Banking services used to be simple and straightforward. You got a paycheck, filled out a deposit slip, walked or drove up to the counter and presto, your needs were met. Perks? Anyone for day-old coffee and a lollipop?

Today, banks, credit unions, pay-day loans and other financial firms look more like modern retailers. The amount of financial services has mushroomed, and with more customers choosing to bank on their mobile devices, the need for promotions to build awareness has never been greater.

Also like modern retailers, progressive financial institutions have shifted into high gear meeting customers’ needs for a better, more connected experience by creating an atmosphere that is conducive to selling financial products.

However, today’s connected finance customer can get services almost anywhere but the bank—on the Internet, via mobile apps, or at the ubiquitous ATM. Human interaction is no longer required for a bank transaction. Considering this, we ask, is self-service the future of banking?

According to the TD Branch Financial Education Survey, some of those “old fashioned” face-to-face banking practices are not only valid today, but also have demand from younger generations. For example, consider these recent findings:

• 54% of Millennials prefer to visit their bank for detailed information.
• Millennials still visit bank branches as frequently as they did in 2013 for simple transactions.
• 90% of consumers prefer face-to-face advice for complex financial products.

To be sure, routine transactional banking activities are going digital by the majority of customers with over 50% using online services, but for more complex transactions that require thorough consideration, modern banks are meeting the needs of consumers by shifting to the concept of full-service flagship locations.  These consumer-friendly centers provide a plethora of financial services and tools, and are staffed with knowledgeable associates for on-the-spot assistance alongside self-serve kiosks for the do-it-yourself customer.

“Many people do their banking not only at a branch but online as well,” noted Robert Moctezuma in the Digital Signage For Financial Institutions white paper published by DigitalSignageToday.com.  “Digital signage can help tie together the financial institution’s online and offline presence.”

“When people walk into a branch just wanting to do a few things, there may be a line at the cashier. They can go to a sign, they can touch it, they can interact, and they can get what they need done,” Moctezuma said. “That helps the institution extend the online presence to the offline world.”

Since banks can no longer take walk-in or even drive-through customers for granted, managers want to do their utmost to maximize the opportunity. This is where modern banking differentiates itself from our parents’ bank. Modern banking crosses the digital divide to connect to customers in new ways, ways that provide information and ways that provide services.

Here are four examples that demonstrate how digital signage can improve the customer experience and better meet growing expectations.

Cross-Selling Financial Services – The common task of cross-selling financial services typically falls on tellers’ shoulders, which is not the best game plan for positions that have high turnover. Fortunately, digital signage provides a platform that can prime customers’ interests and create awareness before having that conversation.

Customer Experience – Modern banking can facilitate better customer experience by reinforcing the brand—and the atmosphere—that makes the client better informed and more inclined to accept additional services. This can happen through customer engagement with both bank employees and interactive media, bolstering services that directly address and fulfills customers’ needs on the spot.

Drive-Through Banking – For approximately 60% of the customers that drive to the bank, the majority use the drive-through to meet their banking needs, which is possibly the most overlooked opportunity to promote and cross-sell customers. Today’s digital signage can be easily placed outdoors, providing a reliable, dynamic way to keep drive-through customers informed.

Staff Training – Bank employees can benefit as much as patrons with targeted digital sign messages. Keeping staff up to date with the latest promotions, rates, and industry regulations becomes much easier on a display platform that resides in break rooms and cafeterias. Busy personnel can be reminded of the most important product promotions, rates, and other service offerings that managers want to emphasize. This greatly reduces the time required training staff, and the reinforcement greatly improves retention.

So, to resolve the question we started with, the answer is a resounding YES! Self-service is the future of banking, but that future will also include many digital bridges that go right back to face-to-face services that even your Grand Pa and Grand Ma would fondly remember, barring the stale coffee of course.

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with over 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Little at KeywestTechnology.com.

If you are a digital signage newbie, this quick-start guide will help you take beginning steps towards an effective communication strategy. Because digital signage is part art and part science, most communicators start small with just one or two digital signs, test ideas and measure what works with their audience and then build on that. This discovery process is useful for any communications effort that involves interrupting people’s routine, because, after all, your message is not the most important thing on the mind of your viewer, or is it?

The most important thing to recognize when you start communicating by a digital sign is to realize that viewers don’t care about your message just because it’s digital unless you give them a reason to care. Certainly this applies to any communication effort. Just presenting information on a digital sign does not nullify lazy thinking or uninspiring content or other communication snafus.

Fortunately for anyone using digital signage, it has proven to be a great platform for breaking out of boring routines by experimenting with content, having a bit of fun, maybe even jolting your audience with something unexpected, and then seeking to engage your audience beyond a casual glance. For example, if your content produces a smile instead of a glance, you might just be on to something.

Because of its ability to change messages on the fly, by schedule, by data, or by various environmental triggers, digital signage represents a new way of thinking about communicating. It empowers communicators to address the ways consumers, customers, and employees think and act at the point-of-sale, point-of-wait, and in the point-of-transit environments. Since digital signage is not print, and it’s not television, it requires a different approach.

Modern digital signage products and services provide tools to help make your in-house messages or advertising reliable, consistent, on time and of high quality. However, a tool is not a strategy in itself. No worries! These guidelines will equip you with some key facts to make your messages more engaging and appealing.

Digital Signage Content Basics

When people are on the move, you have only seconds to engage them. Here are some attention-grabbing strategies to incorporate into your messages:

1. Use bright colors.
2. Use motion in the narrative to help tell the story.
3. Keep your message cycle length appropriate to the amount of time your average customer will be in the viewing vicinity. Many successful retail message cycles are 3-10 seconds in overall length.
4. Refresh signage content often to reflect sales, special offerings--and sales goals.
5. Reinforce product and branding messages.
6. Know your customers. Speak to their interests. Content should be dynamic and reflective of what people are doing.
7. Make sure the digital media experience complements all marketing objectives, from merchandising to branding.
8. Keep the look and feel of your content consistent with your brand equity.
9. Avoid excessive text. Keep your messages as visual as possible.
10. Don’t try to deliver full advertising messages, as you would for television, print or long-form video. Show product glimpses that pique curiosity or provide information.
11. Create designs that can exist independent of sound; assume that it will not be heard. On the other hand...
12. Use sound when the signage location allows it.
13. Try to incorporate product tips and information.
14. Experiment. Have fun.

Digital Signage Deployment Strategies

1. Use larger displays when possible and practical. Bigger increases WOW factor!
2. Make sure your messages are relevant to the time, place and purchase opportunities at hand.
3. Incorporate touch screen technology when interactivity is appropriate and useful to the audience.
4. Utilize motion sensor technology when appropriate and useful to the audience.
5. Utilize custom data when appropriate and useful to the audience.
6. Keep the customer experience at the front of your mind as you choose content. Digital signage should enhance--rather than intruding upon--the shopping experience.
7. Use an editorial calendar to determine the best timing for content.
8. Incorporate frequent brand IDs for your company and its products.
9. Use your signage to create add-on sales: accessories with that dress, extra cheese for that burger, etc. This strategy has created double-digit sales increases for many companies.

A Few Thoughts About Digital Signage Placement

Don’t make this mistake: not giving much thought to sign placement, or even worse, wasting your efforts and budget on misplaced digital signs. People are not likely to look up to your ceiling for product announcements. Instead, place product-specific content where products are, preferably at eye-level or shelf level. The closer the advertising to the purchase opportunity, the more effective it will be.

