Digital Signage

The Digital Signage Show promises new content for NYC edition

Posted on Sep 28, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today has posted about November’s The Digital Signage Show and KioskCom Self-Service Expo:

November’s editions of the The Digital Signage Show, along with KioskCom Self-Service Expo, co-located at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, are set to offer a slate of content that includes new educational opportunities and two significant keynote speeches.

“This is the year of new everything,” said Lawrence Dvorchik, general manager of the two shows, which are organized by Connecticut-based JD Events. “It’s been busy. It’s going to be a really exciting event.”

Contest, live demo among fresh programming

The “new everything” Dvorchik describes includes a competition for entrepreneurs in the kiosk and self-service space that is the first of its kind for the event. In its “Next Big Idea” Contest Coinstar Inc. will give $10,000 to the entrant with the best new concept in retail-based kiosks. Coinstar also may consider investing in the winning concept.

“There are a lot of people out there with a lot of good ideas who either don’t have access to funding, especially now, or don’t have access to the people that can make that happen,” he said. “And this gives them an opportunity to be in front of executives at a company like Coinstar, who can do all of the above, if they believe the idea is worth rolling out, and really take it to the next level.”

Entries must be submitted by Oct. 8 on the contest’s Web site.

On the digital signage side of the show, attendees can view a content-creation demonstration, “Cooking up Content: From Concept to Screen.” Digital signage industry expert Lyle Bunn will host the demonstration, and Dvorchik says three companies will participate in creating individual digital messaging campaigns in a “fishbowl” environment, with attendees literally watching the process in action.

“It will be a really, really good demonstration of the content-creation process, the content-management process, from the creative briefing all the way to the play loop being created and broadcast,” he said.

Dvorchik said the participating companies aren’t yet confirmed. The demonstration, which will span the two-day event, is another part of show organizers’ goal of constant education.

“Relevant content is so important for any of these networks that we need to make sure we’re helping people understand not just what they want to show, but how that process is going to unfold strategically and creatively in order to be successful the first time out of the box,” Dvorchik said.

EnQii wins 10 major new accounts in the first six months of 2009

Posted on Aug 26, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today has listed EnQii’s major new accounts for 2009:

NEW YORK — EnQii has announced that it will be rolling out significant digital signage networks with the following new clients in the food services, health, retail and leisure sectors.

1. McDonald’s has completed its trial and is expanding the digital signage network in their restaurants in the U.K. to enhance the in-store experience and raise sales through digital merchandising. Initial results have shown a positive uplift for their sales and impressive ROI.

2. Care Media is one of the largest healthcare operators in the U.S. with screens in pediatric and women’s health centers. They are following an advertising model as pharmaceutical companies are finding DOOH an effective way to reach their customers.

3. EWI Worldwide, one of the leading U.S. designers and manufacturers of in-store merchandising and retail environments, has selected EnQii as their digital signage solution partner. EWI Worldwide’s Digital Media Solution is being deployed in major retailers, financial services and other shopping venues.

4. AMF Bowling is a leisure operator in the U.K. and chose EnQii to develop their digital merchandising strategy and provide screens in their bowling alleys to promote merchandise products available for their clientele.

5. DC Lottery is a major lottery operator in Washington DC and selected EnQii to deliver digital signage to promote their lottery products.

6. Sports Display is a company that runs activity and information centers in sports and retail locations in the U.S. They chose EnQii to launch advertising based screen products.

7. Health Media Network has screens in hospitals in the US and is using EnQii to deliver an advertising based network.

8. Prime Digital Media is Australia’s number one digital out–of–home media company and has joined forces in a comprehensive partnership with EnQii designed to employ EnQii’s EnGage technology across its DOOH media networks.

9. Village Roadshow is Australia’s largest operator of cinemas and theme parks and chose EnQii for advertising and merchandising screens in their cinemas.

10. Gloss Media has appointed EnQii to roll out their digital signage network in beauty salons, initially across the New York area.

