Split Screen = Divided Loyalties

I know this has been addressed before by other of my fellow curmudgeons keeping an eye on the doings in DOOH.  Yet the issue remains:

More than one message per screen diminishes the effectiveness of the whole.  The infamous "L".  A main screen, with a column on the right or left side, accompanied by a lower banner across the entire bottom of the screen, often with a data stream.

Two words:  TOO BUSY!

I know this will not stop anyone from using this screen configuration.  I know it will not stop the average ad salesperson from trying to sell all those different screen opportunities.  But people, please, listen: as a visual layout, this absolutely blows!

The next time you see a digital screen in the marketplace, if it has this layout, I want you to consciously try to notice whether your own eye finds it easy to take in all the messages, images and data that this format presents.  I already know the answer.

I totally agree that all of the small screen should be utilized; just not in this manner.  This is a content creation issue.  This is an issue of actually thinking about your viewer, and caring about whether they will care.  Your content better be interesting and relevant.  It better grab their attention and deliver the "goods" (message) in a meaningful, useful way, or you risk committing the deadly sin of diminishing (or even completely immasculating) your own medium.

Focus on the want/need/interest/preference of your target viewer.  Spend some serious time and money on your content development.  You might make a little money this month with a poor ad campaign on behalf of your clients, but not next month.  If it does not work, they will not continue to buy.  If your network does not produce the desired effect (usually some measurable business-related result) your clients will stop buying and go elsewhere.  There are too many opportunities and options available to their ad dollar.

There may (on rare occasions) be legitimate times to utilize a split screen, but I can't think of what they are off-hand.  Don't divide your screen (message).  Better to shorten your ad units and ad more inventory, than to have multiple disparate messages on one screen at the same time.

Screens on the Machines

By now you've grown accustomed to the screens at the gas pump.  Old news.  But for DOOH people, good news.  The premise is screens in high traffic areas for the purpose of creating advertising opportunities, and cash flow.  I personally have not been a fan of the screens on the gas pumps so far, because the messages I have seen are useless and irrelevant to me.

But what if those messages were actually INDISPENSIBLE?!!!  What if they provided me with essential information?  Not weather, not a promo for a tv program, or some other lame thing.  But something really important and relevant to me?  Then I would probably be interested in a heartbeat.  The point is not the screens or the gas pumps.  The point is the CONTENT.  The Message!

I am certainly not the first to beat this drum, and I won't be the last, but I will beat this drum nonetheless!  DOOH has so much potential to drive traffic and sales.  To promote. To inform.  To sell.  As DOOH providers we need to be more strategic about what we allow on our networks and our screens.  I understand the need to get money in the door, but let's push for something more.  Let's strategize engagement, and interactivity.

I work with a provider of content, Phase 3 Digital, that create and strategically distribute content and campaigns.  We have recently brought a network of phone banks in airports online, with the first 2 of many airports, Denver and Palm Springs.  Instead of pay phones, these phones provide free calls in the US and Internationally.  But each phone also has a digital screen with sale-able content, as well as 5 buttons for direct connect to any client.  In other words, a car rental agency can buy one of the buttons. Or a ticket company, etc.  So the air passenger is walking along and needs to make a call but his cell phone is dead.  He can charge his phone at this phone station while he makes a free call, and as he does so, he is facing a screen showing ads for hotels, events, destinations, offers, etc.

Bingo.  Automatic engagement.  Direct connection.  Target audience.  This is exactly the type of indispensible opportunity that DOOH must offer.

By the way, advertisers, the very first day online 2,000 people made calls on those phones!

We are also working with a vending machine company whose machines all feature video screens.  Same thing:  the viewer has an immediate engagement opportunity.  Powerful.

Gas pumps.  Airport phones.  Vending machines.  Store windows.  Get the message out, and get engaged.

Road to ROI

Return on Investment, or ROI, is how every investment decision in capital equipment, marketing materials, signage, is made by those who approve expenditures.