Even more than just hanging a digital sign where it’s convenient to see, think a tad further about the bigger picture. For example, digital signage can influence the ambiance of a building by the way it is integrated into the environment. Have you considered that your digital sign may be way too small and unimpressive to make your point? Try a video wall instead! Get creative…think of your digital displays as canvases for creative expression.

Finally, by locating your signage in the optimal place and choosing the best size, the creative content can now fully stimulate the senses, arouse and influence behavior that complements the purpose of the building’s design, which reinforces and extends the core brand image. Empowered with great design, you can inspire your viewers with an aesthetic experience.

Feeling overwhelmed or out of your comfort zone? Consider asking a full-service digital signage provider with a good reputation to help design your first campaign. This will reduce your learning time and increase your chances of success considerably. A provider of professional creative services will do their homework by performing a thorough discovery process. They will maintain your brand standard, and if you don’t have a brand standard, they will help establish one. From there they will research your audience to understand what they care about and create a call to action. Finally, a successful campaign will have various forms of measurement based on your return-on-objectives (ROO).

Given the time and willingness to learn from trial and error anyone, regardless of background, can be successful with digital signage; but, it’s important to shake off the common “a slide show is good enough” mentality—it’s not an effective strategy for digital signage. Sure, everyone is not a Picasso per se, but everyone is creative to some degree. A well-conceived strategy masters content that transforms digital signage from mere displays, computers, and cables into a dynamic communications medium with a limitless ability to inspire, inform and motivate.

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with over 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Little at KeywestTechnology.com

Digital signage has become an important new communications medium. Here’s a look at the basics of why that’s so.

We often read so much about the technology of digital signage that we can forget what this technology is all about—getting communication results that go above and beyond non-digital efforts.

Sure the technology is cool, but most business managers want to add value to their efforts and ultimately to their businesses. That’s why digital signs are important.

Let’s get back to the basics of digital signage –specifically, why should professional communicators and managers turn to digital signage to convey their important messages? Actually, there are several reasons, including:

-To increase a company’s visibility. One of the biggest problems retailers have when it comes to self-promotion is cutting through all of the marketing noise generated by every other business –be it on radio or TV, in newspapers and magazines or from competing store front signs. Digital signage can cut through those distractions by attracting and directing the attention of the most important potential buyers of all –those in a store who are ready to spend money on a purchase.

-To help solidify relationships with customers and vendors. Consider an auto dealership waiting room with customers seated waiting for their cars to be fixed. With well-positioned digital signage messaging –as opposed to an ordinary TV displaying a cable news channel- the dealership can promote special offers aimed at its captive digital signage audience as a reward for choosing to do business with the dealership. Or, in a corporate setting, a digital sign in the lobby can be used to welcome scheduled vendors, guests and other visitors as they arrive –a simple move that builds goodwill.

-To deliver critical information more efficiently. In times of emergency, an existing digital signage network can be a lifesaver, providing critically important messages alerting employees, customers and other guests of exit locations, storm shelters and other vital information. Look for digital signage systems that have the ability to display local alerts instantly by sourcing third-party Emergency Alert Software (EAS) information, providing instant text alerts as well as coordinated signage that gives up-to-the-second information to all concerned.

-To save time. Preparing a static, printed sign is labor-intensive, expensive and time-consuming. The same message can be created and displayed far more quickly with a digital sign. Add to that the recurring expense of printing new signs as needs change versus simply updating a digital sign with a few keystrokes and it doesn’t take long to begin earning a tidy ROI from a digital sign.

-To attract greater attention than is possible with static, printed signs. The other drawback of print is that it is static. Human brains are programmed for motion. Our eyes are automatically drawn to moving objects. Digital signs displaying full of motion video are dynamic not static. They tap into something that is innately human to demand attention and hold it.

-To increase the efficiency of employees. Emails don’t work well, especially in a production environment. Imagine an industrial plant where management wants to communicate vital information to hundreds of workers. Perhaps it’s production quotas vs. actual performance; perhaps it’s mean time between accidental employee injuries; perhaps it’s delivery information regarding vital components that are en route. In all of these instances –and others too numerous to recount here- digital signage has the ability to convey important information to a workforce that is vital to employees maintaining a safe, efficient environment.

There you have it –many reasons why digital signage is an important, effective communications alternative that professional communicators and managers can no longer ignore. Sometimes it’s good to get back to basics.

Digital Signage...
1) Can increase your company’s visibility,
2) Can help solidify your customer and vendor relationships,
3) Can deliver critical information more efficiently,
4) Saves time,
5) Attracts attention better than static signs,
6) Can increase the efficiency of your employees.
 
And, digital signage can be less expensive than what you are already using.
 
What do you think?

Digital signage puts marketers and other communicators in charge of when and where their messages influence consumers. This may also mean changes in the way things get done and who’s responsible for those things.

Day after day, the media are filled with stories of who will do what if this politician or that party takes control. The headlines are filled with phrases like “seizing control” and “taking power” and stories about the ramifications of Democratic or Republican control of Congress.

“Taking control” is part of our daily lexicon, too. “He’s a take charge kind of guy.” Or, “She’s a control freak.” Everywhere you turn, life seems about controlling our words, our actions and our environment. At least it is in most spheres.

But I wonder, if you were to ask 10 communication managers how in control they feel about their marketing message, if even half could honestly say they’re in charge. Sure they design their messages and sign off on the creative product of their advertising agencies. But from that point on they start to lose control.

Marketers cast their messages out to the public through a variety of media, like the Internet, print publications, TV broadcast and radio, without really knowing whether or not the public is fully absorbing their messages. Today’s empowered consumer is far more likely to zap the commercials on their digital video recorder, change the radio station and turn past the newspaper and magazine ads, than they are to actually acknowledge the marketer’s message and take a desired action.

That’s why when it comes to taking control of marketing messages, no other medium appears to approach digital signage. With digital signage, marketers can influence shoppers when they’re in the buying frame of mind at or near the point of sale. They can day-part their messages, appealing to stay-at-home parents during one portion of the day and the after-5-work-crowd at another. Digital signage even allows them to control their messages on a micro-geographic level, targeting a neighborhood, ethnicity, age group, social strata or income like no other medium.

With digital signage, communication managers aren’t only in control of their message but also how, where and when that message is presented to a highly targeted market audience. Digital signage elevates the control over messaging to a level all managers dream of and few currently achieve. When looking at the practical results of this robust communication medium, digital signage is a game changer for advertisers.

Digital signage represents a new age for marketers and communication managers—and a new way of thinking about content, one that can address in real time the ways consumers think and act in the purchase environment. Digital signage is not television. It’s not Internet. It’s not radio. It’s not print. It’s a completely different medium and requires a fresh approach.

Look around you. Don’t let this game changer pass you by and risk intellectual paralysis by over analyzing the obvious. Digital signage is here to stay and is becoming the communication medium of choice for messages where consumer engagement and frequent changes in content are desired. Avoid hiring an agency with old-school paradigms; consider teaming with a full-service digital signage company that has a proven track record and will assume some accountability for your return on objectives.

