverage of things like planning rollouts effectively, using digital signs to find new revenue streams, lower operating costs or improve productivity, and integrating digital signage solutions with other products.

Since the conference is held at the same place and time (roughly) as Infocomm (it's Tuesday, June 16th and Wednesday June 17th at the Orange County Convention Center), there's a good chance you'll already be in the neighborhood. Should you decide to attend, readers of this blog can get a 10% discount by mentioning the code "9015-DSN10" when you sign up. Full details are at:

http://www.strategyinstitute.com/061609_dsts2/dsp.php

POPAI's CEO resigns as marketing at-retail moves above-the-line

2009-06-03T12:20:00.001-05:00

Here's the official distribution which somebody left (in a twist of irony) as a blog comment on a recent post about the POPAI board meeting:

From: John Anderson, POPAI Chairman of the Board, BPOil/Bovis Lend Lease
Re: POPAI President and CEO Dick Blatt resignation

June 3, 2009

Please be advised that POPAI President and CEO Dick Blatt has announced that he will resign those posts at Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) effective immediately. The announcement was made yesterday during POPAI's Board of Directors meeting. Since Dick joined POPAI nearly two decades ago, we've seen Marketing at Retail grow from below the line media to an important strategic campaign element.

Today, POPAI's board and membership is comprised of the world's most powerful retailers, agencies, brands and producers. POPAI currently has more than 20 chapters globally with 17,000 individual member contacts. The entire industry and organization recognizes his dedication over the past 17 years. We wish him much success in his future endeavors.

POPAI continues to grow with strong leadership in North America and globally, as we progress forward studying shopper engagement, shopper insights, protecting our member's interests on the legislative front and fortifying the business of Marketing at Retail for all of our membership segments. POPAI's global reach and resources will continue to help drive a new level of success within the Marketing at Retail environment.

Among our many initiatives, this summer, POPAI is launching retail level research across multiple trade channels- including supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchandisers and convenience stores- to determine what in-store solutions, Marketing at Retail materials and shelf layouts work best and, most importantly, why and how they turn shoppers into buyers. Study participants include 7-Eleven, Inc., Ahold, Frito-Lay North America, Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages, Walgreens and a Major Mass Retailer.

POPAI will continue to provide the services and programming that you have come to expect.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Kevin Murphy, Vice President of Member Services at 703.373.8804

While it's sad to see Dick go, I'm very excited about the direction POPAI is taking. Rather than being just a supplier-centric organization focused on POP displays, the group is now exploring topics like shopper marketing research and in-store media measurement, and continues to expanded their focus on digital signage and digital retailing (as evidenced by their ongoing work on technical standards and the digital privacy debate). No word just yet on who the new CEO will be.

DOOH ad spend to triple, and other digital signage news for you

2009-06-01T07:13:00.001-05:00

Electrograph has closed. The one-time largest distributor of business television and AV equipment has shut their doors, thanks mostly to razor-thin margins and a poor economy for being a middleman. I know that over the past few year more and more tier-1 manufacturers have been willing to work directly with smaller customers and end-users, making Electrograph's position more difficult to justify.

JiWire promises 'net-like' analytics to digital out-of-home folks, according to today's Marketing VOX article. The company's delivers and tracks ad impressions over a network of 25,000 public WiFi hotspots, and claims to offer the same kind of measurability that advertisers are accustomed to online (so that most likely means impressions and clickthroughs). And you thought DOOH only meant digital signage!?

In the face of all the bad economic news, PQ Media decided to announce that the digital out-of-home ad spend is on pace to triple this year, and will comprise nearly 30% of all out-of-home ad spending at $2.43 billion (thanks, Marketing Charts):

More specifics:

US spending on video ad networks, the largest segment of digital OOH media, is on track to expand 8.1% in 2008 but will decelerate in 2009 before returning to double-digit growth in 2010.
Digital billboards remains the fastest-growing segment, though it will be slower in 2008, posting growth of 28.2% and remaining in the 20% range through 2012.
Ambient ad platforms will grow 6.8% in 2008. This growth compares with expected low single-digit growth or outright declines in most ad-based media in 2008 and 2009, including newspapers, radio, broadcast TV and magazines.

As we've noted for a while, mobile is becoming the next hottest way to reach consumers with a message at the right place and time, and this is one of the better approaches that I've seen. As Marketing VOX notes, "Coupious, a mobile marketing platform that delivers on-demand, location-based coupons to smartphone users, is testing out its service at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. After downloading Coupious from the Apple App Store or the Android market, smartphone users browse deals in their immediate location (or up to 50 miles away), identified using the phone's GPS technology."