An objective is determined, a value assigned to that investment, and then some effort at due diligence in securing the best price (cost-effective) for that investment/purchase.

Someone determines that display and signage is necessary, someone identifies a budget, and then investments are made according to budget.  When a new type of investment (in new technology) for signage or display comes under consideration, then the process begins anew for that particular investment.  Perceived, and actual value are debated and assessed, not always from a fully-informed perspective, but usually some effort is expended in that direction.

The vendor does their best to convey the indispensability of their product; usually from a features/benefits standpoint, but not always in the terms or language that the potential investor uses.  This is a key marketing and sales function:

"What will this investment do for me?" asks the potential buyer.

In the best possible scenario, the seller of the product has informed themselves diligently on the buyer's needs and valuation method, and can answer, "Here's how much this will make you/save you, over --- period of time."  They articulate the value of the product in clear financial terms, and THEN restate the practical or functional values and features.

ROI gives the client/buyer the permission to invest in your product.

Window Video Systems (WVS) have clear, broad and deep ROI potential:

Display more of the client's product in a more dynamic, useful, attractive way than ever before.  Never before has a retailer or business been able to display or demonstrate ALL of their products directly ON their storefront window, in full color and motion repeating the message.  Never have they been able to repeat multiple or different kinds of messages, and especially, selling propositions, whether it be SALE, or pricing incentives, or other types of value propositions, or promotion of upcoming opportunities to the customer.  WVS allows for interactive engagement with the viewing traffic, via QR or text to mobile device.  WVS can drive traffic:  both foot traffic in-store, or traffic to the Web, or to e-commerce portal.  In the process, WVS can allow stores to "capture" viewers via engagement.

WVS is transformative.  It has the potential to enable the retailer or other commercial business to transform how they communicate with customers with more immediacy and more depth.

Always look for ways to articulate and specify value to your OOH displays, to demonstrate ROI.  It is the key to purchase approval.  How does your OOH display provide ROI?

Projected Digital Signage II

Projections in store windows are attention-grabbing.  It's one of the most exciting display methods available in the market today.

Except when you can't find someone to install one for you.
Except when you realize that having exciting images is something you have to pay for.
Except when you discover that not all video content is created equal.
Except when you discover there is more to buying a projector than you realized.
Except when you discover that there's more to installing that projector than you realized.
Except when you discover that most projectors are rather expensive to own, especially replacing their lamps every few months (because you wanted to actually USE your window video system every day!
Except when you realize that someone has to turn the system on and off every day.
Except when you realize that someone (you) has to come up with the design and flow of the visual content so that it's not just the same darn thing everyday, all day.
Except when you realize that finding a rear projection screen provider (in your area) is not that easy.
Except when you realize that finding and putting all this stuff together is ----ing expensive!!!
Except when you realize that finding the right hardware/software system to more easily manage your system is time-consuming and expensive!
Except,
Except,
Except.....

The purpose is not to discourage you.  Take heart!  We have figured all of this out for you.  Window video systems by Looknglas are:

Affordable
Easy to install
Low (hardware) maintenance
Easy to use (we create and manage your messages for you!)
Green (enviro-friendly, saving paper, no lamp replacement, low energy consumption, no mercury in the lamp.)
Flexible
Powerful (able to display virtually unlimited images and messages!)
Awesome and exciting (see Digital Mannequin and Oakley Store videos.)

The possibilities are endless for retail display, in particular.  Designers and Visual Merchandisers are adapting and adopting.  The ability to show whatever you want, when you want, and change or add to the messaging is an absolute game-changer.  So much so, that even the bigger chains are looking at it, and talking about implementing.  (See article below.)

http://www.businessinsider.com/macys-announces-digital-mannequins-2012-5

Put your store on the map this holiday season.

POS Engagement

Customer experience, featuring interactivity (most commonly touch) is the coming thing in the retail industry.  And rightly so.

Brick and mortar retail has the advantage over online retail in that they can provide a superior experience.  After all, online can only provide so much, and all of it "virtual".  But brick and mortar can provide "real" and people are hungering for ever more "real" experiences.  Actual engaging interaction at the Point Of Sale (POS) is a huge distinction and advantage that the brick and mortar store can offer. Apple stores, Microsoft stores, AT&T's new interactive store, and even places like Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops are all great examples of retail POS engagement.  The places that do it really well are destinations.  You love going there.  They keep it real and relevant.

Digital Signage can assist greatly in this POS engagement.  Text campaigns, QR campaigns, Social Media campaigns, even simple signage promo campaigns that drive the viewer to interact in some distinct way with the store, its product or its personnel are all strategies that need to be employed via digital signage.  Please don't stop with mere signage messaging; get that powerful DS or DOOH system working to engage people, especially customers, to add value, to enhance that vital (personal) business relationship.  Every personal interaction you create enhances the relationship in so much more powerful a way than a "like" or a share.

You have the tools; step out of the box, figuratively and literally.  Work on new ways to use your DS, especially Window Video Systems, to engage!

Ahead of the Game

Some ideas are just a wee bit ahead of their time.  If you're a techno-geek/gadget fan, if you scour Mashable daily for cool new technology breakthroughs and products, if you're always looking for the next new cool thing, then you already know this:  Technology always far outstrips the marketplace's willingness or ability to adopt.  That may never have been truer than today, with a worldwide recession keeping a damper on things, at the same time as unprecedented tech advances continue to come around the bend.

This blog being about DOOH generally, and Window Video Systems (projected digital signage) in particular, I am pleased to announce that the reasons why WVS has not caught on faster in the retail space are starting to disappear.  Sheer unfamiliarity is the least of these, and the proliferation of screens of all types being used for display has blown that one away.  But for WVS, one big problem has been cost of ownership (projectors aren't cheap, and they're not cheap to maintain when you want to run them 24/7 or even daily.)

A constant stream of upgrading projectors is addressing this, with smaller and smaller projectors getting brighter and brighter.  Costs are likewise coming down.  Most importantly, new projection lamp technologies are directly affecting the issue of lamp life and/or lamp replacement, for the better.

Another issue has been a general lack of expertise in terms of creation, deployment and management of content for WVS systems designed for retail use.  This is also an area where costs have been somewhat prohibitive for higher-effect content look and execution.  I can happily report that Looknglas is bringing increasing expertise and flair to the content creation and management issue.  Better method, as well as efficiencies are on the way.

What this means is, Window Video Systems for retail are more easily available in terms of cost, price and content creation/management than ever before, by a significant increment.  Bottom shelf pricing of systems, attainable by even the humblest retailers, will be a welcome development for the retail sector, and should contribute to a continuing transformation of retail display, messaging, and customer experience.

The "I" effect on Digital Signage

I love my iPhone.  Ipad owners love their iPads.  Ipod users love their iPods.

You know why that is?  Because they're great products: they're well-designed and they work great and do more than you really need them to, but it's great just knowing they can do all that cool stuff.

Digital Signage and Digital Out of Home devices have only partial coolness.  The technology is usually pretty good, but content and ease of use, as well as method, are hit and miss.

That is the great burden which we must bear and find ways to ease:  we live in a generation that is conditioned to unbelievably great products like what Apple has produced and ubiquitously popularized, so everything and everyone else has to try to measure up.  This is a heavy burden indeed.

With DS and DOOH there are very very few places you can go to receive the type of integrated great end result for purposes like retail, at a cost effective price.  The hardware company wants to sell their components, the SaaS or Signage management company wants to sell you their system, the integrator wants to tell you they can put it all together for you, and the content provider wants sell you on their content capabilities.  Imagine if iPhones were sold that way.

You'll argue that apps have to be sold or downloaded separately.  True, but the devices themselves come with so many useful apps and valuable capability, and then the downloading of free apps is so easy, that DS and DOOH pale by comparison.  It is not a end-user-friendly proposition, especially for retailers.

But that is what it needs to be.  Discovering the right level of user tolerance and acceptance/ease-of-use is the task.

I put it to you retail merchandisers:  What would you expect to pay for a Digital Signage solution that was easy for you to use on a daily basis in your store window?  More specifically, what would you expect to pay for a window video system, like a Digital Mannequin, such as the one shown here:

Or such as the one depicted here in the Oakley store:

I would be interested in all your thoughts on pricing such systems.  Let me know!

Engagement is the Goal? What about the Wedding?!

I read a lot about engagement these days, especially as it relates to social media, but also as it relates to DS and DOOH.

One guy wrote:  "It's all about engagement!"

I said to myself, "really?"

If I had told that to my wife in response to her questions about wedding planning, I think there would have been a major sit-down-hash-it-out discussion.

Social media promoters keep telling us it's all about the engagement, but as a consumer/viewer/target audience member, I want to know "When's the wedding?"  What's in it for me?  What's the pay off?  Where's the beef?

And every good business decision maker asks the same thing from their point of view:  "When's this stuff going to start producing a profit for us?"

Engagement is good, but it is only a step in the process which must lead to a wedding, a consummation, a business transaction.  There's got to be a point to it, at least, for us business people who want to make money.

So here's my point:  Engage me, FOR THE PURPOSE OF LEADING ME TO PURCHASE.  If you want to make money, you must engage for the purpose of having a business relationship.  Not just any old relationship, not a casual fling, or a one-night stand.  An honest-to-goodness business relationship, where something is actually sold, something purchased, a want or need is met.

If it's only about engagement, that sounds like an exercise in futility and time-wasting.  I would not suggest investing a cent in a game, event, or display if it doesn't lead, in a direct way, to a purchase, and a successful, satisfying, win-win "relationship".

Now that's something I can "Like".

Look--but don't Touch!

Touch screens are becoming more and more commonplace in the retail environment.  In the search for novelty and "customer engagement" retailers and businesses of other types have installed a variety of touch screen displays for information gathering and general amusement.

When it comes to information gathering, such as kiosks, the touch screen can be useful, but not really necessary.  I happen to prefer pushing buttons to using a touch screen when it comes to getting information or making a transaction.  I like the sensation of feeling or hearing a click when I push on a button.  Touch screens provide no such tactile satisfaction.  In fact, in a lot of cases, they simply don't work very well and require multiple touches or swipes of the finger to produce the desired result.

Talk about FMOT (First Moment of Truth) failure.

Then there's the touch screen "customer engagement" display:  Come and touch the display to play some cheesy game that's not as good as the games I have at home, or to achieve some unimpressive visual result that does nothing for me, produces nothing for me (other than perhaps a momentary diversion) and gains me nothing.

Welcome to customer DIS-engagement.

Don't ever forget: This generation of people cannot be entertained into doing business with you.

Show me something useful, valuable and relevant to ME!  If you try to get me to "touch", you'd better make it worth my while.

Remember, I carry a fantastic touch screen device in my pocket (my iPhone/Android, etc.) that I have customized to my own needs and interests (apps) and I'm in a hurry, so your touch screen had better do something incredible, or you run the fatal risk of becoming irrelevant and/or annoying to me.

Far better to utilize the incredible power of digital visual displays to entice, seduce, interest, inform or engage me.  Show me or tell me something interesting and important to me, and then I'll think about buying from you.  I want to know more about your product, service or offer as it relates to my wants, needs and preferences.  That is all a function of powerful initial display/messaging, which could then possibly could lead to me wanting to "touch".

As businesses and digital communicators we can't put the cart before the horse.  "Touch" isn't necessarily a problem, but it had better lead to a solution.

Change and Motion

One of the great advantages of Digital Signage is that you have the ability to change message.  This does wonders for the sheer volume of messaging afforded to the messager; but it is not by any means the only advantage.

Research has shown that while ongoing motion in images and messaging does not necessarily add to attraction, the onset of motion definitely increases attraction in viewers.

So a big part of the power of Digital Signage is the ability to attract attention by using motion onset, or by the motion inherent in the changing of the message from one message (or screen) to the next.

This, in itself, is a quantum leap for advertisers, display, and other visual communicators.

As this video of the Digital Mannequin illustrates, when that "live" model is up front, doing her thing, the rest of the window display tends to fall out of your view.  That is an example of how overwhelmingly powerful a little change and motion can be in retail and commercial messaging environments.

The projected digital signage systems we use, Window Video Systems (WVS,) allow full motion video, static type messages, limited motion graphics or any combination of all three.

With WVS, change and motion in your messages virtually GUARANTEES eyeballs!  At that point, the only thing limiting your success in selling is whether you can put a selling proposition up there that people are interested in!

Don't worry if you don't have a graphics department.  We provide digital content production and messaging, as do many others.  What matters is putting change and motion to work for you to sell more.

IPhone to run your DS?

After viewing this video, a number of people have inquired whether they could do something like this for their retail signage.

The answer is, "well, yeah, I guess, if you really wanted to..." but why?  I suspect it reflects a desire to try something cool with their iPhone which they already have, so then, "All I'd have to get is that little projector and a screen-thingy like that!"

Which really is great.  I know I sound like I'm laughing at them, and it is kind of amusing, but it is also great that people think DS is cool and want to try something with it.  And at some point, this could make sense.  But the great thing is that this is one of the great advantages that we, in the DS and DOOH field have, is that our stuff is (potentially) really cool.

But not guaranteed cool.  Again, CONTENT (and method) is KING!  It's about effective use of our cool gadgetry.  It's all about effect and business-related results!  We have absolutely got to keep our eye on the prize, which is to produce a business result.

Cool, exciting imagery will sell some systems, but a measure-able ROI-related result is what wins the game.  Make sure you, too, don't get too caught up in all the features and benefits of your system, software and components.  If you are not working with top-flight content or content producers, you need to change that, right away.  If you don't know where to look for that, let us know.  If you have a superior content producer that has produced great content that produces ROI for you, let us know as well; we are always interested in winners.

A Bright Idea - Light diffusion

A very common problem with digital signage window displays is reflectivity of the window glass, particularly in outdoor environments with direct sunlight.

The issue is twofold:  First, your signage is not, and will never be, brighter than the sun.  Second, the surface of the window is reflective, picking up every primary, as well as secondary (or reflective) light source which ultimately wreaks havoc with your window display.

One possible solution is installing anti-reflective film on the exterior surface of the window.  Light diffusive film can be an ally in making your display pop better to passing viewers.

Another solution is LED signage, which is very effective (at distance) but with pixels more obvious at close up range.

We are interested in your thoughts on solutions for the ongoing battle with the sun.  What have your results been?

Measure! Measure! Measure!

"If you don't measure it, you're not serious about it."  I heard Tony Robbins say that, and I believe, oh yes, I believe.

BUT, what you spend your time (and money) on measuring is a critical distinction.  So many are focused and measuring eyeballs, footfalls and what-all other traffic-related metrics.  Fine and dandy.  Those will possibly do you some good when trying to sell to agencies.  But you will not convince me (or them) that those metrics are all you need in order to steer their placement dollars your way.

That's the same school as those enamored of "page views" and clicks.

Big deal.  Is there value to know that?  Sure.  Will it help you sell more?  Possibly.  But once again, I mount my hobby horse and ride across the digital landscape sounding the alarm, waking the sleepers to the critical task at hand:  "ROI!  ROI, ROI!!!"

More and more, companies are prioritizing action and transaction based metrics.  This is why "engagement" has become so popular, but it too, can be a mere siren, luring the unsuspecting DOOH investor and network owner onto the rocks of wasted investment and even business failure due to insufficient ROI.

Action, and better yet, transaction is highest and best.  If all you can manage is traffic, then measure as much and as deep as you can.  But if you can create a metric for action and transaction related measurement, which is more of a marketing/sales related function, then that is where the investment in time and money are better spent.  Develop trackable campaigns and messaging.  Promote engagement via mobile, tactile or best of all POP purchasing action.  Be sure, when you can to propose dedicated selling propositions, something which can only be attributed to the action coming as a result of seeing your visual deployment.