Digital Signage-oriented Tradeshows Make Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50

Posted on Aug 12, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

According to editor Bill Yackey of Digital Signage Today.com, . . . digital signage-oriented tradeshows have made the list of Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50.

JD Events and Exponation both announced today that their digital signage-oriented tradeshows have made the list of Tradeshow Week Magazine’s 2009 Fastest 50, which recognizes the 50 fastest-growing trade and consumer shows in North America based on total net square footage and percentage growth between 2006 and 2008.

JD Events operates KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show, and Exponation operates Digital Signage Expo. Both companies will be honored on Nov. 15 at an awards ceremony in Houston, Texas.

“To be recognized by a publication that is so well-regarded by our peers and professionals in this industry is truly an honor,’ said Joel Davis, CEO of JD Events, the organization behind KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show. “We are thrilled to be included as one of Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50 shows and now with our fourth award honoring the shows, we are excited to join an extremely elite group of less than 20 events that have received this award four or more times.”

“We are honored to have again been selected as one of Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50 shows,” said Angelo Varrone, CEO of Exponation, LLC, which produces Digital Signage Expo. “We won this award in 2007, which was the first year we were eligible. We are thrilled that our show has joined this select group of winning events for the second time in three years.”

Digital Signage Expo, which includes the Interactive Technology Expo, the Out-of-Home Network Show, The Digital Content Show, and The Mobile Marketing Show, will be at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas to run February 23-25, 2010. KioskCom Self Service Expo & The Digital Signage Show is scheduled for November 10-11, 2009, in New York City.

Helius Digital Signage Wins Two IMS Learning Impact Awards

Posted on Jun 17, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From Digital Signage Today.com, we learn that Helius digital signage company has won two IMS Learning Impact Awards:

• 29 May 2009

LINDON, Utah — Helius, a Hughes company, announced it has been named as a recipient of two Best in Class Awards at the 2009 IMS Learning Impact Awards in Barcelona, Spain. The Learning Impact Awards are designed to recognize the compelling use of technology in support of worldwide learning. This unique program evaluates established, new, and research efforts in context at an implementing learning institution.

The Best Corporate Training Solution Award was given to Helius and JCPenney for use of educational technology in a business environment. JCPenney has over 1,100 store locations and approximately 150,000 store associates that are required to take 35 hours of training during their first 90 days of employment in addition to ongoing training. Managing training and ensuring consistent quality at the individual level for such a large employee base can be difficult, which is why JCPenney selected the Helius next-generation training system. Using Helius technology, JCPenney is able to broadcast both live and on-demand training via satellite to associates in all store locations, thereby saving over $20 million in related training costs in the last several years.

“The Helius MediaClassroom system enabled us to facilitate live and on demand training sessions at all of our store locations,” said Deborah Masten, vice president and director of associate development for JCPenney. “We now have over 600 on-demand courses available that can be viewed by associates at their convenience. Furthermore, we have significantly reduced costs associated with in-person training and travel, as well as duplication and distribution of training materials, and increased productivity due to flexible training hours, all without increasing my department head count.”

The Best Association Training Technology Award was given to Helius and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) for use of technology in a non-profit organization. The CCES is an independent, national, non-profit organization responsible for fostering ethical sport for all Canadians, which includes administering the Anti-Doping Program for Canadian athletes. Under the 2009 World Anti-Doping Code, there is a strong emphasis on education to ensure athletes are aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Faced with a dated and expensive training program that depended on live instructors, CCES turned to Helius to provide an affordable next-generation online training platform to support the education of over 20,000 geographically dispersed athletes every year. Using the Helius Portal e-Learning system, CCES now creates, deploys and tracks Web-based anti-doping training for athletes in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Canadian Colleges Athletic Association, Football Canada, Canadian Hockey League, as well as elite athletes in other organizations. Several of these organizations will not let their athletes compete until they can certify completion of their anti-doping training.

“Helius has helped us to achieve our mission by providing an affordable eLearning platform that appeals to a younger target audience,” said Paul Melia, president and CEO of the CCES. “According to our surveys across all athletes, 91 percent agree the material is thorough and informative and that the new online training system better informs them of their anti-doping rights and responsibilities. With this success in mind, our long-term plan is to create values-based sport and character development eLearning courses that can be offered to over 750,000 high-school students and reach them at an earlier point in life.”

