Posted on Aug 14, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:06 am
Gary Downey, CEO of DMS, has written a post about his company on Retail Customer Experience.com that bears repeating here:
DMS is on the cutting edge of the digital signage industry. We have the ability and the knowledge to deliver all the components necessary to achieve a complete custom digital signage solution for your business. We provide tailor-made products specifically designed in line with your budget, needs and target market. We take pride in our ability to customize our systems to fit your needs, from the custom branded displays designed and manufactured for State Farm to specifically designed software, or the building of a custom kiosk stand, DMS has the resources and the expertise to meet our client’s needs.
With more and more companies understanding the value of employing digital signage, demand for this technology is growing at an unprecedented rate. This demand has also generated a significant increase in new companies servicing this growing industry. Companies looking to utilize a digital signage network have many options to choose from. So, how do you choose from this growing list of companies vying for your business?
As the CEO of DMS, I look for quality, service and price when I do business with a company; DMS is built on these three principals: quality, service and price.
QUALITY: DMS prides itself with the offering of quality hardware and software. Our media players, LCD displays, software and content creation capabilities have been rated among the best in the industry. We have performed extensive research on these major components that make up a digital signage network. These items need to be robust and reliable as they are all integral to the overall performance of the system. Of course, along with the components of a digital signage network there are also many other questions that will confront a customer while choosing digital media: Which chipset? Which video output? Which LCD? Which manufacturer? All these questions should be carefully considered when choosing to do business with a digital signage provider; DMS will take the time to be certain that our products provide you with the quality and reliability you expect.
SERVICE: This is a technology driven industry, and sometimes things do go wrong, there is no company that relies on the internet that can boast 100% uptime. However, our networks are running at 98.7% uptime, and the 1.3% balance downtime is usually due to local internet connectivity, which is beyond our control. With DMS, one simple fact you can be assured of is 100% customer service satisfaction. Customer Service is a key ingredient to the success of any business, and DMS is no different; we provide our customers with the highest level of Customer Service 24/7.
PRICE: You know the saying: “You get what you pay for”, and with DMS, you certainly will get so much more with our products and services. You will find our pricing to be exceptional, and combined with our solid line of products, extensive knowledge in this industry and our Customer-driven service; you will get all you expect and more. Our media players are designed and priced for reliability and performance, and our LCD’s and software are the best the industry has to offer.
I am sure you will be impressed not just with our products and our services, but with our company, our team of professionals, truly love what they do. As CEO of DMS, I ask you to give us a call for a “No-Risk/No-Obligation” consultation. I’m confidant you will be impressed. (973-396-2271)
Gary Downey
DMS, Digital Signage, FrameMedia, digital signage news
digital Multi-Media Services, digital signage industry, digital signage marketing, digital signage solution, digital signage target market, digital signage technology, DMS, Gary Downey, retail customer experience, Wireless Digital Signage
Posted on May 8, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am
Harrods of London, one of the worlds most famous clothing stores, has embraced digital signage throughout the entire store. LG has installed digital signage screens between each floor and elsewhere, too!
The entire store is decked out with LG screens used for wayfinding and branding. The famous Egyptian escalator features digital signage in between every floor and large screen at each landing. In the electronics retail area Harrod’s has installed a gesture-based LG-branded floor screen that changed content about every two minutes.
Retail Customer Experience.com has the video. Check it out!
Posted on Apr 13, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am
From Retail Customer Experiences’ online magazine, comes this very interesting article by Paul Flanagan about Globalshop’s digital signage convention the other day.
Digital signage lessons from GlobalShop 2009
Paul Flanigan
• 01 Apr 2009
Last week I had the opportunity to speak at GlobalShop’s Digital Signage conference, sponsored by Digital Signage Today. Several speakers from all disciplines came to talk about best practices (and executions) in digital messaging. Here are five things I learned:
Size doesn’t matter
Linda Hofflander, vice president and CMO for Wireless Ronin gave an outstanding presentation entitled “Challenging the Retail Challenge.” She suggested to never rule out a test size. The size of a test is only determined by what you really want to know. A two-store test can be just as valuable as a 200-store test. It all depends on what you want to know and how you can learn it.
She’s absolutely right. At Best Buy, we have done tests with as many as several hundred stores and as few as a single store. We tend to worry that a poor size won’t validate the results. Don’t let the size of your test get in the way of learning.
Seven steps to create a value-based network
Another bell-ringer from Hofflander. After learning about the challenges facing digital signage execution, you need to put the steps in motion to create a values-based network:
Self Discovery: You must know what you want; don’t expect anyone else to know.
Vision: Think big. Think scaleable. Think flexible. Think long term.
Reality: Know what you can do now. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Partnering: If you know about what you want, picking a partner is easier.
Discovery: When you find the partner, show yourself and your true colors.
Alignment: We’re all on the same page.
Solution: The end result of the first six steps.
As Ms. Hofflander said, “The original author was a client of ours, George Yunis, senior director, creative services for ARAMARK. George co-presented with Steve Goertz, sales VP from Wireless Ronin at DSE 2009 on ‘How ARAMARK Got the Digital Signage it Wanted.’ George outlined for session attendees how ARAMARK serves 15,000,000 consumers daily, operates 3,000 locations nationwide, serves 10 lines of business and use one digital signage solution via Wireless Ronin Technologies.”
The ‘one more beer theory’
Jeff White, owner and CEO of The Bar Channel, gave the most entertaining talk of the day, avoiding the usual rhetoric and providing a terrific, up-front attitude to understanding how to succeed with digital signage.
Jeff’s “one more beer theory” is a tangent on dwell time. Within any venue or network, the better job you do of keeping the eyes on the screen, the longer people will stand around and watch. In the case of bars, if people stick around they tend to purchase more beverages, so the financial reward to the venue is cyclical and positive: The venue earns revenue with eyeballs on the screens because the eyeballs stay in the seats because the network has great content, meaning the venue provides value to the network. Money all around.
Interactivity with mobile technology and digital signage
This is more of an extension of what I’m learning about digital signage and mobile technology, but I was very interested to hear Steve Gurley, vice president of marketing at Symon Communications Inc.
In particular, Gurley proposed quick progress toward more interactive engagement between digital signage and mobile technology. Instead of the passive mode of sending a text message to a location to get more information, the return message will be a call to action for the viewer to take the next step in the experience, like being directed to a site with real rewards for the effort.
Also, he said we’ll see customers and viewers interact with the digital signage and change the signage right on the spot. The idea is that a customer can select something to watch from a menu of options. The customer sends a text message to a computer and the computer plays the new content.
I took advantage of a break in the day to wander through the show floor. I didn’t know there were so many ways to hang stuff in a store. This was my first time at Globalshop, and I couldn’t decide what was more impressive, the hundreds of different ways to put products on a shelf, or the elaborate and truly amazing vendor booths. Can we even call them booths any more? Perhaps we should call then vendor provinces.
Traffic was low, but not unexpected given the economic situation. Yet I’m still sure plenty of business was done on the floor. I’m just happy I’m not a fixture guy for a retailer. Now that’s a job.
Overall, a very worthwhile trip, and I’m thrilled I was a part of it.
As producer at Minneapolis-based Best Buy, Paul Flanigan manages the U.S. chain’s in-store video network and coordinates with internal partners on the Best Buy stores in Canada, Puerto Rico and China. He oversees the business model, creative, execution and research associated with the network.