Carefully tracking those actions and their financial value is paramount.  Dollars always compare favorably to digital increments like impressions or views.

"15% off all women's left shoes" placed only on your screens, is a message that is trackable.  The only way anyone asks for that, you know, is if they saw it on your screen, since it is a unique message.  This is what is meant by a "dedicated offer".

Always use dedicated offers whenever possible and ensure that your tracking system is sound (that you have a reliable way of capturing that data.)  That is where you gain the edge in selling (advertising, and more displays) with your DOOH displays.

Projecting the Future

Projected Digital Signage has been around now for sometime, and companies throughout the world are taking advantage of night time hours to continue to promote their businesses and and message in provocative and effective ways.

Projected Digital Signage uses projection to transform window space into a digital screen for advertising and display purposes.  People are only just starting to scratch the surface of this powerful, flexible, and affordable signage option.

In the past, there were technical issues making such displays less effective, but today most of those issues have been or are being addressed with better performing screens, projectors and management systems.

The real issues now are more mundane and practical in nature:  who the heck is going to integrate all this stuff and manage the content?  Who is going to strategize?  Do we have to hire someone to run this?  Do we have to train someone to be able to use this?

At this point in time, these issues are not fully answered, except through companies that are integrators with more marketing expertise and familiarity with the medium.  (Looknglas Window Video Systems would be an example.)  But we're getting closer.  And the power to leverage images to move products and people, to connect, to integrate brick and mortar retail sales with online sales and marketing, is rapidly coming to fruition via DOOH, and in this case, projected digital signage.

The Accountable Screen

How effective is your content at producing measurable results?

Measuring traffic, eyeballs, footfalls, etc., is on a lot of people's minds these days.  But if you've read this blog much at all, you know that for me, and for most business people, the bottom line is the bottom line:  How effective is your DS or DOOH at producing measurable results, SALES results?

If your content is not currently featuring trackable propositions, it is underutilized.  This is the holy grail, people!  Your product, producing measurable sales, revenue, and profit, is the ultimate justification for the existence of our medium!  I think there are few with more potential, that still remain so underachieving.

I'm not sure why that is, but it is borderline criminal.  This is where it's at.  Making money.  When you can demonstrate measurable sales results via your product, for your clients, YOU WIN!!!  No matter what that client does, when you have tracked, proven sales results, nothing they can do can take that away from you.  It is success incarnate.

Strategize unique selling propositions (USP) dedicated to your medium only.  Make sure the measurement mechanism is firmly in place and that you have access to that information.  That is power, the ultimate justification for your product.  Start now, to make your systems accountable.  You will never regret it.  And you will make more money.  The window of opportunity is here.

Written on the Glass

How awesome is it to be able to get the glass working and talking for you?  You gotta watch this video.

Images on the glass are just captivating, there is no two ways about it.  Samsung has created an incredible interactive computer window that will someday, no doubt, be a part of the more high-tech home and businesses.

Today, however, you can't afford it.  Window Video Systems create a very similar effect in terms of messaging.  Everything doesn't have to be touch-screen to be effective.  In fact, when all you need is to get a message across, window video systems are incredibly affordable and effective.  Touch screen capability can be layered in, but honestly, isn't there a huge amount of messaging that should be done in a very straightforward (simple) way without having to go there?

Visual merchandising is largely just that:  Visual.  No sound, no touch.  Those are not really necessary when all you are trying to do is get people's attention so you can message to them.  You would definitely be smart to move towards engaging via driving traffic to Social Media with an on-the-glass message from the real (not virtual) world.  There are so many ways to leverage your window space, and the simple affordable window video system by Looknglas.  Nice job, Samsung.  We applaud you.

In the meantime, get your windows workin'.  The Window of Opportunity is here.