“It is an honor to be recognized by the IMS as a global leader in the training and learning field,” said Mike Tippets, president, Helius. “Helius continues to provide innovative solutions that help today’s leading organizations provide anytime, anywhere education solutions for their learners. We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with great organizations like JCPenney and CCES in meeting unique training objectives.”

Content is King: Part Two

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today’s Paul Flanigan went to the Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit in Las Vegas last week, and has broken down his insights, thoughts, and discoveries into two posts. Day One can be found on the May 27th post here, and on the Digital Signage Website. Day Two is featured on the Digital Signage Today website, and right here:

Day Two of the Content Strategies Summit seemed to be two things overall: First, a practical application of some of the best practices (Target’s Mark Bennett showed a dozen clips that emphasize his best practices) and a much deeper dive into theory and research.

It’s not point of sale, it’s point of experience.

In 45 minutes, Al Witteman, managing director of Retail Strategy at TracyLocke, showed me that the next step in understanding the impact of digital signage and DOOH is to leverage the incredible research behind shopper marketing. It is widely known that approximately 70 percent of all purchase decisions are made in the store. Mr. Wittemen’s argument is that the emtire environment is the sales pitch, not just a sign on a shelf. Instead of creating “Digital Signage,” he would like the industry to use the term “Digital Experience.” (This may be a late entry into Dave Haynes’s post about what to call ourselves.) The environment has morphed into a holistic engagement device designed to ensure that your decisions are certain, perfect, and will have a positive impact on your loyalty in the future. It’s not “point-of-sale” any longer. It’s “Point-of-Experience.”

What I learned: This is the next phase of digital signage/experience. The industry has spent the past several months grinding away at the basic foundation of what it takes to put the content in the environment, but has yet to really work on impact – what makes the customer tick, and how we can create interactive and engaging experiences. Al asked which one of us would go into work, apply shopper marketing insights, put a stake in the ground, and drive the industry to the next level.

I will. I hope others will too.

Target is spot on. (Pun intended.)

Mark Bennett, group manager of Media Production for Target, presented Target’s best practices for Channel Red, Target’s in-store multi-channel network. His points confirmed much of how we should conduct our process for digital signage (I echo several of his points in managing my own programs). But what struck me about Mark’s presence at the conference was not so much the presentation, but the fact that another major retailer is coming forward to learn and educate on industry best practices.

You can find a detailed account of his presentation on Bill Gerba’s site here, written by Christie Liu. The article opens with, “In a rare appearance…” I think Target’s presence will be much more frequent. Like Peter Müller-Brühl’s discussion on Mercedes-Benz during Day 1, major brands will help shape the future of this industry and lay a foundation that all retailers (even the small ones) can model after. I hope that Mark and Chris Borek will continue to drive the industry forward.

What’s more valuable? CPM or REM?

Paul Ryan, President of Retail Engagement Architects, in collaboration with Retail Media Consulting, presented a solid argument for understanding the value of a message. By creating a grounded process by which measurement is achieved (not just imagined), we can move from measuring reach (CPM) to Relevance, Engagement, and Measurability (REM), or Impact.

What I learned: Building the understanding of impact starts in the process, not at the store. By creating a process aimed at a measurable result, you not only get your desired results, but you will also set the standard by which other content impacts the viewer. Plan for measurement now, not after it hits the store. An important lesson, indeed.

The five items you need in a supermarket

Remember that I asked you to list those five things you need tonight at the market? I’ll take a stab at what you wrote: bananas, milk, juice, eggs, cereal. Those were my five. Here’s the question: How many of those are listed as brand name items (instead of “juice,” you wrote “Tropicana”)? Chances are you wrote very few, if any, brand names on your list.

Hearing Mr. Witteman speak about shopper marketing research opened the door for me to see where I think the industry needs to look to build impact and value with content. Christopher Gray, Psy.D., vice president, Shopper Psychology with Saatch & Saatchi X, signed, sealed, and delivered that message.

