Driving Retail

Digital Mannequin, screens in the window, digital signage a point of purchase, all should do more than display if you want return on your investment.

This video illustrates how the window display attracts attention, while larger in-store screens demonstrate specific sales promos.  This method creates the excitement of dynamic motion-display, attracting customers' eyes and attention, motivating them to initial action (coming in the store,) then to buying action (promotional offer at point of purchase.)  At this point, a "customering" offer can be made, text or QR coupon redeemable with the next purchase, or other reward-based promotion.

The important thing is to always include a trackable, measurable call to action.  This is where creating that engaging, dynamic customer experience is possible, where the opportunity to create and strengthen a bond in one single line of messaging and action.

Powerful!  And profitable.  Get your systems, images and messages coordinated and keep them moving in a business-oriented direction.  That's where the money is.  That's where the provable power and life-pulse of Digital Signage is.

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".

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.

Interactive Display? Show Me the Money!!!

I don't usually refer other blogs or articles, but I read one (link below) that I thought was so on-point, I had to talk about it.  

It would appear that “Interactive” has too often become a euphemism for “silly, game/entertainment related touch-screen based display”.  

Lots of people will tell you “Interactive needs to be engaging.”  That is very true, but it is also very much a potential trap, because “engaging” is a subjective term.  It would appear that implementers of so much "interactive" seem to lose sight of a bottom-line business imperative: making money.  I know, that sounds so crass, so unimaginative.  Well, it’s really important to the people who pay for this stuff.

Interactive DOOH has got to “grow up” as the author of the article below says, and prove it’s money making, ROI-producing chops.  It is the key to getting a lot more business in the future for yourself and for your client.  It's not just about the coolness of the hardware, or the coolness or "fun" of the design concept, it's about how does this make the client money?  Just because you lured a few people into playing your stupid game, or dancing, does NOT mean you succeeded at any type of business objective.  Getting people to play games on your window has NOTHING to do with making a profit.  And your clients will not continue to pay for "Interactive" that does not in any way lead to profit.

Any Interactive display on or in a business should be somehow directly related to getting that person or the people watching to BUY SOME PRODUCT!  As a direct marketer for my entire professional career, I can tell you:  Clients will not continue to purchase something which they do not believe somehow leads to them making more money.  ROI is the driving force, today more than ever.  When DOOH (and especially, Interactive) demonstrates that ability clearly and consistently, we win the game. (And make more money.)


Flat-out, plain and simple, “SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!”

Article URL:  http://www.digitalooh.biz/2011/11/14/digital-ooh-needs-to-grow-up-now/

Integration: Mix and Match, Or...?

I've been getting questions about whether Looknglas systems can integrate with other systems or components.

Some have already invested in components, a screen here or there, and Digital control system, software or player. The question is basically coming from the standpoint, will this piece of hardware work with that one, or will this software control system work with those projection systems?

I guess the answer is, uhh, maybe.

The reality is that there are a great many components and software/hardware platforms out there. Digital Signage is a big fat generality. Theoretically, a lot of the stuff out there will work with a lot of the other stuff. You can't really know for certain about how anything works for or with anything else in a certain environment, for a given purpose, (with whatever content and look you envision,) until you evaluate and test. Assembling a Digital Signage or Display system isn't all that simple, because it's not just a gathering of technology hardware. Like with all serious business investments, a properly implemented system is a matter of goals and objectives, tailored specifically to the clients wants, needs and operating environment.

Digital Signage is really about your message, or how you want to communicate (talk) to your target audience. So you want to talk to them? Let's talk.

Driving the Dealership: Customer Experience

Auto Dealers are a real mixed bag. A walk around the dealership lot, showroom, and customer lounge will give you a pretty quick idea of their perspective on selling cars. The perspectives could be summed up as the two poles:
A. Who gives a crap? We'll shove our cars on you and squeeze you for as much as we can.
B. You are a valued customer who we feel privileged to serve, and we'd like you to come back and bring your family and friends.

Most dealers are somewhere between those two poles, but all the best dealers are closer to the second perspective. Customer service, and Customer Satisfaction are paramount to these auto professionals, and Customer Experience is an integral part of both.

You can't overemphasize the value of (good) Customer Experience. It begins with the very first contact and impression that your dealership makes on the customer. And continues throughout the process.

Window Video Systems by Looknglas, are an integral part of creating an exciting and reassuring experience for your customer, which increases the liklihood of a purchase, and cements the sale. Your brand produces so much content, and so much of it goes unnoticed, or worse, never even viewed. That is because the delivery systems are not adequate to the quantity and quality of those graphic messages. Still shots, type messages, and video, are all produced in abundance by the brands, but often poorly displayed at the dealership.

Window Video Systems put those images and messages right on the Windows of your dealership or showroom! Digital Windows displaying the same quality images the customer saw online, or in their favorite publication, the same selling propositions, create a continuity and credibility of the messages. That is, "Oh it really is true." That is enormous in securing the sale and the ongoing business of that customer. If they believe (in) you, they will do business, refer business, and come back for more.

Digital Posters, Digital Windows, even Digital Mannequins as initial sales greeters or presenters, will all create an impression of progressiveness, quality, intrigue, and excitement. And that's what you want in a customer, excitement, and anticipation. Window Video Systems may be the ultimate enhancement to the customer experience.