Is "Social" Anti-Social?

This business of Social Networks is really intriguing.  Even the very term, and how it's used.

I will not argue here, about whether "Social" media is actually social or not.  I only observe, that while Social Media may facilitate more of a certain type of interaction and information exchange, it doesn't really totally do what its proponents claim:  that is, give you deep insight into prospective target markets.

Let me start with something simple:  From my perspective, what happens on Social Media looks arm's length and superficial.  The thing that seems to drive it mostly, is some kind of insatiable need to express one's self or one's opinions.  OK, let's say that provides insight.  What kind of insight?  Is it reliable for marketing purposes?  In other words, can you take someone's word about what they think or do, or might do, as authoritative and truthful?

I say no.  People are what they do, not what they say they do.  They are what they do, not what they say they think.  They are what they do, not what they say they are.  The truth is, most people cannot be objective about themselves, and largely, not even about what they think.

This is not to say that Social Media provides no meaningful insight.  It does.  But how to interpret that insight, how to divine the inscrutable intentions of the creators of all this "data"---that is another thing altogether.

Suffice to say, from a reliable marketing point of view, "it ain't that simple"!  Potentially useful, yes.  But reliably useful?  I am holding my fire and keeping my powder dry.

I see Social Media, as it relates to DS and DOOH, as powerfully connective.  People are using it, and to me, that's what matters most.  I advocate using social in concert with Digital signage networks and displays to connect people to the process of transacting business.  Now that tells you something!  Give them a suggestion, and see if they respond.  Give them an incentive and a quick, convenient, easy way to respond financially, and then you have something.

Of the gathering and analysis of data, there is no end.  Give me some people asking for my product or service, or responding to my sales proposition, (even if it's to get something for free,) and now I have something to sink my teeth into.  To believe in Social as a primary, necessary element to effective DOOH messaging or campaigns is to believe in the tail wagging the dog.

Powerful compelling messaging on Digital Signage displays is the engine that will pull Social more strongly into the brick and mortar environment.  There, you can harness the powerful connective properties of Social to actually sell something, and make some money!

The Great Thing about TV in your window

Although LCD screens are becoming more and more ubiquitous in the retail environment, it is still somewhat novel to see an LCD mounted in a store window.  Even more novel is seeing one with anything compelling or interesting.

Having already done enough nitpicking at the shortcomings of many DOOH and DS displays in terms of their content and messaging, let me take the opposite tack:

If you've got a screen up, AT LEAST YOU'RE IN THE GAME!!!

You can't talk on the phone unless you dial.  You can't watch a good movie unless you get out to the theater or put something on your tv screen.  And you can't create an exciting digital display unless you get started.  Sure, everyone's seen LCD screens everywhere.  Sure, much of the content isn't that great.  But YOUR content will never be great unless you get the delivery system installed, and start using it!

Digital Signage, in nearly all forms, has the potential to be extremely powerful, because it is change-able, manipulatable, with endless possibilities.  And those message possibilities are, typically, cost effective.  You can get them up there quickly, without hanging signage, without ladders, and without delay.  If one campaign isn't "working", DS lets you get the next one up there instantly.  There's no sitting around thinking about it.  You develop campaigns as you get the ideas and implement them sequentially whenever necessary, eliminating the immense waste of LOST TIME!  And there is nothing more expensive than LOST TIME.

You think that by not getting around to changing your ineffective display, by not making an immediate investment in your message (whether financially, or investing the time and effort to implement a more effective display campaign) that you are somehow saving money???  WRONG.  The cost of that lost opportunity, or worse, business driven away to your competitors by your poor display, is perhaps the greatest threat to your business.

Digital Signage in your window is not only your friend, it is your very powerful friend.

For non-digital signage and messaging, that inability to change quickly and inexpensively is costing you.  Get your DS working and keep it working.  There is no more powerful marketing tool available in display than Digital Signage.  Invest in strategy and image delivery.  Focus on your selling proposition and how to enhance or re-create it.  Get the Message working!