Dr. Gray explained how we have the potential with Digital Signage (Experience?) to fill in that brand name blank. With the shopping exercise, he was, “demonstrating that brand preferences are not guarantees once a shopper is confronted with all of their choices at shelf. The fact that we tend to write down categories of items rather than specific brand names is significant and suggests that on some level, consciously or subconsciously, we are not fully committed.  As a result, there is room for influence. How to do that successfully is where the real work begins.” When we walk in a store, we not only have a frame of mind about what we want, we spend a considerable amount of time “deselecting” extraneous brands and products. That deselection state is a death knell for brands.

How can Digital Signage help brands avoid the deselection phase?  Dr. Gray presented a compelling series of arguments on how digital signage can keep a brand at the forefront of the customer’s mind when shopping.

Echoing Mr. Wittemen’s statistic that 70 percent of all purchase decisions are made in the store, and with a time span of approximately three seconds for the shopper to move into that area of impact and make that decision, how can we utilize digital messaging to cut through the clutter? Thought provoking, to say the least.

Quite frankly, Dr. Gray’s entire presentation is a series of blog posts on its own. His insights on shopping behavior and how Digital Signage relates to those behaviors was nothing short of fantastic. I hope we hear much more from Dr. Gray, Saatchi and Saatchi X, and TracyLocke.

What I learned from this: With the need to understand evolving customer desires in an ever-changing environment, we must embrace the experience and expertise of marketing insights. We can then truly begin with the end in mind.

Oh, and I need to get Tropicana 100% Pure and Natural Orange Juice with Some Pulp at the market tonight. In case you’re wondering, that’s one out of 64 Tropicana Juice and Drink varieties I can choose from. My head hurts. A little.

Context comes first

Rob Winston, senior account manager for Arbitron Out-of-Home, explained that if content is king, context is emperor. Without context, you lose the efficacy of content.

Mr. Winston noted that our culture has moved from content consumers (watching ads on a program pre-TiVo) to content customers (actively deselecting those pieces of information we choose not to see/hear). It warrants a discussion on what we consider engagement. Mr. Winston believes that engagement is where the audience makes a commitment, not just a response.

All of this wraps into context, something that seems obvious, but in reality is very difficult to achieve. How many of us have hung a TV somewhere in a public space because we knew viewers wanted to see something cool on it, and how many times did we actually consider the space around it? I’m guessing all of us have been down that road before.

Mr. Winston provided a set of simple questions that we should be able to ask and answer in any given situation where we plan to provide the customer with a digital experience:

1. Who is your customer?
2. What are they doing?
3. What do you want them to do?

If you apply these questions not only to the screen but the environment around it, it’s easy to see Mr. Winston’s compelling argument that research lives inside context, and even the best creative won’t work without it.

What I learned: The paint on the wall is much more serious than just a color. It could very well be a deciding factor in whether or not you sell anything with your screen.

The summit – Final thoughts

This was the first slide of Mr. Wittemen’s presentation, and I understood it as soon as it popped up on the screen.

The industry has seen its fair share of “how to” white papers. I have read dozens of them myself. But I believe this summit called attention to the “why behind the buy,” and the need for the industry to leverage that information. Regardless of the presentation or source, every single person the stage brought more than just a pretty piece of video to look at. We heard insight on why content was created, why the customer needed to know something, and why something worked or failed.

What was refreshing was not hearing suspicions about the agency’s role in the process of content. Historically, agencies have been trying to find their place in the industry, and they (and we) are still working out the kinks. But having them at the same table as technology experts, retail experts and industry insiders makes me believe their role in the future of this industry is extremely valuable and growing.

There was a strong contingent of retailers and agencies in attendance, and a few production houses as well. What I saw was a common thread to understand that content can only be king when we have the following: Absolute mastery of the audience based on meticulous research and shopper insights; completely streamlined technology that allows us to create unique experiences and distribute to specific channels of interactivity; and common measurement metrics that work for both large and small environments alike.
And finally, that none of this can happen without everyone at the table.

Easier said than done, I know. But doable.

Paul Flanigan is the producer of in-store digital media for Best Buy and author of the Experiate blog.

This article in its entirety can also be found on Experiate.com.

Content is King, Pt. One

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today’s Paul Flanigan went to the Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit in Las Vegas last week, and has broken down his insights, thoughts, and discoveries into two posts.  Day One is featured on the Digital Signage Today website, and right here:

Last week I attended the two-day Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit in Las Vegas, and had the opportunity to hear arguably the brightest minds in the industry give their take on the adage, “Content is King.”

The focus on understanding the value of content was paramount. I sat next to a gentlemen who asked me, “So how would I go about getting digital signage in my stores?” Needless to say, many colleagues, myself included, gave him a notebook worth of thoughts on the next steps.

There were so many salient points that I have broken this up into two posts, each covering one day. Look for Day 2 Friday.

DAY 1

The show started with hearing the agency perspective, providing insight into creative storytelling. Conor Brady, SVP and chief creative officer with Organic, summed up the idea of creative workflow by saying, “the message is convergent; the experiences are divergent.” I think that was a terrific introduction to the entire conference, explaining how we work to go from one-to-many messaging to one-to-one engagement.

If content is king, distribution is King Kong

Peter Müller-Brühl, Business Development Leader for fisherAppelt, tv media in Germany, explained that content can only succeed when the right channels for deployment are in place.

In describing the distribution challenges Mercedes-Benz faced with sending content to all the local showrooms, Müller-Brühl and fischerAppelt partnered with dotflux Group to distribute HD content in a segmented fashion to locales that do not have high bandwidth.  Müller-Brühl states, “We as the agency produce about five to 15 gigabytes of full HD content every month, and [dotflux] distributes this over the existing dealer network-connection (many of them have less than 1 megabit for their entire dealership). They use some kind of grid-computing approach, so no infrastructure investments are necessary, neither locally at the dealer, nor centrally at a play out center. Usually the network costs go up exponentially when you use full HD quality at more then a dozen locations.”

What did I learn from this? I learned that while content may be important to me (the retailer, or end-user), distribution is at the forefront of many minds, especially advertisers and agencies. The pretty pictures are nothing if they don’t get there.

A template for customization

The highlight of Müller-Brühl’s presentation was his description of providing HD (yes, HD!) content to the dealerships with text fields for variable messaging. This allows the dealers to customize the message for their environment.

Müller-Brühl described how Mercedes-Benz dealers around Germany installed televisions to watch the World Cup matches in 2006. Once the tournament was completed, all these showrooms were left with TVs and no content. It was a challenge to Mercedes-Benz corporate because a network had literally popped up from nothing, and now the dealers wanted content for their TVs. The process of creating and deploying content became a major initiative, but proved successful.

The text field is designed into the creative, with the correct font and layout, so that the message, no matter how custom, feels like Mercedes-Benz made it just for that dealership. As Müller-Brühl confirms, this is “…very important because of the premium brand image.”

Watching a major brand like Mercedes-Benz execute this is important because this is exactly where retailers must go to create a customized and localized feel. I have done some of this with the network I operate, and the feedback has been tremendous.

What did I learn from this? There are right ways and wrong ways to create messaging customized for local use. If you don’t give the local showrooms an avenue for their messaging, they’re liable to create some of their own, and that could easily be “off-brand.” Instead, build a kit of parts for them to use based on brand, corporate marketing, and initiatives. And when you partner with a technology solution that eases the workload and efforts at the local level, you’ll find much more cooperation from them. And beware retailers that take it upon themselves to hang a TV. Sooner or later, they’ll come to corporate for help with content. This has happened to me at least a dozen times. It helps to have perspective on best practices for handling these cases.

The NYC sign…loophole?