Emerging media. The future is ... now?

2009-05-26T07:14:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this yesterday as some light holiday reading, but alas I was working, so I forgot. But if you haven't seen it, AdLab has some fantastic pictures and pitches for next-generation advertising media from the 1920s and 30s.

Considering that in-home television didn't even exist back then and printed circulars were only just starting to be used, it's remarkable the lengths that some people thought they'd need to go just to get a shopper's attention. Fast forward to today when it sometimes seems like every outdoor surface is plastered with some offer or other, and people are busily walking around (and even driving?!) staring at the tiny screen of their mobile devices, and the need to break through the clutter seems more apparent.

Of course, when I look at a lot of digital signs I sometimes wonder whether their owners understand the difference between "break through" and "add to".

Technorati Tags: advertising

Make content? Get your name out in front of hundreds of digital signage companies!

2009-05-20T14:12:00.001-05:00

Every now and then I have the chance -- nay the privilege -- to try and turn what ought to be a solicitation for free goods/services into a golden opportunity for those companies savvy enough to know a good thing when they see one. This is one of those times...

In short, POPAI, the organization that has spearheaded a large technical standards effort for the digital signage industry, has just put the finishing touches on the very first digital signage standard for media formats. The goal of the standard, which will be published shortly, is threefold. It will:

Allow customers buying digital signage software and hardware to know for certain that it will play certain types of media,
Allow the makers of said hardware and software to verify that their stuff will in fact play those media, and
Allow creatives and agencies to confirm that the media they're producing is likely to play properly on most of the kit out there

Part of the standard is a collection of 31 test content files that vendors will use to test their products. While a few companies, (most notable among them is Artisan Complete) have volunteered their services to produce these content files, there are still a number that need to be authored.

If you have the ability to author MP3, AVC, MPEG and/or WMV files, you have some royalty free and freely-distributable audio and video content laying around, and you want to gain some exposure inside the digital signage market, this could be a great opportunity. Authoring the files shouldn't take a great deal of time either. We'll supply the necessary graphics, overlay, and output options. You supply some medium- to high-bitrate images or video footage to give the files some visual appeal.

Here's the good part

You also supply your logo. Every file that you author can carry your logo, company name and URL. Since these files will be circulated to hundreds of companies in the industry, and available from POPAI's digital signage standards website for download by any interested parties, you'll gain massive exposure to those companies most active in our industry.

Interested?

If so, leave me a comment below with your capabilities and contact information and I'll get in touch about the different files that we still need to have authored.

Technorati Tags: digital signage, popai

This week's world of digital signage news

2009-05-09T08:51:00.001-05:00

There were some interesting bits and pieces in the news this week, most of which have been covered by the usual suspects already.

One of the articles I've been meaning to write a thoughtful piece around is this one from early April by Three Minds @ Organic. In their usual thorough fashion they question whether privacy is a threat to accuracy when it comes to serving ads online. Needless to say it can be argued both ways, and of course from my perspective the bigger question is what happens when you trade privacy for increased ad accuracy offline -- namely in digital out-of-home formats?

Chris Hoyt talks about touching the shopper marketing "Elephant" in an article for HUB Magazine. He notes that, "Shopper marketing is today’s marketing elephant — not only because of its size or its power — but because all of the confusion about what it really is reminds us of the parable of the blind men and the elephant." Excellent article, well worth a quick read.

Nielsen Research has shown the Outcast pump-top network (which I still think is a pretty silly name) to be effective, generating a 75% ad recall rate. 90% of patrons indicated they noticed the screens at all, which is very high for any form of out-of-home advertising. Further, 76% found Outcast "entertaining," 72% said they consider it a good source of product information and 71% said the screens improve pumping dwell time. I've heard far more anecdotal complaints than praise for pump-top networks, but of course a handful of personal notes and the like can't stand up to a rigorous, data-driven study (provided it was fair, balanced and well-controlled, of course).

UK Outdoor ad specialist Kinetic introduced new guidelines for OOH, putting outdoor exposure into the categories of transit, microdwell and dwell, relating to how people are moving when they see ads. I don't have the slightest idea of what those new guidelines might actually be. Maybe Adrian at DailyDOOH can find out for us.

