Matching messages to the interests and needs of audiences as they change throughout the day is a fundamental strength of digital signage.

Have you ever wondered why pickup trucks and beer commercials don't appear during TV cartoon programming? How about why there aren't hemorrhoid and antacid commercials during TV sports presentations, or toy and sugar-coated cereal ads during the evening news?

The answer is simple. Different types of TV shows attract different audiences. Cartoon viewers are likely to be interested in the coolest new toy and tastiest new breakfast cereal. Heavily male sports audiences are prone to having an affinity for beer and pickups. And who could argue with the notion that viewers of the evening news aren't perfect candidates for hemorrhoid remedies and antacids given the general state of affairs?

All kidding aside, recognizing that different programs -generally run at different times of the day- attract different audiences is a foundational principle of how TV organizes itself and the way ad agencies identify groups of viewers who share a common interest and can be targeted with appropriate ads.

Many uses of digital signage, as well, benefit from a similar recognition that audiences change throughout the day. Thus, those with important communications to convey to a digital signage audience can select which specific messages to serve up at the most appropriate time of the day.

Often referred to as "dayparting," segregating messages based on the time of day offers digital signage marketers and advertisers a way to target changing audiences in a manner similar to how TV advertisers reach desired audiences based on a schedule that puts cartoons on Saturday morning, college football on Saturday afternoon and local and national news on every evening. Both acknowledge the fact that audience demographics change throughout the day.

In digital signage, dayparting messages can be as simple as offering time-appropriate communications based on changing audience desires throughout the day, or it can be as complicated as identifying different demographic groups likely to see signs at different times of day and playing back messages targeted to those changing groups.

Consider a digital sign in a hotel lobby. In this example, the same group -specifically hotel guests- are likely to view the sign at different times throughout the day. Smart marketers would use this to their advantage by targeting their digital signage messages to the changing interests of the guest at different times of day. Thus, from 5 a.m. till 11 a.m. the message might promote the hotel's coffee shop as well the availability of tickets from the concierge desk to local tourist attractions. From 11 a.m. till 3 p.m., it could promote lunch specials, and transition to messages about fine dining on premise for dinner in the late afternoon and early evening. Finally, the sign could promote the lounge and entertainment from 7 p.m. till midnight.

Compare that type of dayparting to one based on different demographic groups visiting a mall throughout the day. Early in the morning before the retail shops open, a mall restaurant uses the facility's digital signage network to promote an early bird breakfast to health-conscious mall walkers out to get their mileage in. Later in the morning when moms with young children dominate the mall traffic, messaging on the same signs transitions to promote a visit from a state agency charged with early childhood health screening. As the day progresses towards the end of the school day, the digital signage messages focus on a skateboard clinic being put on outside the mall's sporting goods store and a special makeup clinic being held outside a department store. During the late afternoon and early evening when those who have been at work all day begin arriving at the mall, messaging transitions to promote free cholesterol and blood pressure screening outside a mall pharmacy and a job fair in the central part of the facility.

While different in how they go about it, both examples lay out effective use of dayparting digital signage messages to meet the changing needs of audiences throughout the day. Unlike other alternatives, digital signage possesses an inherent ability to respond to changing audience demographics and maximize the effectiveness of communications. That's just another reason digital signage is gaining popularity for a variety of communications applications.

Digital signs offer the dual advantages of keeping messages fresh and making them visually appealing thanks to their dynamic nature.

Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great. Digital signage is great.”

That paragraph gets an “A” for consistency, but an “F” when it comes to building reader interest and holding reader attention. You don’t need a Ph.D. in English or communications to understand why. It’s repetitive, dull and boring.

How about the signs hanging in your establishment? Week after week, month after month, customers and prospects see the same printed message on those signs. Do you see the similarity between the opening paragraph of this column and those signs?

Sure, your customers and prospects might have read those printed signs the first -and even the second- time they walked into your establishment. But what about now? Have they given them a second glance for months?

The tendency to not want to change printed signs is understandable. Printing is expense, both in terms of money and time. Think about the process for a moment. You or someone in your organization must conceive the message, create the design, assemble the pieces and –depending upon the complexity of the project and the quality desired- hand off the project to a printer, who puts it in his queue of jobs, or drive to a quick-print service and wait for the job to be completed.

Once printed and displayed, the new sign has a brief life as a fresh communications tool. Soon, it’s been seen by customers and prospects numerous times and it fades into the background somewhere between the pictures on the wall and the paint. At that point, the cycle begins again.

