Digital Signage Content — the Elusive King

In an attempt to help ensure product sales, many display manufactures such as Sony, NEC, Planar and others provide custom, content managed services.

March 19, 2012 TD Staff Leave a Comment

11 DIGITAL SIGNAGE TRENDS SLIDE SHOW: Interviews with Chris Gibbs, president of Digital Signage Expo producer Exponation LLC., and Erica Schroeder, director of marketing for Cisco Business Video reveal 11 trends from DSE.

Interactive Displays—“You’ll see a lot of engagement capabilities with the consumer,” Schroeder says. Just displaying information on digital signs doesn’t always cut it anymore. Now, digital signage is often about “how do you create much more of a two-way participation” with consumers interacting with displays and seeing content based on their feedback. Shown is the NIMble HMI open frame computer, which is designed to make deploying Android multi-touch solutions faster for the digital signage.

Customized Content—Increasingly, digital signage solutions use analytics to understand who their viewers are, creating an opportunity to deliver customized content. This can be done based on information provided by the viewer – either consciously or unconsciously. “I’m interested in the ones that recognize me without me having to do anything,” Schroeder says. “Does it recognize me as a woman of a particular age? Does it tailor content without me having to indicate who I am?” A manufacturer like X2O Media, will show dynamic, customized content, including its new Twitter wall.

Sophisticated Content Distribution—In general, the way digital signage content is distributed has evolved and become “more granular,” Schroeder says. This includes “by language, by location, by reflecting the desire or interest of a particular area or recognizing who they are.” Once a digital signage system recognizes who a person is, it should do something with that information. “I have a profile online. So I want to bring that with me to the store. Wouldn’t it be great if I can get them to know who I am based on my profile?” Shown is Capital Network’s Audience 4.2, a software platform designed to provide all the tools needed for creating, managing and playing out dynamic digital signage displays.

Employee Communication—While the traditional role of digital signage involves marketing, other applications, including emergency communication, are emerging. One digital signage application that hasn’t gotten a lot of recognition yet, according to Schroeder, is employee communication. We often think of everybody as being totally connected via computer or smart phone, but she points out that many work environments which require employees to be in warehouses or on assembly lines for long periods. She says digital signage is a great tool for communicating company messages to those employees. “It’s a natural fit for us,” Schroeder says, referring to Cisco’s enormous footprint with corporate customers through its video conferencing solutions.

Evolving Client Contacts—As the role of digital signage expands beyond sales and marketing to areas such as security and employee communication, integrators will see the technology decision makers change within client organizations, according to Schroeder. Integrators will work more with HR and security professionals. Shown is a Cisco signage solution.

Crumbling Cost Barrier—Cisco Systems, which entered the digital signage market five years ago, has seen the cost of equipment drop significantly since then, says Schroeder. “That’s a shift for integrators to think about — the cost of displays is less of an obstacle,” meaning digital signage has evolved well beyond the limited large-scale applications shown. Gibbs, meanwhile, predicts a “huge influx of demand” with lower price points allowing, for instance small retailers being able to invest in digital signage.

Infinite Endpoints—Until recently, a priority for digital signage integrators has been to put a message on a display that’s as large as the space will allow. That is changing, according to Schroeder. Now, she says, “it’s about pushing content to phones, to all devices on a network. That is definitely the future of where this industry is going, and it’s not far away.” Shown is Black Box’s iCOMPEL WDS, which enables eye-catching presentations for wearable 2.4” LCD players.

Creative Displays—Transparent displays, anything out of the ordinary – that’s where it’s at, according to Schroeder. She predicts an influx of digital signage display solutions that are unique enough to grab one’s eye before. LG’s transparent LCD display grabbed a lot of eyes.

Video Walls—Video walls continue to be a large trend and Gibbs expects that to continue. “A lot of manufacturers are really beefing up video walls in large format, impactful technology.” Large, spectacular displays are encouraged at Digital Signage Expo he points out. Show organizers also take steps to encourage spectacular exhibits. “Our booth minimums are 10x20s, which helps.” Shown is an NEC video wall solution.

Small Displays—Even as Gibbs sees large video walls gaining popularity, he sees a new trend toward smaller displays. He says manufacturers seem very focused on creating solutions for small displays — sometimes using Apple iPads — and addressing point-of-sale messaging. Shown is 22MILES’ Interactive TouchMenu for iPad, an interactive signage solution for hospitality customers and more.

Environmental Blending—Manufacturers are increasingly focused on digital signage display solutions that blend into their environment, according to Gibbs. “You see a lot of use of Christi Microtiles, even one, two or three, making them into different shapes and blending them into the environment.

For all intents and purposes digital signage is still in its infancy. While I was walking the show floor of the Digital Signage Expo 2012 (DSE) it was clear to see that the infant was already running, but the communication skills are still developing.

The promise of endless digital signage solutions has given new hope to display and digital component manufacturers who have been hit hard by commoditization in recent years. However, while the hope burns bright, all of those flashy, high-powered, digital signage systems aren’t going to move out of the warehouse without the king of all kings driving it: content.

During my many conversations with end users while at DSE there was a critical component that seemed to be somewhat elusive and that most were still struggling with: custom content creation. Cost notwithstanding, some of the barriers cited were internal resources to strategize, create and manage the content.

There are a number of custom content creation solution providers that already have put a stake in the ground and more are emerging. But display manufacturers are taking matters into their own hands to help ensure the success of their investment.

Sure We Can Do That

So what is a large display manufacturer to do in order to remove barriers to entry for their clients and end users? Easy — offer “managed services,” customized content solutions with strategy, creation, implementation, management, storage on an ongoing basis — or any combination there-of.

In addition to their tiered digital signage content solutions, NEC has been has been offering custom content creation for approximately one year by forming a number of partnerships with custom content creators and providers. “One of our strengths has been that we’ve been able to be that all-service manufacturer,” said Keith Yanke, director product marketing, Projectors & Large Format Displays for NEC. “Our main focus is displays, but we can provide the content. We can provide the consulting in helping the end user have a successful deployment in a signage application.”

Planar Systems has a digital signage approach that has always been focused on custom solutions. With their Planar Mosaic product, the company is piquing the interest of architectural designers, artists and A/V integrators alike. “We started this product thinking about creative expression first and technology constraints second,” says Jennifer Davis, Planar’s vice president of Marketing. “We really thought about the systems approach,” which is in keeping with Planar’s long history of working with custom commercial A/V integrators and consultants.

There was a clear giant on the floor that has had a long successful history in the hardware, software and content arenas already, named Sony.

Like NEC, Sony offers tiered, packaged solutions, but also saw the need to create a high-end custom solution. “We can provide every aspect of the digital signage spectrum,” says Andre Floyd, digital signage product marketing manager for Sony. To solidify their high-end custom digital signage solution, in 2010 Sony acquired Convergent Media Systems of Alpharetta, GA, a video integration solutions company that has long history in digital cinema and robust digital signage background.

Floyd said, “There were a couple of synergies that came together that lead to Sony buying Convergent,” which included the fact that they have installation, integration and design teams.

While it might seem odd on the surface for a behemoth company such as Sony to be offering ongoing digital signage content and management services, Floyd commented, “That’s not new to us on the broadcast side. We’ve been selling high-end products to every TV station in the country forever. They have to be on the air all of the time. We have that kind of infrastructure. We’ve been doing managed services forever.”

Content is Still King

Growing pains around digital content creation is not foreign. The transition from print to digital media is happening at an exponentially hurried pace and is leaving some companies unprepared. Many companies are still struggling with creating relevant content to fill their websites. Add to that pressure over the past few years is the need to develop content strategies for social media.

Tom Nix, CEO of Scala is pretty emphatic about content, “This is super, super important — the content strategy. This is a system that’s on in some cases 24/7 and sometimes driving business performance so there’s got to be a lot of thought and a lot of understanding on how to craft the content strategy.”

Digital signage is not new, but the ability for an end user to have a more active role in developing dynamic content is. It is critical that a strategic content and implementation strategy is built into a business plan. Perhaps outsourcing to a company that has already got a lot of experience with this medium and offers a fully managed service might be something to consider.

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