Steve Bumstead, founder and president of PixelFire Productions, said that if you hang a monitor outside a window in New York City, it is designated a sign. If it’s hanging inside the window, it’s not. Loophole? Maybe. But if you’re planning any type of signage in NYC, this might be something to consider…

What did I learn from this? I have built programming for both sides of the window, but never thought about this in terms of freedom of creation. Would it make more sense to move the screen to inside the store? Maybe…

While you’re at it, can you make my program, too?

Part of the first day was devoted to a workshop where we teamed up to create a network and playlist for another sector of the industry. In my case, I was on a team assigned to create a network for an outpatient cosmetic dental care facility; a stretch from consumer electronics, but I was lucky. With me at the table was an industry all-star team, among them Steve Nesbit from Reflect Systems (technical infrastructure), Al Wittemen from TracyLocke (shopper insights), Peter Müller-Brühl from fischerAppelt, tv media (business development), Bob Stowe from Wendy’s Restaurants (retail/QSR), and a gaggle of creative minds.

There was no award or contest here, only the opportunity to step away from our normal business to gain perspective on other sectors that can benefit from compelling digital signage.

We were given 30 minutes to take the value proposition and create a playlist based on available resources. Every team came up with a comprehensive playlist that would be easily successful in the sector they were assigned to execute.

What did we learn from this little exercise? Begin with the end in mind and bring your experience to it. None of us at the table had personal experience with a cosmetic dental care facility, or that demographic of consumer, but by asking three basic questions – Who is the customer? Why is he/she there? What does he/she want? – We were easily able to apply our knowledge to a solution.

Even working in consumer electronics, I found myself easily transported to handling a different public space because of my awareness of the industry around me. The business proposition, the creative development, and the distribution of the network would be straightforward because all of us at the table – two had over 30 years in the industry while one was a complete novice – had the business background to develop a network based on consumer desires. As one colleague at the table said, “I haven’t been this excited about marketing in several years.”

Now I know how to peel a banana

Kent Hodder, president and executive creative director of Met|Hodder, handed out a bunch of bananas at the start of his presentation, and showed all of us the easiest way to peel a banana. If you’re like everyone the room, you’ll be surprised.

Hodder’s allegory is that even in a room full of experience and expertise, we are still learning every day, and many of those “aha” moments of innovation come when we least expect it. He presented several stories based on the “aha!” moment of understanding, even bringing some of the less-than-stellar occasions to show how we learn. One quote that stood out was, “Experience is a marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.”

Before Friday’s post, I have a little test for you. Get out a pad and a pencil (or open your word processing program on your other monitor). Here’s the test: Imagine that you need to stop by the market tonight and you need to pick up five things. Write down/type out those things right now. Go ahead, do this.

See you Friday.

Paul Flanigan is the producer of in-store digital media for Best Buy and author of the Experiate blog.

This article in its entirety can also be found on Experiate.com.

Interactive Digital Display: Carnival Cruise Lines!

Posted on Apr 1, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Check out this fantastic street-level interactive display that Monster Media, in partnership with Havas’ Arnold MPG, designed and installed for Carnival Cruise Lines!

Carnival Cruise Lines has introduced a street-level interactive display called the Carnival Aquarium, designed and installed by Monster Media in partnership with Arnold MPG.  If you live in or near Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, or New York, you’ve got easy access to these HUGE interactive animated aquariums.  The aquariums are all located in high traffic pedestrian areas, and are there so passersby can have fun!

Here is what Digital Signage Today has to say about it:

Carnival’s multi-market media campaign features body responsive interaction, oversized vinyl graphics and voice controlled mobile integration. Consumers can dial in a six-digit provided code to create a fish based on the tones of their voice and then see their customized fish appear in the interactive display area. By using their cell phone as a remote control users are able to guide their fish to discover all the program has to offer.

Smart move, Carnival!  People will tell their friends about your digital signage, and those friends will tell THEIR friends, and people will have good things to say about Carnival Cruise Lines.  I would also predict that while people have their cell phones out, interacting with the signage, they will also be much more inclined to use that cell phone to spend some serious money with Carnival Cruise Lines.

