The ‘WOW’ factor in digital signage

Digital signage operators are urgently looking for the ‘WOW effect’ to create awareness and transfer an innovative image. A large proportion of digital signage to date has been a video feed or a slide-show, where it is almost like a poster replacement. Those ways of delivering content are not catching consumers’ attention any longer. Building brands and relationships with customers can only happen when value is added to their experiences. Next generation digital signage is about creating rich and immersive user experiences. Operators of digital signage networks, location owners, media agencies and brands need dynamic solutions. Successful digital signage applications are driven by market and users’ needs, helping brands engage and inspire audiences in ways never previously imagined.

The underlying premise of Steven Spielberg’s movie Minority Report is that by 2054 our way of life has been transformed by highly sophisticated technology that recognises us by name; it knows our likes, dislikes and interests. It can read our minds, know our innermost secrets, and anticipate how we will behave. The technology utilises super intelligent computer screens, monitors and holograms which are an integral part of the environments in which we live.

John Underkoffler, chief scientist at Oblong Industries designed most of the film’s interactive techniques after Spielberg told him to make it “like he was conducting an orchestra”, said “it would be hard to identify anything in the movie that had no grounding in reality”. Although this may seem a little far-fetched, technology is being developed to bring this kind of world closer to reality. And we may be even closer than we think. The film was released in 2002 and, ten years later, several technologies featured have made their entrances into the world of interactivity and outdoor signage. These include multi-touch surfaces, retina scanners, RFID, gesture and motion sensing, gender and age recognition and electronic paper.

A range of newer technologies are under development or in the early stages of release. In the words of William Gibson, American/Canadian writer and futurist who coined the term “cyberspace”: “The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet”. Technologies such as full facial recognition and personal identification, crime prediction algorithms that assess human variables and estimates the probabilities of imminent offences, emotion recognition – ‘gladvertising/sadvertising’ techniques that assess a viewer’s mood and respond with appropriate advertising, augmented reality that combines real and virtual worlds to give a mixed view of reality and proximity communication – personal messaging from screens using social media.

The gap between technology, marketing and sales is closing. This gap, from inspiration to purchase is narrowing at such a rapid rate with so many different methods of engagement and so many points of purchase that no longer can one media tell the story. It is not just TV, Internet, Mobile, Cinema and DOOH; it’s all screens, all of the time. As technology evolves in today’s competitive market, advertisers now have increasingly diverse options when it comes to putting their message in front of and engaging consumers. It is now necessary to present a mixture of price comparison, product description, peer review and usage examples in front of the customer prior to purchase. This has been done through the web but is increasingly being found through touch screens within retail environments. Interactive retail signage solutions are no longer simple vending machines; they are information hubs and omniscient virtual sales associates.

A further advantage to retailers and manufacturers lies in the ability to measure the impact of advertising through audience metrics in a much deeper way. This includes the accurate measurement of audience presence, notice and dwell time. It is also possible now to link the messaging on retail digital screens directly to sales data from the tills in the store. This allows near real-time automated assessment and optimisation of the impact of digital advertising in store, akin to bringing the level of measurement and accountability normally associated with on-line advertising to the high street.

• The industry is growing across the world and in some advanced market areas forecasts are for annual compound growth in double digits.
• Technological innovations are leading to the integration of communications channels on one screen. Distinctions between DOOH and other media will become irrelevant.
• The capital and operating costs of establishing and running networks have declined in recent years, substantially shortening the timeline to profitability.
• Major holding companies are making equity investments. It takes about 10 years for any industry to mature, and that’s really about the length of time that DOOH networks have been established in any significant number.
• Between 2009 and 2050, the population living in urban areas is projected to gain 2.9 billion, increasing from 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.3 billion 2050. Overall, the world population is expected to be 69 per cent urban in 2050. There will be a massive increase in out-of-home transit, making interactivity in this field even more relevant.
• Emerging technologies such as NFC, wearable computers and neural interfaces will further integrate and communication between information providers and consumers in as yet undetermined ways.
Frank Shaw, Foresight Director at Centre for Future Studies

Useful links
NEC Display Solutions

NEC Displays – Digital out of Home

NEC Displays – Retail and Signage Solutions

Published on: 10/12/2013