Captivate network, the largest network of in-elevator and high-rise office building digital signage (in North America) continues to expand their online presence and capabilities. I've mentioned before how much I like the approach that they're taking, so it's very encouraging to see that they're getting results good enough to bother expanding the capability. Specifically, "The [new website], captivate.com, is the first step in a multi-platform strategy that will embrace mobile advertising content. Office workers who saw ads for Captivate.com on the digital network did go online to access the games and additional content, along with special offers and sweepstakes, says Mike DiFranza, founder and president of Captivate Network." In fact, 55% of people who saw new stories on Captivate's elevator network went online to read more, while 52% did so to check out an advertiser website.

Tags: digital signage, digital signage news

Looking for more digital signage info? Check out WireSpring's Kiosk and Digital Signage blog for in-depth industry analysis and even more news about the digital signage industry. While you're there, feel free to read up on our digital signage software and services

New Digital Signage Insider Survey: Where's the Beef?

2009-05-06T12:57:00.002-05:00

I posted a new survey on the Digital Signage Insiders blog yesterday in attempt to figure out where our industry is going, and what's holding it up right now (besides a crappy economy and loads of hype, of course). If you're not a regular reader of that blog (you should be!), here's the link to the survey.

As I note in the article, it's 9 questions long, and only takes 2-3 minutes to fill out.

If you like, you can enter your email address at the end of the survey, and I'll email you all of the data when it closes out in a few weeks.

And of course, we'll be providing detailed analysis in a future article, which I'm sure will merit a post here as well.

What're you waiting for? Go take it already!

Thanks!

The... um... afternoon press - digital signage news for May 5

2009-05-05T15:26:00.001-05:00

Hi folks. Here are some of the more interesting news bits I've come across lately...

McDonalds gives a new, unique meaning to the idea of 'interactive digital signage.' Actually, interactive electronic billboards is more accurate, if you can believe it. Check out the video below:

Ad AdLab, college freshman Evan Savar asks a question about selling ads on his nascent in-bus digital signage network on buses in Las Vegas. Props to Mr. Savar for scratching the entrepreneurial itch so early on. Hope his experience in our industry doesn't turn him off to the business world for life ;) I left a little free advice in the comments section, and noticed that Haynes has posted his own thoughts on the matter.

Captivate Network, famous for their domination of the screens-inside-elevators market, claim to have cracked the code when it comes to guaranteeing advertiser satisfaction. The secret? According to this press release, a combination of multi-platform offerings, custom research, and engagement metrics. Startling, I know. But I read it in a press release, so it must be true.

Over at Miller|Zell's Inside the Aisle blog there's a nice post about why infomercials and in-store media create lift. I know we've recommended our clients think about their in-store media in terms of direct response-style ads, but something tells me that if Billy Mayes was yelling at shoppers at the top of the aisle, by the bottom of the aisle they'd be ready to leave. I know I would be.

Finally, I know where Dave Haynes is working now, but I promised not to tell just yet. I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready -- probably when he's finished sewing his costume together, but possibly not until the scars from the required body modifications heal up a bit more.

Tags: digital signage, digital signage news

Looking for more digital signage info? Check out WireSpring's Kiosk and Digital Signage blog for in-depth industry analysis and even more news about the digital signage industry. While you're there, feel free to read up on our digital signage software and services

This week's world of digital signage news

2009-04-30T10:30:00.001-05:00

Swine flu, swine flu, swine flu. There, got that out of my system. For a while it seemed like I had the only blog left that hadn't said anything about it. Now that that's out in the open, here's some digital signage news for you:

CE Pro magazine takes a look at five ways to improve product merchandising, focusing on creating a hands-on experience, being simple and direct, highlighting product benefits, appealing to the retailer's core customer base, and 'listening to the locals' (your local sales staff, that is). Nice, solid and easy-to-understand advice.

NBC and Home Depot are testing TV commercials that change based on the weather, according to AdAge. As the article notes, "Since last Thursday, the two have run longer-than-usual commercial segments that tell viewers Home Depot is sponsoring a weekend weather forecast. The segments next move to the weather outlook, and, finally, suggest viewers consider home-improvement projects they can tackle (using goods purchased at Home Depot, of course)." Using relevant non-advertorial information like news, sports scores and weather info has long been a technique used in the digital out-of-home world, so I'm not at all surprised to see it being tested out in TV land now.

Flexpeaker has debuted a new flexible membrane speaker that's as thin as paper. They can be printed like regular posters, mounted on a wall, ceiling, floor, etc., and use a small amount of power when playing. Mediasoon has a few more details.

