Digital Singage

Maybe you've come across a television screen mounted in the gas pump with some brief news clips tucked in between commercials about discount drinks or the latest gas treatment that will increase your fuel economy. Perhaps you have been the the mall and noticed that the fab clothing retailer has replaced the mannequins in the windows for large plasma displays highlighting the latest sale. This is just two examples of digital signage, and in 2007 it was reported to be a billion dollar business. Retail, Hospitality, Healthcare, Banking, and Education are all markets that this industry is targeting.

Marketers were once focused on print media as the primary avenue to entice customers to shop their brands, but now there are multiple avenues available to promote, persuade, and engage customers. Digital signage is one such avenue that continues to gain traction. This is evident by the displays that have cropped up at the gas pump, the check counter at the local grocery store, and the front door of meeting spaces. Offering both information and advertisements, these active (and in some cases interactive) signs have become common place.

From a technology standpoint, installing digital signs is the easy part. What most people find difficult is keeping the content fresh and up-to-date. Taking cues from the web media, individuals who have employed digital signs will testify that to ensure you continue to draw attention to these signs you have to keep the content current. If a person believes the information is out of date, they will immediate start to ignore the signs. To this end, content providers have sprung up offering networks and streams with news crawls, commercials, and other type fillers in order to lessen the burden of finding compelling content to fill the 42 inch or greater visual real estate.

While these providers do offer up to the minute elements, the question I submit is whether they detract from the message of the digital sign owner. Does a display detailing the schedule of a facility really need to occupy a display with CNN headlines scrolling at the bottom? Even in your fancier hotel chains, the local weather forecast is still printed each morning and placed in a clear sleeve in the elevators. The information is current and the overhead is small (assuming the hotel doesn't have thirty plus elevators). Sure a digital sign would work in this case, and offer more viewable options than the forecast. If gas pump digital signs weren't around, then we wouldn't have those humorous segments on the Tonight Show featuring the gas pump digital signs at the Burbank Costco.