The food and beverage market increasingly improves the customer experience by deploying POS digital signage, typically provided in the form of dynamic menu boards. Unless you live in a cave and hunt dinosaurs for your daily nourishment, you likely have been mesmerized by a dynamic menu board at some point in your search for food this week. However, this is just the beginning of the improved customer experience for restaurants—the possibilities are endless.

Let’s first consider the low-hanging fruit that makes dynamic menu boards so effective for restaurants. According to Nielsen’s third-quarter (2013) Digital Place-Based Video Report, ad recall for POS-type digital signage is typically in the 60% range, which is more than twice the average recall of static signs—menus or otherwise.

This is the reason you can so easily recall the rich color of a creamed latte topped with cinnamon spice at your local coffee shop. Or, depending on where you dine, maybe you can easily recall dynamic advertising for the most awesome, juiciest pub burger that can fit in the mouth of man. I saw such an ad not long ago and it just keeps playing in my memory like a favorite song.

Such recall makes it a natural choice for promoting those more seasonable and profitable food items at the right time and place. According to a Networld Media Group report, Digital Menu Boards and ROI, the average sales lift of any digitally promoted item on menu boards averages around 3-5%, which means that payoff for such a system most often occurs in one year or less.

The restaurant market definitely benefits from digital signage, although the possibilities only start with ROI and grow from there. Improving the customer experience is also about a return on objectives (ROO). Case in point: Medicine Eat Station in San Francisco. This upscale downtown tofu shop is using digital signage for ambience. The integrated sign system creates the atmospherics of “living in harmony with nature” that is accentuated by 4 vertically rotated 42” plasma panels built into the wall of the eating gallery. To accomplish this, high-definition video footage of the Sierra Nevada mountainscape is used for real-time imagery. The programming lasts for about an hour before it repeats. At first glance, it appears to be a still image. But wait, this is real-time imagery, meaning that the clouds slowly cross the screen. A 4,000-year-old Bristle Cone Pine occasionally wavers in the Sierra wind. Light and shadows change constantly, as if you are really there.

This is a great example of ROO, but unfortunately digital signage used as a canvas for art really hasn’t caught on yet. It is by no accident that Medicine Eat Station built this to look like one giant window. It is very cool to experience, meaning that it adds to the purpose of customer satisfaction, just like ambient music, lighting, colors, etc.

Money managers are already pounding their fists, shouting, “Where’s the ROI!” Of course, it’s possible to occasionally slip in an advertisement on the example above, but this might be detrimental to the return on objectives and may compromise the result. Digital signage is not just about sales lift; it’s also about creating a return on objectives. ROO creates a value that cannot be counted in terms of dollars and cents directly. However, ROO leveraged wisely does produce ROI.

Many more POS digital signage opportunities are possible for food and beverage venues. Imagine if you will these scenarios:

•     A sports bar with digital screens showing “this week’s sports highlights” via pictures, video replays, etc., is a natural place to present promotions to a viewing audience already buying food and beverage. This kind of content adds to customer satisfaction and experience and is available through readily available prepackaged syndication.  
•     Engage patrons with an on-screen sports trivia experience (or any other trivia for that matter) that encourages participation by offering a coupon for the right answer. This can be done by using a QR code to facilitate the “answer” to the on-screen question.
•     In a QSR setting people are often interested in news, sports, and weather. These interests can be satisfied with existing TV programming and mixed with on-screen ticker announcements, such as today’s special, menu promotions, seasonal sales, etc.
•     How about a trendy restaurant that displays works from local artists. The LCD monitors hang on the wall with picture frames wrapping them. Maybe patrons vote on the best art. Owners could join forces with local art schools, art societies and public support groups. Ultimately, this could tie-in to customer satisfaction and experience. Who is not uplifted by good art, and for that matter, good food?
•     In downtown districts, many restaurants depend on people walking by. Instead of using posters turning yellow on windows, why not project clear and crisp digital images directly on the window! The technology exists but hardly anyone uses it. The projector cost is about the same as a large LCD screen, although projector bulb replacement would add to maintenance costs. If that’s a major concern, then laser projectors are an alternative with much longer maintenance cycles. These images could be today’s menu special, happy hour enticements, a new menu item that you can almost taste, a soothing cup of fresh ground coffee on a chilly morning or just good old branding that reinforces quality services, etc.
•     Now let’s turn to the nightclub scene where people are hopping and bopping on the dance floor. Bizarre curved screens are splashed like clouds above them with computer-controlled graphics flashing to the beat. During breaks, projectors are switched over to digital signage where various branding and POS offers are made.

I hope you thought of at least one example to add to this list. When it comes to creativity and return of objectives for restaurant digital signage, the possibilities are endless.

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with over 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Little at KeywestTechnology.com.

When executed properly and in the right context, digital signage can leverage sticky content to inform, inspire and motivate. It provides a concrete reason for viewers to return their glances again and again.

What is sticky content? The term comes from Internet lingo. It refers to content added to a website that has the purpose of getting users to return to that particular website and hold their attention longer than just a glance. This is why we commonly see such things as Internet games, weather, news and horoscopes on personalized web portals.

There’s no question that the traits of sticky content can also be useful with many digital signage applications. As many longtime operators of digital signage systems and networks will tell you, advertising loops are not very “sticky” when removed from the context of point-of-sale locations (POS). After all, how many of us flop in front of the television and flip on the “advertising channel” for late night entertainment?

The question we explore today is how this principle of sticky content can be applied to digital signage, and because content matters, what is likely the best sticky content when using digital signage in point-of-wait (POW) and point-of-transit (POT) locations. It’s important to know and distinguish the psychological differences between viewers’ attention spans and perceptions in all three possible contexts of digital signage. If you need to brush up on content guidelines quickly, the Digital Sign Content Best Practices guide from the University of Michigan should help you.

Basically, sticky content is about piggybacking existing content onto another medium to yield a greater value. For example, NASA scientists are considering a plan to piggyback future astronauts on –or even inside- asteroids orbiting between Earth and Mars to shield them from cancer-causing space radiation during trips between the planets.

While the proposal has some disadvantages, it offers the space agency an appealing, elegant way to sidestep problems like building a rocket big enough to boost heavy, man-made shielding into space as part of the spacecraft.

The plan draws on an ancient concept: Piggyback on –or inside- a more powerful object to get to a desired destination. Whether it’s buckling up in our cars, riding an elephant into battle after traversing the Alps, or climbing into a hollow wooden horse and being rolled up to the gates of Troy, the concept of piggybacking has a track record for success.

In the world of digital signage, sticky content piggybacks to your message and plays an important role in yielding a greater viewer value because it delivers something people generally want—to be entertained. Nothing can really do this better than television.

Just as television can inform, motivate and inspire its audience to take action, so too can it enhance your digital signage message. Simply throwing a TV channel on a digital display doesn’t automatically leverage the public’s love affair with TV. However, when executed properly within the agenda of a communication strategy with measureable goals, digital signage content that embraces television can piggyback on its stature in our society to cut through the noise and deliver powerful messages to customers that otherwise might be ignored.

Of course there are both technical and legal challenges that make it imperative to work with professional providers who can properly setup systems, support installations, and create branded playlists with an appropriate mix of content—in other words, providers who are accountable for obtaining results. And fortunately, with today’s digital signage advances, this is much easier than traveling to Mars.

