Design Article
Moving ahead with digital signage: The next steps
Aaron Yeh and Winny Chen, Advantech
1/31/2011 11:36 AM EST
Digital Signage is a trend that is appearing everywhere. It's common to see a variety of commercial digital signage applications in public areas. In the 1970s, store owners used VCRs and televisions to attract customers but they were always on a closed circuit and everything was pre-recorded. These applications can be regarded as the forerunners of modern digital signage.
It wasn't until recent years that companies have been able to display high-quality content that is supported by a broadband Internet connection. This kind of advertisement is spreading to different venues: malls, restaurants, airports, and post offices.
It is a relatively new and popular approach to advertising that allows companies to use electronic screens to broadcast information, commercials, or anything else of their choosing to large numbers of people. Digital signage advertising could revolutionize the consumer market in the span of a few years. We have all seen the huge screens in places like Times Square and Las Vegas, but now they are everywhere, directing and enticing you to visit new places, or try new products or services.
Apart from being used to display advertisements — replacing traditional paper, email or formal announcements — digital signage has become a new medium in message delivery and information updates. Another trend first popularized by the Internet is the use of colorful and dynamic media delivery. Today's audiences are increasingly attracted to dynamic content. According to a recent report, it has been shown that customers will remain in a store for a period of time 5% longer and that they will retain information 37% longer, when shown advertisements with rich and dynamic content.
Digital signage is proven as a method leading to increased sales, and doubles the probability of customer impulse purchases. As a result, we believe that digital signage will gradually replace traditional posters in retail outlets. Already in many industries including services, retail, healthcare, and hospitality, still images and posters have been replaced by multimedia panels capable of displaying rich content.
Today, the attitudes and actions of both people and companies have changed sharply in favor of the use of digital signage as they realize the potential it brings. And with the decrease in prices of LCD and Plasma screens these days, digital signage is a more affordable and attractive investment for businesses. On the technology front, digital signage has come of age, moving from the experimental and into the mass production phase. Major players such as Intel and Microsoft are trying to chase the market because of the potential it has to offer.
The Growth of Digital Signage in Today's Market
According to the report "Global Digital Out-of-Home Media Forecast 2008-2012" by PQ Media, despite the slowdown in 2009, PQ Media forecasts a compound average growth rate of worldwide spending for the digital out-of-home (OOH) market of 14.5% for the 2007 to 2012 period. OOH or outdoor advertising will fare well despite the downward trend in the rest of the advertising industry, achieving high percentages in advertisement dollars which were allocated to traditional media in the past.
Two major factors supporting the growth of digital signage are the huge price decrease of LCD and plasma screens, and advances in high-speed Internet connectivity. High-speed broadband Internet optimizes digital signage performance, as well as providing digital signage players with live update capabilities.
A large digital signage network has sprung up on and around the Internet. It has helped retailers, marketing and entertainment companies, and many other organizations to 'narrowcast' dynamic video, and graphical and editorial content, to hundreds, or even thousands, of digital signage displays located virtually anywhere.
Due to the recent economic crisis and panel oversupply issues, LCD and plasma screens have dramatically decreased in price. Compared to investment capital requirements five years ago, digital signage is considerably more affordable now. In financial terms, the ROI is a lot more attractive for investors. In the face of huge market demand, one worry to people in the industry is that lack of open standards throughout the market will impede the acceleration of digital signage growth unless swiftly dealt with.
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Bob Lacovara
2/1/2011 10:15 AM EST
Hmmm... digital signage is way-not-new... Japan's cities have had all sorts of enormous displays slapped on the sides of buildings for the last 15 years. As to their data standards, they may have little or none: I'm not sure. But for kiosk applications, I'd be surprised if the Japanese aren't rather busy on this at home. One thing I'd like, though, is when I see something on an enormous sign, I'd like to be able to point something at the screen and get the data I need to look at the product at home or the office, not in the street. No reason that outdoor signs can't be sending out an infrared or wireless signal to someone who wants to receive it. If wireless, the advertiser can also be informed that there's a fish on the line. But there are plenty of times I want information on a product, and I don't care who knows that.
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RCZ
2/3/2011 11:49 AM EST
Digital highway billboards and business signage - wish their brightness could be adjusted to ambient light conditions. Nothing worse than driving down the road at night and then be hit with a white background on one of those things... too bright to read, not to say overly distracting/dangerous. Walgreens and CVS, cut the intensity of those red LEDs on your ad boards at night, please.
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WKetel
2/9/2011 4:26 PM EST
In my community the people in charge of issuing permits are so very anti-business that it takes a lot of effort to even get a permit to have a digital, (LED) sign. The theory is that these signs are distracting drivers, so they must be placed far enough from the roadway that drivers can't see them. At that point, why waste money on a sign that drivers can't see? That particular road only has about 25 pedestrians a day, in good weather, so pedestrian viewers are not a major concern.
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WKetel
2/9/2011 4:30 PM EST
The concept of all-in-one portable signage is very interesting, since portable signs are not controlled by the same group of ??? Now I need to investigate suppliers of portable all-in-one signs.
Thanks for the tip!
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MontyFuller
2/14/2013 9:53 PM EST
Gone are the days when we use static advertisement being used outdoors or even in exhibitions like pull up banners or exhibition wall displays. Nowadays, it is all about digital signage. But there is another development to this when I attended a recent digital media exhibition – it is not only about rich and dynamic media display, but now it is about engaging the customers literally. I have seen dynamic displays that encourage audience to interact either by sending a text message, or scanning a QR code with their smart phones. Then it allows the audience to interact with the digital signage. I have seen this in airports in Europe, particularly in Amsterdam, where people are encouraged to send a message of goodbye or welcome via the digital signage. It captures the audience more and recall rate is high. So, it is not just about the richness of media, but the engagement of the audience as well that will have a better impact and recall/retention to the minds of the target market. http://www.discountdisplays.co.uk
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