If your goal is to build out an effective and efficient network that delivers relevant, timely communications while producing a reasonable return on investment then I suggest that it would be wise on your part to fully understand and be able to share with customers, prospects, partners, alliances, integrators why your solution is best suited for their particular vertical market and why. 

For example, let’s say you work for a hardware company that manufactures screens, and the QSR industry has been targeted as a vertical market in which to compete.  What do you need to know about the environment, the industry, and your competitors in order to thrive as a leader within that given market?  A partial list includes:

1. Food photography is tricky…anyone in food service will want the professionally shot images of their food to show superior on your screens.  Do you have the best screens? 
2. QSR cooking environments are frequently found near or below where the menu boards are placed, and are often a greasy, steamy/moist environment.  Are your screens encapsulated/sealed?  Are they built to take on that type of environment?
3. If you know customers in the QSR world don’t like large bezel frames on screens that are lined up side by side…can you deliver a zero bezel or thin bezel piece of hardware?
4. What’s the life of the display…how many hours a day can it be on, and can your hardware deliver the long hours that food service environments demand, and still offer 4, 5 or 6 year life?
5. And finally, Growth.  As your QSR customers digital model expands can your company support or continue to support the ever more divers and challenging delivery demands?  Menu-boards, promotional boards, POS toppers, eatery, line buster self-serve kiosks, outdoor drive thru menu board, outdoor dead zone promotional boards, marquee and street signage?

It all comes down to this…Before you take on a vertical market make sure you can deliver on the specific needs of the customer.  If you can’t do it all yourself, be sure you’ve aligned with talented, skilled partners.  If you look at providers that are doing well in the digital screen media arena you’ll find that they are focused on their markets, and deliver effective solutions that few others can.

I recently read an article written by Mark Healy, a columnist for SmartBrief, on entrepreneurs. The gist of the article and how it relates to the digital screenmedia industry is its identification of what factors are prompting hardware, software and service providers to take a closer look at their pricing strategies and price points. When pricing products or services, you need to look at the competition, review the potential impacts of post-recession changes in consumer buying behavior, and finally how innovation, partnering and bundling may act as a catalyst for rethinking pricing. I also agree with Healy in his highlighting of additional pricing considerations including:

• Customer input and value perceptions;
• Brand position;
• Competitive position;
• Industry structure, including channels;
• Product and/or service life-cycle stages;
• Relative positioning of products and services, and bundling;
• Sales, promotions and discounting; and
• Costs.

Drilling down into each of these considerations, and understanding the what and why behind each of the inputs will assist you in making more informed and effective key pricing decisions to support and drive your business objective in 2011 and beyond.