Disruptive technologies can greatly change society. For example, in 2007, Apple released the iPhone that had a massive impact on how and why people use phones. Yes, most of us still talk on phones, but we are using smartphones for just about everything else, too. How much longer will society tolerate anything less than "smart", and what does all this mean to the future of digital signage?

Life was certainly less connected before smartphones. For example, before most people knew that an Apple was more than a tasty fruit, I was fortunate (or unfortunate depending on your perspective) to have had one of the first smartphones on the market, a Toshiba Pocket PC. If you have never heard of this product, that's probably because it was made about the time you were born or otherwise too young to care.

What do I remember about this phone? Nothing glamorous. It was slow, clunky to operate, prone to glitches, required rebooting about as often as Windows 95, even crashing with the blue screen of death on occasion!

And when I think about this a bit more, I realize the same could be said about legacy digital signage systems.

It just so happens I was involved with the nascent digital signage industry in the 90s, the same decade the original smartphones were invented. Yes, when I think about digital signage in the 90s, I can easily conclude it too was slow, clunky to operate, prone to glitches, required rebooting about as often as Windows 95, even crashing with the blue screen of death on occasion!

However, if I were to sum up digital signage starting in the 90s right up to the last few years, one would have to say that despite all of its quirks and limitations, it was glamorous. How about you? How did you feel about digital signage in its infant years? Try this; think back to the very first time you saw a flat panel television. You were likely spellbound with its thin stature and seductive HD resolution. If not spellbound, maybe you remember being gagged by its price with those early plasma panels costing over $10K each.

Peering into 2014 and beyond, I think we can safely say that digital signage is beyond glamorous-it's a bona fide medium-at least for advertisers. For example, at the 2013 Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA) summit held in New York City, the panelists agreed that place-based advertising (think digital sign media) would continue to rise through 2017 (up from 5% to as much as 25%). "I think place-based will outgrow [other forms of media] because it lends itself to targeting customers," said Chris Paul, General Manager AOD of VivaKi. "It is just a matter of technology, terminology, and industry understanding being in sync before we see dramatic changes."

What kind of dramatic changes is Paul alluding to? Possibly, the 2013 ANA/Nielsen Survey has the answer. The survey states that in three years, the importance of integrated multi-screen campaigns is expected to dramatically increase, from 20 percent of digital media purchases today to a projected 50 percent by 2016.

We might consider at this point the attributes that would lead to such optimism on spending. According to the survey, spending increases on multi-screen campaigns will require three main things:

• Verification that advertising achieved the desired result (noted by 71 percent of respondents)
• Consistent metrics across screens (61 percent)
• Verification that advertising was delivered to the right audience (59 percent)

Are you one of those that still think digital signage is a fad? Heads up! According to the AdNation News article, Digital Place-based Media, What's Ahead?, there are strong reasons to believe it's here to stay. The article reported a case study related by David Krupp, CEO of Kinetic, who shared information about Degree Women's "DO MORE" antiperspirant campaign.

 "By focusing place-based media in gyms, likely to be seen by women while they were working out, the study concluded that consumers had better recall (56%) and a stronger intent to purchase (62%) than the control group. Krupp described Degree as 'the right brand for the right environment' because in this place-based campaign, it reached a large scale of consumers, who were in the right mindset to recall the product."

So digital signage went from glamorous to a medium to a business almost overnight. It started out as an eccentric technology with a glamorous flair. Eccentric because no one was exactly sure what to do with it and how to best use it-plus it was unfriendly to use and awkward to manage.

But glamour alone does not build markets. Results build markets because investors put their money where opportunities look promising, and digital signage has been adept at getting results. Looking forward to 2014 and beyond, we can now make an educated guess at where digital signage is heading, and we need to look no further than the popularity of smartphones, online gaming devices, tablets and the Internet itself.

What do these popular technologies all have in common? The single thread that ties everything together comes in the form of engagement. Digital signage of yesteryear behaved more like our parents' TV-it broadcast a message to its likely viewers without a plan for interaction. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, but the big opportunity for digital signage going forward has more to do with engagement. Engagement is the way forward for digital media of all kinds, including advertising, branding, infotainment, videos, movies, gaming, and social media at large.

David Little is a charter member of Digital Screenmedia Association with over 10 years of experience supplying professionals with trusted digital signage solutions. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology.

A recent survey reveals many retailers aren't exactly where they want to be with their IT technology, including digital signage. These five tips can help.

Retailers realize the important role IT technology, including digital signage, will play in their continued success, but many say they aren't using technology to its full potential.

Those are two important findings of a newly released survey from CompTIA, a non-profit association for the IT industry. The report "Retail Sector Technology Adoption Trends Study," finds that 72 percent of retailers surveyed see technology as important to their business -a level that is expected to grow to 83 percent by 2014. However, only 7 percent say they are exactly where they want to be with the use of technology. Twenty-nine percent say they are close to their ideal application of technology.

The study also reveals that digital signage is seen by retailers as an important part of their IT mix. The CompTIA study finds a third of retailers said they currently use digital signage, and 20 percent intend to begin doing so soon. Seventy-one percent of respondents said the most popular application of digital signage was for announcements of sales and other promotional offers.

Given the survey findings regarding satisfaction with how well technology is being used and the importance of digital signage to retailers, the need for some advice on how to make the most out of digital signage technology seems apparent. These five tips should help put retailers on the right track.

First, digital signage technology is irrelevant without great content. Obviously, it's not enough to hang flat panel monitors and install digital signage players. Care must be taken to engage customers with interesting, appealing content.

Second, digital signage content must remain fresh, especially in a retail store where many people will visit repeatedly over time. Remember to mix it up. Playing back the same content day after day soon grows stale and may actually drive customers away.

Third, digital signage requires someone to take responsibility for it, both in terms of content and technology. Granted, these probably won't be the same people, but that makes no difference. What is important is that digital signage isn't just another in a long line of responsibilities some IT person has on a checklist.

Fourth, digital signage should offer consistency of messaging across multiple locations but still allow for an element of local control. For large retail chains, centralized control over signs at individual locations from a corporate network operations center will help to ensure messages remain consistent at all locations or groups of locations. However, it also is important to provide some local control to meet fast-changing communications needs at individual store locations.

Fifth, digital signage messaging should complement the overall communications strategy of the retailer. Sending disparate or contradictory messages to potential customers via TV advertising and on-location digital signs can be perplexing to customers at best and actually discourage them from visiting the store again worst.

To be sure, retailers who say they are not getting what they want from the IT technology they've implemented are concerned with far more than just digital signage technology. But to the degree that they use or plan to use digital signage in the future, the five tips offered here should improve their satisfaction with how this powerful communications medium is performing.

Digital signs give retailers a powerful way to communicate with retail shoppers as they act out on their impulses to buy unplanned-for items.

If there were ever a question about whether or not it makes sense to communicate with customers via digital signs in retail stores, a new survey from the Integer Group and M/A/R/C should leave no doubt.

According to The Checkout, an ongoing shopper behavior survey, nine out of 10 shoppers report buying an item not on their shopping list. The research reveals several reasons why. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported buying off-list items because of a special sale or promotion; 30 percent said they did so because of a coupon offer; and 23 percent said they wanted to pamper themselves.