Three Minds @ Organic, one of my very favorite blogs, has an article on the 'untapped potential of digital out-of-home media' that focuses on Adcentricity's addition of a mobile marketing suite to their digital media network agglomeration (is that even a word?) services, as well as some commentary on whether or not dome digital signage opportunities -- like roadside electronic billboards -- are really a good idea.

Linda Seid Frembes wrote an article for Infocomm looking at the ROI story for digital signage once again. I'm quoted a few times, which is always lovely. While I'm sure my stance in the article will draw detractors (mostly those 'can't see the forest for the trees' folks, probably), I do get the impression that a lot of people are still dropping in signs -- even in non-retail spaces -- expecting them to magically print money or something. People need to know their objectives beforehand, and understand that if there's no good reason to deploy a digital sign, it isn't going to be a productive use of their time and money.

This isn't quite in the digital signage vein, but is just too weird to pass up: "Scientists are working on a device which works like a car navigation system to help elderly shoppers baffled by changing layouts in aisles. Newcastle University is already testing a gadget for dementia patients so they can be tracked if they get lost. The gadgets will be designed to be worn “unobtrusively”, he said." So the next time you see grandma walking around with an 18" DirectTV dish strapped onto her shoulders at the local supermarket, don't give it a secondt thought.

Tags: digital signage, digital signage news

Looking for more digital signage info? Check out WireSpring's Kiosk and Digital Signage blog for in-depth industry analysis and even more news about the digital signage industry. While you're there, feel free to read up on our digital signage software and services

Sharp Signage Lights Up More than Just the Mets New Stadium

2009-04-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

Baseball may be just another professional sport selling itself large while struggling to control performance enhancements and player behavior, but it's still the quintessential American sport -- almost everyone's got a baseball history: I began listening to Mets a on the radio and the Yankees on a little black and white television with my grandfather (he was a multimedia guy before they even had a word for it!) to collecting baseball cards all through the 1970s, to hanging out in the bleachers at Fenway Park in the mid 80s.

Since baseball is a multimedia extravaganza, digital signage is integral to any game (as some folks have pointed out, the best place to watch a game on TV is in the park itself!). With the two new stadiums opening in New York comes the not-surprising announcement that Sharp Electronics, the official HDTV of Major League Baseball, has signed a multimedia deal with the Mets. High definition screens will fill the public areas, lobbies, and of course, the field.

The interesting and surprising element is the nice tie-in between Sharp and the Mets to community outreach: part of the deal is support for program called the Student Athlete Leadership Training program (SALT) which trains local high school athletes to be peer educators about drug and alcohol abuse prevention. Of course, the kids who participate also get the pleasure of attending a game in the new stadium. While addressing the problem of drug use among professional athletes requires more systemic action, both within baseball and in the institutions that support it, this program offers a solid mix of media, technology, sports, education, and outreach that reaches kids early. The point is that there's no obvious reason why Sharp would want to attach their name to the program, but it's a great example of how digital signage and community relations can be tied together.

What's going to happen to Clear Channel?

2009-04-27T12:28:00.001-05:00

Rob Gorrie, Canadian, Adcentricity co-founder, and all-around good guy, posted an article on Thursday about Clear Channel's current spate of financial difficulties, which many analysts feel may drive the media giant to bankruptcy or fire sale later this year. Some of the biggest nay-sayers have pointed to Goldman Sachs's downgrade of the stock from "hold" to "sell" as the final nail in a coffin that has been in the process of shutting closed for some time.

I can't really say whether Clear Channel's current problems will be enough to kill it off. However, the whole situation has me wondering about the way that the company was taken private back in July. After something like two years of negotiations, they were taken private by Bain Capital just as the magnitude of the credit crunch was making itself known. But one of the chief arguments for going private, as Clear Channel would have us believe, was that it would allow them to invest more money on infrastructure and long-term projects without having to worry quite so much about meeting short-term sales goals. Granted, I don't think the company was as worried about refinancing their billions of dollars in debt at the time (such an endeavor has become much more costly of late), but if you believe the execs at the top, a big, costly buildout has been in the plans for a while.

Any analyst worth his salt should be taking into consideration that for a long time Clear Channel has noted it expects to pay more now for the chance of bigger profits later. That should be taken into consideration. But of course, if the firm runs out of money and are forced to restructure before seeing the fruits of their labor there any number of things could happen...

Lamar or CBS Outdoor could step in to buy their outdoor holdings. Both companies have big investments in billboard advertising. Additioanlly, CBS Outdoor has a big presence in Times Square while Lamar has been investing in digital billboards, but neither firm has both, so an acquisition of Clear Channel assets would give either a leg up over the other. Alternatively, JC Decaux could use an acquisition to gain a much bigger billboard presence in the US.

