Because everyone has that. Well, not everyone, but even a big screen is just a big screen.
Window Video Systems (projected digital signage) allow for eye-popping effects, different size possibilities, customized visual formats, and most of all, a completely different effect than an installed screen.
Window Video Systems (WVS) use projection and rear projection films applied to window glass to literally turn the glass into a video screen---hence the name, Looknglas.
Businesses, especially retail, need and crave fresh, attention-grabbing content. The key to effective implementation is not hardware! (Everybody's so fixated on hardware and gadgetry---thanks Apple!)
The issue is, what do you have to say? What is the value of that message?
Invest in the message, a really good, powerful message, that is strategic and measurable. All the things I have been saying for years. Don't invest in hardware, invest in messaging to your target audience effectively, and you'll never go wrong.
Feel free to ask any questions about this system or how it can work for your business. Let's blow some minds!
He does a video blog called "Cohen on Content" http://onthecspot.com/archives/1070 dishes on all things DS and DOOH. Being a successful owner of a network himself for years, he knows a thing or two about the subject.
So I was watching his latest post, and though he takes a while to get going, he makes some great points.
Point 1: Don't think you're going to create DS content with Powerpoint. You don't want him coming after you speaking a language he knows you'll understand. (He speaks fluent baseball bat.)
Points 2-10: It's not about impressions. It's not about eyeballs. It's about making money. You have to have engagement, and a way to prove that engagement, be it third party corroboration, sales, track-able promotions, or whatever, you need to show that you are accomplishing something, preferably making money.
DS and DOOH are not about putting up a screen where you think a bunch of people will see it. It is about effectively accomplishing serious business objectives. And you don't do that by being the next DIY digital signage failure. You do it by knowing what you're doing; what hardware and software platforms are apropos to your purpose, and what content and strategy will accomplish that purpose.
Engagement is awesome. Interacting with your audience, intriguing them, interesting them, entertaining them, and... and... then what?
Many of us have gotten good at engaging through Social Media by creating or pushing relevant or interesting content. But once that's up and going, how good are you at moving beyond mere engagement to something more business related, like... wait for it... BUYING?!!! Here's a good example of engagement with audience:
This is a pretty technical display, and not cheap by any means. How much time would you see yourself spending interacting with this? Can you see yourself buying as a result?
Personally, I can't see this moving me any closer to a purchase.
Meaningful business-related engagement must be for the purpose of transacting at some point, preferably sooner than later. The average retailer couldn't dream of investing in this display long term or on a widespread basis. When the path to purchasing becomes clearer, then this type of display and technology becomes much more valuable to the retailer.
Don't get me wrong; I love this technology and attraction value, but I think it's a little disconnected from the rest of the customer experience in the clothes-buying process.
How would you revise this display to become a "customer-ing" engagement display tool? How could this be re-positioned to better encourage purchasing?
My philosophy is to use any display like this as a means to attract, engage, propose, incentivize, and motivate to purchase. But I'm kind of a fuddy-dud that way.
I get a lot of requests for info about the Digital Mannequin, and Window Video Systems, generally.
Now, if you asked that question about a standard mannequin, it would be a very different kind of answer. Materials, structural joints, air, etc.
But a Digital Mannequin is a human representation. It is not a likeness, it is a digital leveraging of an actual person. This goes to the issue of content, concept, content creation, the interplay between tech and creative.
The question goes to the point of product (let's say, clothing) and strategically, the best way to sell that product. What model(s)? What makeup? What lighting? Background, resolution, luminosity, graphics, etc., etc. Who shoots that model? How much content do you shoot? Who selects the shots, angles, location, directs the models, on and on, you get the idea.
And what is the strategic concept for the display? Display only, or display and promo? What is the offer and how is it offered? What graphical style, font, size, color, other effects?
The photo at the top of this page shows an actual model, who was part of a shoot featuring 4 models, multiple costumes, wardrobe personnel, makeup artist, video camera man, director of photography, myself, and several others. This is not a DIY type of project!
When people say "content is king" these issues are part of what they mean. The hardware portion of a Digital Mannequin display is only a small part of the effectiveness of DM. The screen or projection is an important but only small part of the DM display. If you don't have the expertise in those areas, you need to find that expertise. Contact me for more info about how we can provide you the best integration, effect and result from your DM display.
I am not a huge fan of sound with Digital Signage generally.
But being an audio guy (20 years in radio) I appreciate the value of audio communication. And I want to make one thing crystal clear: AUDIO ROCKS!!!
Who doesn't like audio? What am I, nuts?!!! Of course audio can be very effective.
My position is simply that audio is not always required, or even desirable. Billboards neither utilize nor need audio to be effective.
At the same time, in place-based DOOH messaging, many times there is already ambient audio playing. You can hardly go anywhere retail-oriented without being blasted with someone else's idea of a "good" soundtrack or radio channel. This is not only annoying, it is extremely distracting for many people, me being one.
Audio clutter can be every bit as destructive to effective messaging as visual clutter. I have always been a proponent of focused, directed messaging, without clutter.