Digital signs are a great vehicle for retailers to tap into the opportunity this consumer behavior presents. They are a natural when it comes to presenting special promotions. Ditto for coupons. They can be tied into coupon-dispensers or used to display virtual coupons based on QR codes that can be photographed with a mobile phone camera and displayed at the checkout stand. And they certainly are a powerful medium when it comes to presenting products in their best possible light to tap into the desire by many shoppers to pamper themselves.

Craig Elston, senior vice president with Integer summed it up this way: "Our data shows 61 percent of off-list shoppers purchase an additional one to three items. This shows that if you reach a particular shopper at the right moment with the right message --for example, using in-store signage to play into their desire to pamper themselves, it can end with that item being added to their basket."

For retailers, this sort of data is critically important as they evaluate their marketing budgets and make decisions about the return they can expect for their investment in digital signage technology. Without data on consumer buying behavior and how many more items shoppers are likely to buy, calculating an ROI equation of digital signage becomes an exercise focused on identifying costs of competing alternatives and determining which is the most attractive.

With findings like those presented in the latest Integer Group- M/A/R/C research, it is possible to add an evaluation of potential added revenue to the mix. It would be helpful in future studies if these researchers or others could compare the effectiveness of competing signage solutions, i.e. traditional printed signage, Duratrans backlit signs, digital signage and others. Insight into the average dollar value of additional items purchased would be helpful as well.

Even without that data, however, it's not a stretch to say that all things being equal, digital signage should produce the most attractive ROI in retail. After all, it is more responsive to changing messaging needs, is less expensive to use in terms of updating messages, and can be centrally controlled with local input to provide messaging consistency across retail chain locations while still offering an avenue for individual stores to respond to local needs.

The new Integer-M/A/R/C data should motivate retailers to re-examine how they are informing, educating and enticing consumers at the point of purchase. If dynamic messaging on digital signs in retail isn't part of the mix, retailers should reevaluate their approach to maximize their presence at the point where shoppers reach into their back pockets or purses and act on their impulse to buy.

Digital signage communicators must begin looking for ways to leverage the ubiquity of smartphones and media tablets.

If you are like me and drawn to science fiction, fascinated by quirky views of the future, you might remember a mid-1980s TV show called Max Headroom. While the particulars of the series have blurred in my memory over the years, the one thing that hasn’t is the ubiquity of television in the society portrayed in the show.

I’m not talking television simply being convenient; in the world explored in the series, TV literally seemed to be everywhere. Not just in homes and apartments, but on the streets, resting on a pile of trash, in the trunk of a car. You get the idea. It was impossible to get away from the blasted things.

That feeling of society being overwhelmed by the tube –now there’s an antiquated term- seemed so impossible, so remote, so “sci-fi” just a couple of decades ago. But today, I would argue, we are well on our way to similar television omnipresence.

In May 2011, the Nielsen Company estimated the number of TV households in the United States to be more than 114 million, or 96.7 percent of all households in the country. In January of the same year, Nielsen estimated there to be on average 2.5 TVs per U.S. household. Impressive, but nowhere near ubiquitous –at least not by “Headroomian” proportions.

But TV households don’t tell the whole story. According to an online Time Business article published a few weeks ago, Apple has sold 55 million iPads in the two years they have existed. When all media tablets –not just the iPad- are factored in, market research firm IHS iSuppli projects that 275 million tablets will be sold by 2015, or about 16 times the number shipped in 2010.

Getting a little closer to ubiquity? Perhaps, but don’t forget about smartphones. A CNN report from July 2011 quotes a report from the Pew Internet and the American Life Project estimating 35 percent of Americans own a smartphone. Another study from research firm In-Stat, quoted in an August 2011 CNET article, forecasts that 65 percent of Americans, some 200 million people, will have smartphones and/or tablets by 2015.

Now, it seems to me, we are approaching the Headroom threshold of TV ubiquity. Granted they are more likely to take the form of a sleek tablet, smartphone or flat panel TV than a beat up set teetering on a mound of broken TVs in an alleyway, but ubiquitous nonetheless.

This sort of near omnipresence would seem to raise a fundamental question for digital signage communicators: What is the value of communicating via a digital sign, if hundreds of potentially competing screens are literally a few feet away in the pockets and purses of passersby?

I would argue digital sign communication is not threatened by the broad availability of smartphones and media tablets, but potentially enhanced in at least three important ways.

First, those portable devices offer a means for digital signage communicators in the future to continue their dialog with their audience once they leave the store, arena, lobby or other venue.

Second, if television-viewing habits are any indication, many people don’t replace their TV viewing with online viewing, they complement it. Millions of people today regularly interact with their friends online via Facebook and other social media about a show while they are watching. It’s not too far-fetched to envision similar sorts of interaction while in front of a digital sign, depending upon the circumstance.

Third, total viewing time of video entertainment is increasing. Rather than cannibalizing an existing audience, new media devices are driving greater viewing. For digital signage communicators, this increased viewing means it should be easier, not harder to attract people who have demonstrated a willingness to watch media on flat screens.

To me, it seems the Headroom-like availability of screens on the whole will complement the communications efforts of those who market and message with digital signs. Not embracing the ubiquity of these screens and looking for ways to leverage them would represent a major missed opportunity.

Enhancing digital signage content may be as simple as tapping the power of social media.

Here is a remarkable statistic published online by USA Today's Technology Live website in October 2010. As of that date, there were 6.8 billion people in the world, 1.96 billion Internet users and 517 million Facebook users.

As Byron Acohido, author of the piece noted: "Put another way: about 7 percent of the world's humans are on Facebook." Just over a year later, Facebook notes on its statistics page that there are now 800 million active users of the social media network.

How many of those Facebook users carrying smartphones will visit somewhere that relies on a digital sign? One can only imagine the number for a particular venue. But consider this: Facebook's statistics page says there are 350 million users who actively interact with Facebook via their smartphones. So it's a pretty safe bet that the closer the demographics of the audience for a digital sign match those of typical mobile Facebook users, the more likely there's a vast opportunity to be realized.

The likely proximity of a smartphone to a digital sign creates an important opportunity for anyone communicating via a digital sign who possesses a bit of an imagination and a willingness to experiment. Consider a noisy environment, such as a popular bar, dance club or even certain restaurants. Could designating on-screen real estate of a digital sign to a special Facebook page, give a business owner a way to help patrons connect with one another on screen and in so doing cut through the noise, attract the attention of customers and promote goods or services in other zones on the sign?

Leveraging social media in this way could be as simple as giving patrons a virtual bulletin board on which to post vetted observations and pictures or as complex as giving them a way to play bar games, like trivia, with one another. Imagination, budget and creativity would seem to be the only limitations.

The good news for small businesses looking to take advantage of this opportunity is many are already quite familiar and fluent with Facebook. According to the quarterly Merchant Confidence Index released in February 2011 by MerchantCircle, 70 percent of local merchants are using Facebook for marketing -up from 50 percent the preceding year. In fact, MerchantCircle, among largest social network of local business owners in the United States with more than 1.6 million members, found Facebook has passed Google as the most widely used marketing method for local merchants.

In addition to its wide use by local merchants, the rapid growth Facebook saw over the past year saw among merchants is positive. It appears to indicate local merchants have proven themselves to be quite willing to explore the potential of this social network. Thus taking the next step to integrate a Facebook page as digital signage content doesn't seem to be too far of a stretch for merchants with a knack for the platform.