I suspect management of the company's radio stations would be spun out into its own new entity. Clear Channel is still the largest terrestrial radio company by far -- bigger even than the combined Sirius-XM satellite guys -- so as long as there's money in radio advertising it seems like a solid chunk of business that somebody would want to hang on to.

But on the outdoor side, it's a lot harder to say what will happen. Outdoor ad rates haven't fallen proportionally as far as other media like TV and radio have. And outdoor digital billboard rates have risen and continue to generate good returns to the point where more and more companies are deploying the things all over the place.

The bottom line is that now is not a good time to be saddled with a lot of corporate debt. And Clear Channel -- an advertising company -- is most certainly not going to be receiving any federal bailout dollars. But the debt issue aside, the company's assets throw off lots of cash month after month. If investors and debt holders are too short-sighted to see the long-term potential of the company's previously-stated plan, I'd guess that we'll see a break up before a bankruptcy proceeding.

Tags: advertising, billboards, clear channel

Digital signage news - the week in review

2009-04-19T09:37:00.000-05:00

Well, the economy may still suck, but business in the digital signage world continues to hum along. This past week's total lack of posts -- the first time that has happened to me in a loooong while -- is a testament to that. Even the WireSpring blog would have gone sans-updates had Adcentricity's Graeme Spicer not stepped up to the plate.

There were plenty of interesting news bits to talk about. Haynes mentioned Neo Advertising's foray into the US market and has a neat article on the kind of data that Cognovision's face-tracking system can generate (and even the introduction of the ION platform which of course I covered way back in January ;) And as usual, Adrian and his team covers all the news fit to print on DailyDOOH, so really I don't need to cover any of that stuff. However, that still leaves me with a few dozen tabs opened on my browser, each containing an interesting article useful and relevant to our industry. Here are a few:

CIO covers The Art, Science and Software Behind Placing Coca-Cola Products on Store Shelves which is just fascinating for anybody who has never really spent a lot of time in retail merchandising or category management. Think we have a lot to think about when hanging digital signs? Yeah, we've got nothing on these guys.

PROMO takes a look at "the convergence of retail and digital" in an article from a few weeks ago. Not a huge amount of new information here, but if your clients are looking for opinions from non-digital companies, you could steer them to it (written by Morgan McAlenney, from the very retail-savvy Integer Group).

In a somewhat surprising about-face, Conde` Nast discovered that magazine and TV ads may be more effective than online ads, as explained at MarketingCharts. The experiment is pretty specific, and there's no claim that the trend would carry over to other digital media, but if you're one of those people who thinks that improved targeting automatically yields improved effectiveness, you should check this article out.

Google and others are "discovering" the digital signage market, according to some guy I've never heard of. Surely the patent they filed on it (which was subsequently covered by every digital signage blog, magazine, etc. several years ago) never indicated that that might be the case.

In-Store Ads are More Effective than Out-of-Store, according to a recently online survey conducted by Miller-Zell. Marketing Charts again has a synopsis (and pictures) as good or better than the document that MZ released themselves.

Evan Schuman asks whether Remote Access And PCI [compliance] can Co-Exist over at Storefront Backtalk. The answer in our experience has been "yes, as long as you're willing to pay for it. Forever."

Jameson Irish whisk(e)y had a pretty neat quasi-interactive outdoor campaign running a few weeks ago, which was caught on video (thanks adverblog):

AdAge heralds the end of consumer segmentation. What's going to replace it? Uh... selfsegmentation, which is basically the same thing, but asks consumers to do more of the heavy lifting for marketers.

Not quite digital, not quite static, this OLED poster from Dai Nippon is just cool to look at. And cheaper than a big LCD screen, too. Oh, and it's flexible.

Disney's UP advertises the big screen on really small screens

2009-04-02T11:47:00.001-05:00

I came across this neat little application at Stitch Kingdom -- not exactly one on my regular reading list. As Brad, the post's author, notes:

"I found this gem of an ad for UP in the movie theater I was at this evening. When you push a button and peek inside the binoculars, it plays a mini-trailer complete with audio."

That's pretty slick, and a markedly different approach to using digital media in theaters than most. Typically, screens are as big and as bright and as centrally-located as possible in order to attract eyeballs. But the situation is turned upside down here, with the unique fixed display doing the attracting. Viewing the digital media is a decidedly one-at-a-time affair.