Contrast the effort, time and expense of creating static printed signs with the dynamic, easily changed messaging that’s possible with digital signage. Scrolling text, animated clips, motion graphics, video and sound are all effective components on a well integrated digital signage message. Each is easily added. Doing so is made even easier by digital signage templates that are about as difficult to use as a Microsoft PowerPoint template.

Many digital signage users report being able to playback their initial messaging within a few hours of loading digital signage software and templates onto their computers. Updating those messages also is simple, requiring as little as a few minutes to a couple of hours per week, depending on how extensive that messaging maintenance is.

The dynamic messaging offered by digital signs also exploits the human response to motion. A printed sign is static; it does not move, nor does it change. Digital signs offer dynamic communications. Text can scroll across the bottom of the screen. Weather graphics can be automatically modified in response to changing conditions. Animated logos and graphics can fly through view, and video obviously is filled with motion.

Incorporating some or all of these elements into a digital sign message adds movement. That taps into the natural human tendency to direct one’s eyes and attention to something in motion, which is a tremendous advantage for anyone with a message to convey.

Thus, leveraging the power of digital signage versus using static print delivers two important advantages: the flexibility to change messaging quickly and easily and the ability to attract the attention and interest of patrons. With benefits like that, it’s easy to see why I say digital signage is great.

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Signage Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages.

In today’s challenging economic climate when workers are stressed to the max, strengthening existing relationships through effective communications with employees and can help your enterprise succeed.

The government’s latest unemployment number of 10.2 percent acknowledges the human toll the nation’s economic contraction is having on people and brings into sharp focus why anxiety among workers is running high.

Without minimizing the “green shoots” economic commentators detected earlier in the year and the third quarter’s tick into positive territory for gross domestic product, it’s safe to say that apprehension among workers and employers alike continues to grow as each new day seems to bring announcements of shutdowns, layoffs, bank failures and a so-called “jobless recovery.”

Consider these findings from a Rutgers University survey released in April when the nation’s unemployment rate was reported to be 8.9 percent. The university’s Heldrich Center for Workforce Development found in its most recent “Work Trends” study that:

    * 67 percent of workers said they were very concerned with the unemployment rate, compared to 46 percent one year prior

    * 49 percent said they were concerned with job security for those currently working, compared to 32 percent in spring 2008

    * 68 percent said they were very concerned about the job market for those who are looking for work, compared to 48 percent the year before.

Into this environment of worker apprehension and doubt, businesses must maintain productivity –even with fewer employees- and carry on operations with an eye towards future revenue growth and a return to normal. While some managers may see this worker fear as a chance to raise expectations in the hopes of boosting productivity –i.e. more stick and less carrot, many will tread carefully recognizing the potential for prolonged job anxiety to chip away at the mental health of their employees.

While I am certainly no psychologist or psychiatrist, it seems pretty apparent that constant apprehension about job loss coupled with the reality of meeting one’s financial obligations is a recipe for depression. A depressed workforce is likely to be less productive and lose focus --potentially exposing themselves to more injuries, fewer sales closes and more missed opportunities, depending on the type of business involved. Further, once the economy rebounds and job growth resumes, some of these overwrought workers will look for the first chance to flee the pressure cooker, taking with them the job experience and performance that made them valuable to the enterprise to begin with.

While it’s probably impossible to eliminate these apprehensions, mitigating and managing the fear can be done through effective communications. Certainly, many of these fears grow out of seeing friends and family dismissed from employment, but what makes them worse is the not knowing –not knowing how the company is doing, how they are performing and what, if anything, can be done to make a difference.

Outside of one-on-one conversations, digital signage may be the most effective communications medium employers can use to boost flagging morale and keep workers motivated and focused. Why? First, it’s public by its very nature. This makes it effective in acknowledging individuals and groups of workers for superior performance. Second, it’s easy to update with relevant, current information workers may need to be more productive. Third, digital signage can help to strengthen esprit de corps by promoting and acknowledging the efforts of workers when they are off the clock, such as walk-a-thons to raise funds for charity and involvement in youth programs.

In today’s economic climate, when companies need to ensure their workers are as efficient as possible, digital signage should be a key component of any corporate communications effort. Those managers looking to maintain productivity, build morale and contribute to their workers’ safety and peace of mind would do well to consider how digital signage can help them attain those goals.

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Signage Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages.