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Continuing on from Part I, this article will provide a summary of three of the Conference Sessions from day two of the Digital Retailing Expo.

Session 12 - A New Media Channel: Integrated Media Planning for Digital Retailing

Speakers: David Sommer (Retail Media Link), Laura Davis-Taylor (Retail Media Consulting), Paul Ryan (Tweeter), Stuart Armstrong (Digital View Inc.)

One of the challenges for the full adoption of digital signage as a viable new medium for advertising and branding is the lack of a centralized tool for media buyers. To address this, Retail Media Link, recently acquired by Mediaedge:cia, is building a database and tool for media buying on digital signage networks and is currently in the beta stage. The application is slated to be offered as a subscription.

Stuart Armstrong laid out the various stages for in-store media planning: map the retail zones, understand the customer journey, choose the right screen architecture, and screen specific content planning.

Laura Davis-Taylor of Retail Media Consulting said that she believes that marketing needs to evolve from a mentality of “Find Me/Sell Me” to “Know Me/Help Me” and understand human behavior in an effort to hold consumers’ attention in a relevant and engaging way.

Paul Ryan discussed how Tweeter was able to utilize a digital signage network to re-brand the company, which was necessary as retailers such as Best Buy began to move into their territory. The objectives were to control the content of certain touch points along the customer journey, present the best HD images & highest quality surround sound, and leverage the new capabilities of Microsoft’s Media Center. The playlist consists of a one hour loop comprised of Tweeter branding and promotional messages (10 minutes) and High-Definition content (40 minutes). The remaining ten minutes was reserved for vendor and lifestyle advertising from companies such as XM and Sirius. A 60 second spot in the hourly rotation on the 157 store network costs $30,000 per month.

Session 14 - Best Practices to Execute a Digital Communications Network in a Financial Institution 

Speakers: G.V. Iyer (Prism Technologies, Inc.), Steven Keith Platt (Platt Retail Institute), Peter VanSickle (BMO Financial Group)

Steven Keith Platt presented Platt Retail Insitute’s fifth working paper, titled Impacting the Customer Experience at a Bank Branch through a Digital Communications Network. Research showed that consumers consider banking products and services to be commoditized offerings and that banks tend to overspend on traditional advertising. To address these issues, many banks are implementing a digital communications network to highlight certain offerings, push higher margin products and services, and enhance the customer experience by reducing perceived wait times, among other benefits. For additional information or to purchase the paper, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Session 17 - Digitizing In-Store Media

Speakers: Bill Collins (WBC Narrowcasting Group), Nikki Baird (Forrester Research, Inc.)

Nikki Baird noted barriers for adoption of in-store digital signage networks: content requirements as part of the media planning process, a way to consolidate the buy, packaging and media people working together to a coordinated end, clear and compelling business cases, and lower investment risk for retailers.

Bill Collins spoke about various digital signage applications. CompUSA, for example, is using its in-store network to promote sales of end-of-life merchandise that can’t be advertised below certain prices on television or in the newspaper. Circuit City is using digital signage to deliver more family orientated content to its televisions in an effort to appeal to all decision makers within a household. Several companies are also using a test-site approach and testing a campaign in-store before they roll it out to other mediums such as television and the internet. In addition, digital in-store media can be utilized to tell a compelling story that can’t be communicated efficiently elsewhere- it can convey to consumers a company’s involvement with the local community.