The movie looks like it'll be pretty cool, too.

The morning press - digital signage news for March 31

2009-03-31T13:23:00.001-05:00

Hi folks. Here are some of the more interesting news bits I've come across lately...

A new gun for hire: ex-DigitalView/Enqii sales monkey extraordinaire and esteemed blogger colleague Dave Haynes (seen here in an undated photo apparently during a stint as a used car salesman) is now ex-BroadSign too, as apparently the firm is shifting to an all-channel-sales model. While he muses that he's not sure what he'll do with himself next, I think the answer is obvious: team up with Lyle Bunn and Bill Collins, find a good tenor, and form the first-ever, all-Canadian digital signage consultants barbershop quartet.

You do want that big, fat discount on Strategy Institute's Content Strategies show, right? Today's March 31st, which means it's the last chance to qualify for the $500 early bird discount. And remember, Digital Signage News readers can get another 10% off by entering the code DSN10 at the time of registration.

Our new product for smaller digital signage networks, Digital Signage EasyStart, is off to the races, as I found out when I woke up this morning and checked out the Daily DOOH's webpage. Not sure how they beat me to this -- we haven't even posted a press release yet.

Paul Flanigan of BestBuy and Experiate fame appearently learned 5 Things at GlobalShop, including my favorite, "I did not know there were so many ways to hang stuff in a store."

In-store gaze tracking to figure out what people are looking at is already obsolete.... well, ok, not quite yet, but soon, if Martin Lindstron's "Buyology" program can solve a few technical hurdles (among the most noteworthy might be how to carry around brain-scanning equipment that doesn't look like a shower cap crossed with a medieval torture implement). After all, why track people's eyes in real time when you can track their brains, right?

Tags: digital signage, digital signage news

Looking for more digital signage info? Check out WireSpring's Kiosk and Digital Signage blog for in-depth industry analysis and even more news about the digital signage industry. While you're there, feel free to read up on our digital signage software and services

The morning press - digital signage news for March 26

2009-03-26T10:47:00.001-05:00

Hi folks. Back from my travels (which have been seriously cutting into my blogging time), but like usual Adrian and Dave have been covering most of the news fit to "print". Still, it wouldn't be the web if every crackpot out there wasn't throwing his two cents in, right? So without further ado, here are mine.

POPAI's Digital Signage Contest went off without a hitch at GlobalShop this week. The Digital Display of the Year winner, MODERNISTIC, did a pretty awesome "living standee" using 3M's Vikuity holographic projection film and put the thing in the Mall of Americas. While technically the piece was quite simple (project an image of a living, talking, sales-pitching person onto a person-shaped piece of film, the results were spectacular, and apparently people were showing up to the still unfinished Best Buy store just because the projection told them to (oops!).

AdAge's Mediaworks section examines the best print ads of 2008. I've been telling people for years that designing great digital signage content is a lot like designing great print content, so take a minute or two to see what it takes to qualify as the latter.

One legislator has decided that her idea of justice and the rule of law extends out to those annoying TV commercials that blare on at much higher volumes than the shows they play between. I think that legislating the content inside of TV commercials is a very slippery slope. I'd prefer to let public interests prevail. And if that means forcing Billy Mayes and the Shamwow! guy fight to the death on live TV, all the better.

PRN says: people actually watch our checkout channel! What's more, they remember it (well, they cite 60% average recall, with some cases in the 90% range). RetailWire has an awesome conversation thread on the topic, with posters varying in opinion from "I think they're lying" to "see, I told you this stuff worked!"

Ripple TV raised another $4M in venture capital. While a win for any network is still a win for all of us (not in the sense that you or I actually get $4M, sadly), the press release doesn't indicate whether they're using that cash to expand, or merely to fund operations. The former would be exciting. The latter... not so much. The PR makes mention of a "high growth trajectory" and using the investment to "continue providing a value service to our viewers," so my guess is that they're still burning cash (which may well be part of their plan).

Finally, WireSpring finished our new website for FireCast Digital Signage EasyStart, our easy and affordable solution for smaller projects. It's a new product for us -- the first in about 8 years -- so we're pretty excited about it. I'm sure Adrian and his crew at DailyDOOH will scoop us on the release, somehow.

Tags: digital signage, digital signage news

Looking for more digital signage info? Check out WireSpring's Kiosk and Digital Signage blog for in-depth industry analysis and even more news about the digital signage industry. While you're there, feel free to read up on our digital signage software and services