That being said, there are definitely times when audio is not only helpful, it's critical. When you really want to grab someone's attention, use audio unexpectedly, and with a clear focused point and benefit. For example: Let's say you have a digital sign hanging in a salon window with an attractive woman modeling a hair style. If the model were to all of a sudden, look you straight in the eye, and address you, digital though she may be, it would get your attention, big time. If she then proceeded to call your attention to the fact that if you bring your wife in for a cut, you can get one for free, you'd probably strongly consider the offer!
That entire chain of events began with the disruptive and unexpected use of audio. A definite advantage. Like all strategies, when overused, it reaches a point of diminishing returns. But in small, selective, strategic doses, I like audio for DOOH. What do you think?
When it comes to Visual Messages, particularly in DS and DOOH, people don't tell you when you suck.
Nobody calls you up and says, "Hey, that screen in the airport? You know the graphic with the -------, that one? It really blows. I was so uninterested, I didn't even pay attention!"
You get no feedback on ineffective messaging.
This allows for a great deal of ineffective content to flow right on our there into the space, giving your display, the location where it's deployed, anyone who works there that's close by, and of course you and your company, and the Digital Signage industry generally, A BAD NAME!
Poor visual content and method are responsible for a lot of the fails in this industry. DON'T CONTRIBUTE TO IT!
This display is a good example of bad. You'll notice that not one person even looks. The image doesn't grab you. It's very faint. When you finally do notice (which in this case, could be never,) the images don't convey anything specific or relevant. That is a bad thing for DS or DOOH. Don't blame the hardware, or the software, or the location. Blame the execution and complete lack of relevant content.
Develop campaigns that are trackable, and then work on the message. Tweak it. Don't settle for the status quo. Don't assume that it's good enough, or that the results you get are the limit of effectiveness for that campaign. With visual messaging, it's not always the proposition (or lack of one.) Sometimes it's the method or style of the visuals surrounding the message.
A great deal more attention needs to be paid to testing the effectiveness, and then understanding why certain visual messages are effective. In my view, this is an area where DOOH needs to focus a lot more attention. It's not just about the hardware, placement, software, or management. It's how that message content is put together and knowing, to the greatest degree possible why a message works or doesn't work. For that you need measurement and analysis.
You want to make money in DS? Understanding your content and why it produces the result it does is key to ensuring profitability.
I thought it time to revisit this topic from a previous post ("Projected Digital Signage"), to check on the progress of the method.
It would appear that progress is there from a potential standpoint, but not in terms of actual use. Let me break it down:
Progress: Components and system software/management continue to improve with prices coming down. More companies appear to be showing interest in Digital Signage, especially for retail Point-of-sale (POS), and coming out with newer, more versatile components.
A lot of interest has been paid to touch screen technology as it relates to engagement.
The projector industry continues to advance; they have all the capabilities, but they don't seem to be focusing on their product so much as a primary element of digital signage, though more and more seem to be factoring that possibility into their design and features.
We have come up with a solution for the issues of direct sunlight and refracted glare, especially from multiple sources. Since glare can play havoc with any projection or other screen behind glass, (such as a store window,) this is a significant step.
More and more people continue to express and demonstrate interest in the method, trying it out, but not a lot of long term installs yet. This should change as we demonstrate lower cost of ownership, and higher value of use.
Needs Improvement: Pricing needs to come more into line with a level more accessible on a widespread basis.
Most implementations are temporary, and isolated. To date, I am not aware of any chain which has adopted projected signage across their brand.
Although the method has been used to create "engagement", that engagement has been mostly on a gimmicky, "look what we can do" basis, but not in a functional, ROI-based way to engage the viewing audience for the purpose of directly doing business. This is a key change that needs to occur. So far most installs have been strictly for display. The method needs to be adapted to more transaction-based purposes, for promotion, and especially sales.
More attention needs to be paid to content production specific to the method, and specific to ROI-based objectives.
Below is an example of a WVS implementation with some of the problems I point out:
Although the method has undeniable coolness, its viability for business will not come to fruition until these issues are resolved.
Overall, projection systems for retail have not made the jump to serious, affordable, long-term business solution. I believe that chasm can be crossed, but the issues mentioned above need to be addressed.
At Looknglas, we have addressed these issues. When the marketplace comes to grips with the reality that these systems are not widgets, but rather, serious communications and POS marketing solutions, the Window Video System will have arrived.
The Window of Opportunity is here: the problems have been solved by Looknglas. Let us help you develop your POS window display and promo system for true, measurable ROI.
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.
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.)
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.
Which would you rather do, Tweet, or message at the point of purchase?
Not that the two are mutually exclusive, but hey, if you or your marketing people have figured out that somehow a sales or promo message is better on a phone than on your storefront window, then by all means, tweet.
On the other hand, you might conclude that it is better to message to the customer when they are right in front of your store, and that creating a way for them to look more closely at your window and tell them to come inside and get 10% off anything in the store, is a more effective investment of your marketing dollars.
You may have plenty of money for either investment, but then again, maybe not. If not, invest in your own location and make it as powerfully attractive as possible. This is the entire premise of Window Video Systems, by Looknglas. Put a bright, moving, motivating message in your window. And then refresh it whenever you want. Or improve it. Or add to it. Or put accompanying product images along with. As many as you want.
Can't do that with texting, can't do that in a tweet. Do the smart thing. Get a Window Video System.