Datacasting For Digital Signage

Posted on Feb 23, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

The following article, from Digital Signage Today.com, is by Lyle Bunn, principal and Strategy Architect for BUNN Co.  Bunn is highly regarded as an advisor and educator in North America’s digital signage industry.

Datacasting is emerging as an attractive alternative to DSL, satellite and cellular connectivity for digital signage/DOOH network operators because it combines the cost-effectiveness of multicasting with the addressable media transport associated with DSL/Internet. Datacasting offers the rapid, low-cost deployment that makes cellular attractive, but can provide much higher connectivity capacity and speeds.

One of the major players in this area of the digital signage industry is National Datacast, a commercial, wireless data broadcasting subsidiary of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). NDI has acted as a content delivery provider since 1988, but is turning its capabilities in connectivity service and media management to the digital signage and digital out-of-home sectors. National Datacast provides regional or national connectivity through partnerships with PBS member stations and their satellite networks.

While digital signage software from firms such as BroadSign, EnQii, Harris, Scala, STRATACACHE and others can provide flexibility and ease of use in designating display groups and specifying content spots for playout on even individual displays, I believe past connectivity options have not offered a cost-effective combination of network-wide media fueled with fast, player-targeted download.

Today’s connectivity model is a fundamental element of digital signage, in-store TV and DOOH dynamic displays since centrally-controlled networks are “media-fueled” to present information or ads according to pre-defined, often day-parted playlists.

The typical architecture is to forward media spots and a playlist file from a network operations center to media players at display locations, and then to add live inputs from databases or external feeds such as weather, news, sports scores or financial information.

Internet connectivity, such as DSL, and cellular treats each media transfer as a separate connectivity transaction, and as such requires large connection capacities to process network traffic.

Multicasting, the transmission of the same files to multiple locations at the same time, can offer media transfer value, but can add an overhead to media management at each location.

The datacasting model NDI’s datacasting network (short for “data broadcasting”) uses digital file transfer techniques that are similar to delivery of content via other means – that means a digital signage player can readily utilize content files delivered by datacasting. Datacasting applications are numerous and include transfer of video and audio files, corporate digital file transfer, updating of software, gaming and information, training and education, alert notification, safety and security and information services.

Datacasting empowers the capabilities of available software tools and offers operational cost-effectiveness that can allow digital signage/DOOH network operators to expand networks and better apply their day-parting capabilities.

This reliable, national infrastructure of commercial-grade digital connectivity has been used by a long list of clients such as Movie Gallery, Update Logic, TV Guide, Microsoft, Disney, VISA, IBM and others.

The receiving equipment is also very simple in nature. A standard antenna is connected using coaxial cable to a specialized digital television receiver which is then connected by USB to a media server or on some other type of content processing computer/ display. The antenna and receiver typically costs under $200 retail.

Other datacasting service features important to digital signage/DOOH network operators include:

Nationwide coverage that allows network operations in multiple regions to be provided by a single connectivity operator.

Transmission reliability is not affected by user volume, cable breaks or environmental conditions such as rain, snow, smog and dust.

Multicasting allows satellite transmission to deliver value to a large network deployment.

Multiple file formats can be transported, reducing the need for transcoding or file re-formatting, which increases overheads and can degrade playout quality.

Security at the highest level associated with an enterprise application.

The NDI Network Operations Center (NOC) can manage media distribution in any predefined display architecture.

Helius Chosen By Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

Posted on Feb 18, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has chosen the Helius digital communications system to “inform and train its employees, as well as to keep inmates abreast of correctional facility rules and regulations.”

With Helius digital signage, the Sheriff’s department will be able to “optimize the flow of information from central command to local offices. . . quickly and efficiently.”

“We tested other solutions, but in the end we chose Helius because the system allowed us to conveniently provide digital signage, on-demand training, and department-wide communications in an affordable, all-in-one package,” said Sergeant Steve Strange.

“The Sheriff’s decision to implement our multi-purpose solution further validates the importance of using a media system that offers both communication and training capabilities. We welcome the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to our broad base of corporate and government customers who use our system at tens of thousands of sites across North America,” said Mike Tippets, president of Helius. “Helius is proud to offer solutions that enable law enforcement and first responders to remain current and receive key information as they valiantly serve and protect our communities.”