It's also important to note that Facebook isn't the only social media platform that can be leveraged for digital signage content. Twitter, too, easily fits into the same mold as a convenient way to let patrons publicly interact with one another on a digital sign via their smartphones. Like Facebook, Twitter also is familiar to local merchants. The Merchant Confidence Index found about 40 percent currently use the platform, which is up from 32 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.

As business owners, outside creative agencies and internal graphics departments consider what digital signage content to present to the public, they would do well to remember that adding engaging, attention-grabbing element to their digital sign may be no further away than a Facebook page or Twitter account.

Whether it's Sunday night or some other period of time when staffing is at a minimum, digital signage networks should be ready to respond to emergencies with timely warnings.

Twice within the past four months, I have been out of town on business when my general locale came under a tornado warning -not a watch, but a warning- issued by the National Weather Service.

For those who don't live in parts of the country where tornados generally occur, the distinction between a watch and warning is the former indicates conditions are favorable to producing a tornado, while the latter means a tornado has been spotted on the ground.

The thing about a tornado warning in metro areas is that although sirens will wail to announce the danger, they don't dispense information about where the tornado is located, the track that it is following and other threats that often accompany tornados, such as the presence of damaging hail. In other words, you know there is danger, but you don't know if you're in the bull's eye or some outer ring on the tornado's target.

Radio and television broadcasters typically fill in the details by telling or showing the public timely information to help them respond appropriately. However, both recent occasions when I encountered a tornado warning happened on a Sunday night, a time when many radio stations are playing nationally syndicated programs or automated music playlists and many TV stations are working with a skeleton crew. On both occasions, all stations, save one, were slow to respond with their typically excellent presentation of weather warnings.

Having experienced firsthand a dearth of information in an emergency situation made me think of all the digital signage networks in use that may suffer from their own "Sunday night syndrome."

Please understand, I am using "Sunday night" as a metaphor for whatever day or stretch of time your organization is typically off-duty or understaffed. The day of the week or specific time isn't important, just the fact that your organization is at rest.

Are plans in place to communicate critical emergency information via your digital signage network in a timely fashion during those periods? Sure, most buildings on a college campus may be closed after midnight, but what about the anatomy lab or design studio where students have gathered at the only time they can to study? What about workers on the graveyard shift at the factory? Or for that matter, the drivers on the interstate like me who see "Click it or Ticket" roadside digital signage messages from the state, but not "tornado spotted five miles ahead"?

A few helpful questions for managers of digital signage networks to ask include:

1. During what periods is our organization at its weakest?
2. Do contingency plans exist for emergency communications at off times?
3. Have personnel been assigned responsibilities for emergency communications during down times?
4. Does the digital signage network allow for control from an off-site Web browser or other remote access to generate and distribute emergency messaging even when no one is present at the operations center?
5. Are security methods sufficient to prevent unauthorized remote access to the digital signage network?

While the primary purpose of digital signage networks varies depending on the application, each should share a common role during emergencies: distributing warnings and information that can save lives and minimize the risk of injury. Whether it's Sunday night or some other down time, digital signage network managers should be prepared to do just that.

Interactive digital signage offers brick-and-mortar retailers the chance to rekindle their relationship with the growing number of online shoppers.

I must admit it. I am a typical guy. I don't really like to go shopping, and I look for every chance I get to consolidate shopping expeditions and eliminate trips to the store.

So a few years ago, when I really took the opportunity presented by Amazon.com and other sites to shop online -particularly at Christmas time- I was overcome with cheer, that is holiday cheer, because doing so let me minimize the drudgery of the season and focus more on faith, family and friends.

Still, even though the convenience and ease of online shopping has made my annual holiday shopping far less time-consuming and exhausting, I'm left with a nagging feeling that I am missing something -something important that I can only experience if I actually make the time to shop at brick-and-mortar stores.

Upon reflection, that something is really four very important "somethings" that make us who we are as humans, namely the satisfaction of touching, tasting, hearing and smelling. Sure shopping online can deliver all sorts of images-from cheerful holiday online catalog type shots to a full, 3-D fly-around of merchandise I'm evaluating-to satisfy my visual sense, but what about the simple experience of holding an item in my hand and evaluating it in a quite personal way with all the other senses an online image can't satisfy?

What if I could have the best of both worlds? What if I could have the convenience and ease of locating merchandise online and also have the in-person shopping experience that lets me squeeze the produce, taste the cookie, smell the evergreen and listen to the din of shoppers hurry about on their own expeditions?

Apparently, I'm not the only one asking those questions. A couple of new reports from Aberdeen Group, sponsored by HP, suggest in-store technology, like digital signage, point-of-sale systems and kiosks, can bring the convenience of online shopping into the retail space, to complement the in-store shopping experience.

However, 76 percent of 100 senior retail executives from apparel, grocery and department stores surveyed by Aberdeen Group report not possessing the technology or business processes to make use of Web, catalog or special orders from their stores.

According to the reports -"The Customer Connected Store: 2011 Store Operations Automation Best Practices" and "Retail Network Optimization: A Strategic 21st Century Enabler"-fully one-third of the retailers surveyed said they are likely to invest in kiosks that help give shoppers the experience of online shopping and the ability to check inventory while in the store.

The reports also identify why retailers should be willing to recreate an element of the online shopping experience for customers. The researchers found that retailers who give customers the ability to do things like place Web or catalog orders in the store are "1.4 times more likely to see higher than 80 percent customer satisfaction in stores" than retailers that don't do so, a press release announcing the surveys said.

The bottom line: interactive digital signage technology offers retailers a wide variety of advantages, not the least of which is touch-screen access to the Web to support things like in-depth product information, inventory checks and catalog purchases.

If retailers follow through and actually invest in interactive digital signage and kiosks, I know I'd be likely to return to brick-and-mortar retailers for more of my every day and holiday shopping, and I bet millions of others like me would, too.

The rapid adoption of touchscreens in multiple consumer devices demands attention in the digital signage realm.

If adding interactivity to your digital signage communications mix hasn't been top-of-mind, it's time to re-evaluate and give serious consideration to tackling touchscreen technology.

To be sure, not all digital signage uses call for interactivity, but many signs employed today for simple wayfinding, retail promotion and other applications can leverage touchscreen interactivity to better serve the informational needs of viewers, and in so doing, deliver a communications experience more in line with the goals of the enterprise.

Reconsidering the role of interactivity in digital signage messaging has taken on added urgency recently as consumers buy and fall in love with touchscreen gadgets like the Apple iPad and even touchscreen PCs.

Consider the latest statistics on touchscreens from market research organization iSuppli. Shipments of touchscreens for devices like Apple's iPad are expected to rise nearly 5,000 percent to 8.9 million this year, according to an iSuppli forecast. That's up from 176,000 in 2009. By 2013, the research company projects shipments to increase sevenfold to 63.9 million units.

The popularity of touchscreen interactivity isn't restricted to iPads and iPad competitors in the pipeline. According to iSuppli, the personal computer touchscreen market is expected to grow by 242 percent this year.

As consumers by the millions adopt PCs and tablet-type computers with touchscreens, their expectations about technology are likely to evolve. Whereas at one time no one would give second thought to a wayfinding digital sign, other than to absorbing the directions being conveyed, it's entirely likely wayfinding viewers of the near future will wonder why they can't touch the screen, call up a more detailed map and touch highlights along their route to learn more about them.

