While Digital Signage is still a small part in the overall cake of the media mix of the big advertisers, the industry has already gone through a long learning curve of many years.  It is clear that Digital Signage is mainly driven by the typical retail applications in the large store networks, such as EDEKA, Tesco, Carrefour, etc., however, one should not under-estimate the value of all the other vertical market applications, such as hospitality, ambient, corporate internal communication systems.

Typical digital signage retail application in large store networks

While the other vertical applications are pure information systems with no clear business model, in the retail market application, there is only one fact which governs the success at the end of the day: the solid financial, long term achievement under following aspects:

        Break-Even point

        Return Investment

        Long term profitability

There are several factors which impact the financial arithmetic and success of a DS rollout. The ultimate goal of a DS network in retail is to sell more and to bind your clients to your brand.

1.       Content is King: it's not a slogan, it's a fact. You may invest in the highest tech hardware and software, if you don't broadcast professional content which pays tribute to the DS media, don't broadcast at all it will not be watched or simply watched in-effectively. Note that a DS network is not simply a TV network where TV ads can be played.
 

It's about the user experience: it doesn't matter how the signals get there, on what display the clip is being presented. All that matters is that the consumer pays attention, has a memorable experience with a lasting impact.

 

2.       Mix advertizing with information: Use the system not only to sell: mix added value into the content, such as news tickers, weather info, etc.

 

Content is all the user should see and experience with a wow:

Digital signage installation in public bathrooms and mirrors

3.       Engage: Increase the duration of watching by engaging the customer with questions, quizzes, humoristic sections, etc.

4.       Architectural Esthetics: The display should naturally integrate into the environment. The display should be perceived as part of the overall marketing and design concept.
 

5.       At Eye Level: Make sure the displays are being positioned in the natural flow of the eye movement. The majority of consumers follow an accurate pattern with their eyes when they enter a shop follow this pattern with the display placement.

 

Engage the customer. Make your digital signage content entertaining

with quizzes, humoristic sections, etc

6.       Guide Customers: Efficient DS systems use the network to guide the customer to where they need to be. In Russian retail stores, alcohol contributes 20% or more to the profit of a shop. Hence, the systems are used to drive consumers with a separate channel to the alcohol section, normally in the far end of a store.

 

Increase sales by guiding customers to special offers inside the store

7.       Constant Control of TCO: The total cost of ownership is often under-estimated. While it does not matter at all to the consumer how the content is brought in front of him, to the operator it is critical to use most cost efficient technology to do so. The nature of cost efficiency is not cheap. The measure is much more the efficiency. If you compare displays, they are all built with the same panels originating from few factories in Far East. The difference is made by what surrounds the display, such as manageability via serial ports, modularity, such as an option slot, MTBF standing for life expectation, and other added value functions which turn the screen into a more intelligent device in the supply chain. Same applies for last mile distribution technology over CAT5 do I use a low cost solution from Far East or rather a high end solution from the market leader, which also allows me to control a display remotely, switch in off when not in use, read out its status of operation, etc. Do I use a remote access technology to control the media players remotely, hence reducing maintenance reaction time when there is a problem? More is less.

 

8.       Allow for easy maintenance: the player PCs and displays are mission critical, availability is key; otherwise the advertisers don't pay the bill. Place all player PCs in a central room, backrack it in a cabinet, managed by state of the art KVM and remote access technology. This way you will avoid technicians climbing the ladder in the midst of the sales floor. You will be able to access the player PCs remotely from a central location, at zero intervention time, resulting into a high availability of the system.

 

Players safely kept in a rack in the server room allow easier maintenance, service and upgrading. The content is distributed via CAT5 cabling.

9.       Avoid duplication: use only the number of channels really required. Don't fall in the trap of the false vision of having individual messages per screen. This cannot be managed, purely from a content's perspective just imagine a network with 1500 displays, each to be managed independently. In most cases in the retail environment single channel, at the maximum dual channels are being deployed. Rather keep the content updated and changing at a high frequency.  Use single player per location, duplicate the signals using last mile distribution technology over CAT5.

 

10.   Keep the system green: pro-actively manage the system, switch in off when not in use, reduce brightness where possible. It will result in direct benefits, such as doubling life expectation of the display, lower power consumption, etc. There are plenty of solutions in the market allowing you to manage power of the net, access the serial interfaces of the displays remotely, etc.

Switch off when not in use: there are solutions in the market that allow the remote power management of the net and the access of the serial interfaces of the displays

Clearly, there is not just one way or method of rolling out a digital signage network. However, if you follow some of the more basic rules and patterns, there is a high chance of turning it into a successful and profitable rollout.

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Ronni Guggenheim is managing the European operations of Minicom Advanced Sytems, a pioneer in the digital signage industry and market leader for last mile distribution products over CAT5 technology. With over 250,000 points of display rolled out in the world, Minicom has been a driving force in pushing the digital signage market to today's maturity. Ronni Guggenheim has been actively promoting and networking for the industries success. Having been involved in a large number of rollouts, his rich experience and know-how has been valuable as keynote-speaker at various events, conferences and in various articles and publications.

Ronni Guggenheim

President Minicom Europe

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