You may read the article in its entirety on Digital Signage Today.

Companies of All Budgets Can Use Digital Signage

Posted on Jan 30, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

Digital Signage Today has a great article by Jack Nargundkar, vice president of marketing and business development for Cilutions, Inc., about digital signage opportunities. The article is by Jack Nargundkar; the boldface was done by me.

A prevailing myth continues to be that digital signage are costly applications, which only large, display-needy environments such as airports, casinos, college campuses, entertainment parks and sports stadiums can afford. But the spread of broadband Internet access among small to medium businesses (SMBs) and the availability of subscription-based digital signage software mean companies of all budgets have he ability to run a screen network.

SaaS means opportunities for SMBs Current digital signage service offerings in the marketplace are mostly targeted at the large enterprise with a significant number of locations or target sites, typically over 100.  Also, the typical large enterprise opts for an end-to-end managed digital signage service, where it selects the digital signage hardware/software components that it needs.

There are a few SMB customers, who also choose an à la carte option for convenience and just drop-in required digital signage components into their existing network infrastructure. Some SMBs opt to save on overall digital signage service implementation costs by buying the relevant digital signage components, but choosing to manage the digital signage service in-house.

However, by using a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, digital signage service can be positioned to appeal to a larger untapped SMB market segment. Typical SMBs have fewer than 50 digital signage sites or screens. These SMBs would much rather prefer the cost-efficiencies afforded by a hosted digital signage service, wherein the minimum requirement is for them to have an existing broadband connection to the Internet.

In this increasingly popular SaaS model, a low-end SMB does not even have to commit to buying any computer hardware or software upfront. With a simple broadband Internet connection, an SMB can access digital signage applications as a Web service for a small monthly fee. Also, using some sort of a barter plan, the SMB can independently negotiate for advertising and/or programming space on third party LCD screens within its community.  For a more tech-savvy SMB that already owns LCD screens, a more sophisticated Application Service Provider (ASP) version of the hosted digital signage service can provide additional content management and distribution options.

By making these increasingly popular digital signage solutions more affordable, the SaaS business model can provide a unique competitive advantage to the 4.8 million broadband-enabled SMBs.

The question then becomes what is an affordable monthly fee to a typical SMB? A cost-benefit analysis targeted at specific verticals within the SMB segment has shown that there are certain verticals which are more amenable to the value provided by a hosted digital signage service. These broader categories that are favorably inclined to a hosted digital signage service include automotive franchises, beauty salons, convenience stores, healthcare establishments, hospitality services and legal offices.

Broadband means digital signage for everyone.

Per government estimates, there are more than six million small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) in the United States. AMI-Partners’ research has shown that U.S. SMBs possessed a strong Internet and high-speed network infrastructure, making this group a huge untapped market opportunity for digital signage.

Among medium businesses (those with 100 to 999 employees), the penetration rate of broadband Internet access is nearly 95 percent. Even among small businesses, 62 percent of companies who owned at least one PC are using broadband Internet, with an 84 percent adoption rate predicted for 2009. It is estimated that there is a total addressable market of approximately 4.8 million broadband-enabled SMBs.

A more affordable medium for SMBs: Fortunately for the SMB market, the costs involved with operating digital signage are dropping, particularly those paid up-front. The cost of flat panel displays – a major cost component in any overall digital service offering – continues to tumble. The SaaS model means software is paid for over time rather than a one-time fee for a license.

Large corporations that own or lease their private networks to run mission-critical applications have a harder time cost-justifying upfront capital expenditures related to digital signage. Given the overall size of the market, which Cap Ventures estimates at 2.7 million digital signage sites, the urgent need is to reduce or eliminate the initial capital investment costs that make it a non-starter. With a falling capital investment involved, the SMB segment is more likely to take interest in digital signage.

In these tough economic times, SMBs that take these incremental steps can help catapult the digital signage business into a period of rapid growth over the next several years.