Digital Signage

POPAI Announces Digital Signage Award Winners

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

• 08 Apr 2009

LAS VEGAS — POPAI, The Global Association for Marketing at Retail, has announced the winners of its 2009 Digital Signage Awards.

Thirteen awards for digital signage were presented at this year’s GlobalShop event, plus a single “Viewers Choice Award.” That honor went to X2O Media for its work with Bass Pro Shops.

The other winners were:

Advertising, interactive content
Gold: No award was given.
Silver: The Integer Group for Proctor & Gamble (Clairol Haircolor Advisor Kiosk)
Bronze: Digital Display & Communications for Rogers Communications (Rogers Talkspot)

Advertising, non-interactive content
Gold: MODERNISTIC for Best Buy (Mall of America Living Standee)
Silver: Rivet for Nokia (N96 Retail Video)
Silver: PRN for Walmart (Earth Month Campaign)
Bronze: PRN for Sam’s Club (Fresh Meat Campaign)

Advertising, network implementation
Gold: Artisan Complete for Home Hardware (Channel “H” Test)
Silver: John Ryan Performance for Caja del Mediterraneo (The Caja Mediterraneo Network, phase 2 rollout)
Bronze: ADFLOW Networks for Koodo Mobile (Sales-assist Kiosk Networks)

Experiential, non-interactive content
Gold: Artisan Complete for Molson Canada (Molson Heineken Experiential Bar Content)
Silver: Artisan Complete for Diageo Canada (Diageo Smirnoff ICE Experiential Content)
Bronze: Artisan Complete for Liquor Control Board of Ontario (Vintages Ontario Wines Campaign)

Experiential, network implementation

Silver: Nanonation for Emerald Coast McDonald’s (Digital Menu Boards). No gold or silver award was given.

WalMart Digital Signage Celebrated Earth Month Last Year

Posted on Mar 20, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

WalMart stores have been using digital signage for quite some time now.

A recent 2 Hemispheres case study lets us in on the fact that WalMart stores have a plan for each month, each holiday, and each season, and when there IS nothing major upcoming, the store’s digital and other programming campaigns will think something up!  Last year, for example, WalMart decided to celebrate Earth Day (April 22) throughout the entire month of April!

WalMart in-store content is routinely developed with the current season in mind.  Major holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas each have a full month of programming with food and decorating ideas.  Special events like Back-to-School also will lead content development.  Months without significant holidays or events turn to suggestions for the season, such as backyard barbequing in the summer, moisturizers in the winter, or seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Content spots are different from ad spots that sell specific brand merchandise.  the objective is the same – to drive sales – but the paths they take are considerably less direct.  They are framed as a service to the customer, offering helpful hints and suggestions about new ways to use products, shopping list reminders, and advice to improve their quality of life.

Earth Month presented a unique opportunity to serve the customer, the store, and the planet.  The challenge was to create awareness about our fragile environment and educate customers about how they can do their part by making a few changes in their daily routine.  While everyone is keen on saving the planet, it’s also understood that people lead busy lives, have limited incomes and are not always quick to change old habits.  Environmental issues needed to be chosen carefully to have a real chance of affecting change.  The spots needed to suggest things that are easy to try and easy to maintain.  Additionally, we didn’t want to dismiss the usual monthly mission of the content spots to enhance each customer’s shopping experience and drive sales.

April 2008’s content was conceived as a multifaceted campaign that would focus on educating customers about environmental issues, offering sound solutions and promoting environmentally friendly products available in the WalMart store.  the idea was to present easy-to-achieve solutions, which would simultaneously benefit the customer and the environment.

As individuals we do small things everyday that are bad for the planet.  Accordingly, there are many small thins we can do everyday that will reverse or lighten our impact on the environment.  If we can successfully make changes in our daily routine and if others do the same, over time, it will ahve significant positive effect.

Our client, PRN, and their team of content strategists and writers had developed more than two dozen scripts based on the following objectives:

*Raise awareness of alternative environmentally friendly products

* Focus attention on organic foods and health and beauty products

*Introduce “green” cleaning supplies

*Connect the energy Star label with saving money

*Sustainability through recyclable products

*Green solutions are affordable – now and over time

*Power in numbers – small choices translate to big differences

Products selected for the spots were chosen for their low impact on the environment or for being smart substitutes for products that are not environmentally friendly.  Each script presented an environmental concern, followed by easily attainable solutions and the potential positive effects that could result.  True to WalMart’s everyday promise to their customers, solutions were designed to save them money, while providing a healthier, safer, and more sustainable environment for them to live in.

2Hemisphers then created designs and animated 20 spots based on the scripts, which included some of the following concepts:

*If each of us (200 million shoppers) installed a water filter, we could keep billions of plastic bottles out of landfills.

*Organic foods are good for the earth, air and water, and are healthy for you and tastes great

*Green cleaning supplies are earth-friendly at budget-friendly prices

*Changing a regular light bulb to a compact flurescent can save you $47.00 in electricity costs – a pretty big deal for a little light bulb.

*Organic health and beauty products are naturally good for your body and for the earth.

*Replacing your old appliances with Energy Star products will save you energy and money.

To complete the campaign, a series of short ID’s were created that reinforced the Earth Month 2008 messaging.  WalMart’s everyday tagline, “Save money.  live Better.” worked perfectly for the campaign, adding renewed significance.  A lifestyle spot was also created using a combination of photography and organic graphic animation.  Unlike the other spots, this one was purely aspirational, aimed at creating a positive vibe throughout the store.  the final touch was to replace the usual lower-third bar with one especially designed for Earth Month made from fresh green grass.

The result was a campaign that transformed Walmart’s in-store network for the month of April.  it brought to our attention how some of the seemingly harmless things we do every day, such as ddrinking bottled water or turning on an incandescent light bulb, are bit-by-bit adding to our environmental problems.  It provided solutions that are easily attainable – that is with very little effort, all we have to do is change a few habits and adopt a new mindset.  The added incentive was that many of these things are healthier for us and can save us money both in the short and long term.

Being the largest retailer in the country affords WalMart the opportunity to affect real change with the sheer number of customers that they can reach with their messaging.  Walmart is possibly one of the best venues to run a campaign like this, where we were not asking the public to become fanatics about saving the planet – just asking everyone to do what he or she can to make small adjustments in their lives.  What’s the power of 200 million shoppers?  Simple choices can add up to a bright future.

As you walk around your local WalMart store, or ANY big store for that matter, look carefully at the digital signage.  Chances are, there is some kind of campaign being flashed all over the store, and the digital signage helps both the store AND the customer notice “things” more clearly and more efficiently.