The number of consumers looking for greater interactivity with retail digital signs also is likely to climb as the number of touch-screen tablet device owners grows. With touch screen interactivity becoming a growing habit, why wouldn't shoppers expect to do something as iPad-like as dragging a digital sweater from one interactive shelf and a pair of slacks from another onto a virtual mannequin to see whether they match?

Taking this type of interactivity to the next level, why shouldn't traditional digital signage offer touchscreen interactivity via the very tablet computers, like the iPad, that are driving the explosive growth in the touchscreen market? After all, iPads come with either 3G and/or WiFi connectivity built in. Giving an iPad permission to take temporary control of a digital sign in a retail store would let customers benefit from the interface they know and love on their tablets and the 42- or 50-inch display that delivers larger, more impactful images that better emulate the real world.

Digital signage communicators who ignore the forecast of explosive growth in touchscreen enabled devices do so at their own peril. To be sure, not all digital signage applications are appropriate for interactivity, but the ubiquitous presence of consumer devices controlled via touchscreens demands a serious re-evaluation of digital signage communications strategies.

Now is the time to begin that re-examination, because it may be too late to make a strategic shift once 64 million touchscreen devices are in the hands of consumers worldwide. Launching a review today will let digital signage communicators proactively plan to take advantage of this tidal wave in touchscreen familiarity rather than flat-footedly responding to this likely sea change in consumer expectations.

From iPhones to ATMs and other self-service kiosks, consumers are demonstrating their love affair with touch and interactivity.

I recently was having lunch with a friend who excitedly told me he had signed up to be one of the first to buy an Apple iPad. While he liked the prospect of owning a full-color tablet to access and consume all of his favorite media, what he instinctively knew he would love about the gadget is its touch-screen interface.

Already an owner of an Apple iPhone, he was well familiar with navigating his device with a simple touch, scanning through menus with the flip of his fingertip against the screen and blowing up a picture to a larger size by touching the screen with the tips of his thumb and forefinger and pulling them apart. Navigating around his new iPad in the same fun way, undoubtedly will feel comfortably familiar.

My friend is one of the millions of people around the world who today enjoy the fast, friendly feeling of control made possible through touch and interactivity. Many of these touch-screen devotees were first exposed to the concept of interacting with technology in the form of a computer mouse used to point and click through an interface to complete a desired task. (Thank you Xerox PARC for the concept of a GUI and Stanford Research Institute for the mouse). After years of whetting their appetite for this sort of interactive control over technology, it's easy to see why consumers now have a deep love affair with interactive touch-screen control.

Just look around. Touch screens are everywhere. Think about it. You likely are not going to spend more than a day before you encounter touch screen interactivity in the form of an ATM, self service kiosk, MP3 player, GPS navigation device, cell phone or even on TV in CNN's Situation Room or in the movies like "Minority Report."

Research firm DisplaySearch has quantified the popularity of touch screens. It released a report in May '09 finding about 220 million touch screens were shipped for use in mobile phones in 2008 -or 16 percent of the mobile phone market. By 2015, the research firm forecasts the penetration rate of touch screens in mobile phones will grow to about 40 percent. And that's only one slice of the interactive, touch-screen pie.

I bring this up because I am a big proponent of identifying important trends and positioning oneself to benefit from where that trend is headed. So when it comes to digital signage, professional communicators would do well to consider the potential of digital signage panels to tap into the public's love affair with touch-screen interfaces and add interactivity to their digital signs when appropriate.

Consider a large casino or hotel lobby. How much easier and efficient is it for patrons to access and staff to convey way finding information or ballroom event schedules than via interactive digital signs? Simply by automatically tapping into the booking and management software used by the hotel or casino, a digital signage controller can extract the appropriate data and create the right digital signage page before it's required. Thus, when Aunt Martha wants to find out where the chrysanthemum contest is being held, the digital signage controller has already gathered that data from the facility management software, created the page and is ready to display "Ballroom C."

Best of all, when interactive control is not required, that same digital sign can mimic a traditional digital sign and playback scheduled media to promote shops, restaurants and other amenities offered by the facility until once again being called into interactive service.

Simply by recognizing the public's fascination with interactive touch control, those designing digital signage installations can add interactivity to make any given digital sign more useful to the public and more effective in the eyes of the marketers, advertisers and other professional communicators who intend to use the sign to achieve their goals.

The Christmas Day bombing attempt aboard a Detroit-bound airliner once again places into focus the importance of communicating warnings in times of emergencies.

It's easy to get complacent and drift from day to day without paying much attention to potential threats until an incident out of the blue slaps us across the face and demands we sit up and pay attention.

For many, the actions of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the man U.S. authorities say attempted to detonate an explosive device in his underwear, aboard Delta Airlines Flight 253 are such a wakeup call. The failed Christmas Day bombing came at a time when most people were focused on gathering for cherished family time and taking part in long-held holiday traditions. But with one news flash, those priorities, at least for a moment, were redirected into thoughts of safety and security.

Personally, beyond the typical reaction of most Americans to word of the failed effort, I could not help but think of the important role digital signage can play in delivering emergency alert messages.

Certainly, I'm not so wrapped up in digital signage that I think there's a place for 42in LCD panels and a digital signage network aboard an airliner. That's just silly. But what does come to mind is how businesses, educational institutions, stadiums and arenas, casinos, government agencies, the military and many others have taken steps to ensure emergency messaging via their digital signage networks as a component of their overall strategy for responding to a threat.

Consider these circumstances:
* Severe weather: Thunderstorms, tornados and other severe weather events can strike with little warning. In 2008, 125 people lost their lives in the United States due to tornados. Those in public places may have had a better chance of survival with adequate warning via digital signage.
* Fire: Public facilities with existing digital signage networks can add emergency fire information, such as escape routes, for use in the event of a blaze. The same signs also can deliver specific, vital communications from rescue workers to people in different parts of a building.
* Armed intrusion: Sadly, students and teachers periodically have been in the crosshairs of shooters at high schools and universities in the United States. Digital signage can warn of an intrusion and possibly direct people out of harms way.
* Military contingencies: Military bases with digital signage networks can tie the command structure into personnel scattered around the base via the signs as a supplement and backup to traditional military communications channels.

In each of these circumstances, digital signage can be used to convey important warnings, instructions on where to go, where not to go and what to do. Additionally, conveying emergency information via digital signs serves the needs of the hearing impaired and deaf. With digital signs, emergency alerts and messaging can be communicated quickly and effectively to those who otherwise might not realize a dangerous situation is unfolding.

For those businesses and institutions with existing digital signage networks in place, all that's needed to accommodate communicating during an emergency is a little forethought and planning. Often, a safety officer working for an organization will identify possible contingencies and the types of messages needed during such events. Canned digital signage slides with escape route maps, directions on where to proceed in a severe storm and other information can be prepared in advance and called up at a moment's notice when needed.

A digital signage network also can be built to allow authorized personnel in a public safety center, such as a campus police office, or even located anywhere with an Internet connection and password-protected access to take control of the network and create and display specific instructions on the fly.

The Christmas Day bombing attempt is a highly visible reminder that emergencies can occur at any moment. Responding to an emergency with vital information can mean the difference between life and death. Digital signage is an effective means to do just that.

