posted by Video
In the airport, at an event or even at the gas station, you're probably seeing digital signage in more places than ever before due to better, more cost-effective technology. Once reserved mostly for entertainment venues, digital signage now has very real, practical, business uses.
The phrase Digital Out of Home, or DOOH, is being used on the business-to-consumer (B2C) side to describe digital advertising interactions away from the home. This can range from mobile phones and tablets to digital billboards and kiosks. A basic use for digital signage is simply advertising. Consumers view messages from marketers just as they would with any other advertising but unlike print, digital signage can be much timelier and be changed and scheduled based on time of day, the weather or other condition.
For example, imagine a digital kiosk at an outdoor mall. On a sunny day, priority can be given to ads for sunglasses. On a rainy day, priority can be given to ads for rain coats and umbrellas. In the morning, it could show advertising for restaurants that feature breakfast and at night, sit-down restaurants could be featured as dinner options.
There's even technology called anonymous video analytics that can track and adjust content based on who is watching. It can track if a user is attentive (looking at the screen), distance from the screen, watch time, approximate age and gender. It even saves this data for detailed analysis enabling an advertiser to track the effectiveness of an ad and adjust accordingly.
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Digital signage isn't limited to static advertising content. It can incorporate dynamic data feeds like social media, news, weather and other information. Users can be encouraged to interact with the screen through social media, for example, the sign could instruct them to tweet with a certain hashtag. After viewing a message on screen, a user can be encouraged to scan a QR code that will take them to a website with more information. Add touch-screen technology and there are even more possibilities.
You can allow users to find the information they’re looking for via touch interface. If you're more on the entertainment side, you can even make a touch-sensitive game (think of an over-sized iPad!). And if you can't afford the touch-screen hardware, another way to make content interactive is by also incorporating other technologies. For example, have a trivia game on the big screens and allow users to play along through their smart phones.
Have any questions about digital signage and what it can do for your business?
Contact us or fire away in the comment field below.
And stay tuned for Part 2 of our series, where we’ll explore B2B applications of digital signage.
About the author::
Matt Stevens is the manager of
multimedia services and a
graphic designer at thunder::tech. When he doesn't have a camera on his shoulder, he's probably swimming, biking or running (aka training for a triathlon). He also considers himself a proud "tree hugger."
TAGS:
thundertech, multimedia, video, digital, signage, sign, interactive, ad, advertising, b2c, dooh, out of home
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2 Comment(s)
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Mark said:
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| Have you ever thought of incorporating scent into the signage? Bakery or coffe scent in the morning, grilling burgers at lunch, or even fresh linen in conjunction with a dry cleaner. Far more impactful impression than just another screen.
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| June 14, 2012 aP 4:51 PM
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Matt Stevens said:
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| Mark:: Although we have not yet done any work with scent, it is a viable option in certain situations. I would just caution that if there were multiple ads playing with multiple scents, that could get a little overwhelming for the viewer if they start to overlap.
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| June 26, 2012 aP 6:27 PM
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