So, you’ve decided your business or institution will be well served by adding a new digital signage network. Now what?

Where to turn and what to do can be confusing, especially if you’re responsible for your organization’s communications or IT department but don’t really know anything about a digital sign. While there are many good companies in business to help you achieve your goals, you can make the endeavor easier and far more successful if you avoid the problems many before you have encountered when rolling out and maintaining their digital signage networks.

Having worked with hundreds of customers on their digital signage needs, we at Keywest Technology have seen a lot of difficulties that could easily have been avoided — along with the associated delays and added expense — with a little knowledge up front. As the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed. So, keep these top 10 digital signage pitfalls in mind as you plan your new digital signage network to make the experience smooth and rewarding.

No. 1: Lack of a clear purpose

Someone in your organization has read that digital signage can make marketing messaging more effective. It can reach potential customers at the point of purchase, promote desired behavior, target different demographic groups associated with different times of the day, and do many other wonderful things.

But what exactly does your organization need to accomplish with digital signage? That’s the seminal question. Without clearly defining the purpose of a digital signage network, it is impossible to find success in any phase of its deployment or use.

Taking the time up front to define the expectations for the system and write them out on paper for the approval of key management will provide direction and focus effort on attainable goals. Struggling to fulfill a nebulous purpose for the digital signage network will rack up unnecessary expense and leave everyone connected with the project frustrated.

No. 2: Taking on digital signage as an IT project

Digital signage network. The very words sound IT oriented. While there’s a lot of IT technology involved with digital signage, taking on a digital signage network as an IT project is dangerous.

While highly skilled, the typical IT manager does not have the background nor the experience needed to roll out a successful digital signage network. There’s a powerful temptation on the part of IT managers to look at digital signage playback as if it were a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. It isn’t.

PowerPoint does an excellent job at making business presentations, but how many TV stations rely on PowerPoint to create and playback the programs, commercials, news and promotions you see nightly? Exactly zero. With respect to playing back video, graphics, text and animation, layering multiple visual elements and building and maintaining a playout schedule, a digital signage network is much more like a TV station than a boardroom with a projector and a PowerPoint presentation. Keep that in mind if an IT manager volunteers to take on your organization’s digital signage project. 

No. 3: Lack of content

Congratulations. You have a digital signage network. What are you going to display? Having a digital signage network without content is like having a newspaper without print. There’s just a whole lot of nothing and an overwhelming sense of emptiness.

Communicating in some form must be part of the reason behind the decision to add a digital signage network. However, there is no communication without content. Fortunately, many organizations have existing resources to draw upon that can be repurposed as digital signage content. Logos, commercials, promotional video, print advertising, plans and drawings can all be reused in whole or in part to communicate a message on a digital signage network.

Additionally, RSS Internet feeds are a tremendous resource for updating a digital signage network with fresh “newsy” content, weather and sports scores that can give an audience a reason to take a second or third look.

Regardless of where it comes from, content is critical to the success of a digital signage network. Knowing where it will come from is as important as actually having the digital signage network in place. 

No. 4: No one assigned to manage the project

While it’s not like designing the International Space Station, putting a digital signage network in place can be a complex undertaking. For that reason, it’s essential that any business or organization taking on a digital signage network assign someone to manage the project. Having an individual identified to own the project will minimize the impact of the unforeseen problems that inevitably creep into any complex undertaking.

Just as bad as having no one assigned to manage the project is its closely related cousin: management by committee. Offering up conflicting directions from multiple individuals will leave your system integrator bewildered and your project incomplete. 

No. 5: No one to update content

While RSS feeds and subscriptions to news wire services are two sources of fresh information for a digital signage network, where will updated content conveying your company’s specific messages and current offerings come from?

A digital signage network that attracts attention has an insatiable appetite for fresh content. Thus, it’s essential that an organization taking on a digital signage network assign a qualified, competent person to the task of creating that content. Without someone in charge of the network’s content, the text, graphics and video being displayed will soon grow tired. Stale content will have the opposite of the desired result for a digital sign. It actually will drive viewers away and impart a sense of “been there, done that” that will be difficult to reverse.

No. 6: Taking the cheap way out

There’s nothing wrong with being budget conscious about a digital signage installation; however, selecting products, including displays, controllers and software, and services like content creation solely on their price tag can result in a system that in the long run will cost an organization dearly.

Systems designed solely on the price of the component miss the point. Digital signage networks are about communicating information — perhaps a marketing message, maps and directions or instructions — to their intended audience. Spending money on an inexpensive system just because it’s cheap could cost a business or organization far more in lost opportunities than the money saved. 

No. 7: Not knowing the locations of the signs

Knowing where your organization wants to locate the flat panel monitors in its digital signage network is important for a few reasons. First, locating the digital signage content players needed depends on where the sign or signs it’s controlling are located. The length of cable that's running between the player and the sign must be taken into account. Clearly defining the location of the signs will allow you to minimize construction/renovation expense and avoid paying for “do overs.”

Second, understanding exactly where the signs will be positioned will make it easier to understand what will be needed to mount the flat panels in use. Are wall studs available where a sign will be located? Or, will a freestanding structure be required? What’s the condition of the wall studs? Is electrical power available? What’s the status of ambient light sources? Will a window or skylight need to be shaded to reduce glare?

Third, not knowing where the signs need to be located may be a symptom of a bigger problem: namely, not having a clear idea about the purpose of the digital signage installation.

No. 8: Installers without general contractor capability

Installing digital signage can be messy. Drywall and plaster may need to be cut. New electrical plugs with isolated grounds may need to be installed. Beyond those obvious construction challenges, less apparent structural modifications may be required. Those can vary from relocating HVAC ducts to re-enforcing walls.

For that reason, choosing a digital signage installer without the skill and experience to serve as a general contractor for the project can be a big mistake. Depending on the specific installation, it’s not unreasonable to assume carpenters, electricians, plumbers and even heating and cooling contractors might need to be involved to make necessary structural modifications. Having an installer who can serve as a general contractor to bring those diverse resources together and manage them properly can save lots of time and expense. 

No. 9: Failing to allot adequate time to learn the system

Far too often, the people responsible for new digital signage installations at businesses or organizations are so excited about their systems that they can’t wait to show them off to upper management. After all, a significant sum of money went into making the digital signage network a reality. So showing it off as soon as possible only seems natural.

However, creating content for a digital signage system, scheduling it and making changes to playback along the way require some skill. It takes time to be properly trained to use a digital signage network. Failing to allocate sufficient time to learn how to use the system not only could be embarrassing in front of management, but disastrous to your communications efforts with the general public, if they’re your first audience.

No. 10: Failing to keep future expansion in mind at the time of initial design

Designing yourself into a box when first contemplating a digital signage network can be costly. Without casting an eye towards future needs, it’s possible that portions of the network might need to be replaced before they’ve been amortized to accommodate expansion.

Without exception, experience shows that businesses and organizations that fund the addition of digital signage networks express interest in expanding their systems after they’re installed.

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There you have it, the Top 10 Digital Signage Pitfalls. Take these lessons to heart as you proceed with your digital signage rollout, and you’re much more likely to have a successful experience. More importantly, your company or institution will avoid costly mistakes that will delay the installation and prevent your communications from having their desired effect.

David Little is the director of marketing for Keywest Technology.