Digital Signage Blog Archives
Posts Tagged ‘Signage Industry’
2011 Digital Signage Quiet Achievers
2011 has been great year for digital signage but in the media all we hear about is the big digital signage manufacturers/developers launching new products and the large digital signage network owners growing their networks.
We hardly hear about the smaller companies launching their unique and innovative digital signage solutions and this year we want to recognise the quiet achievers. So if you’re a small business, let us know about your digital signage project so we can share this with the rest of the digital signage industry.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Guest Post: Wireless Internet and Digital Signage
Written by Guest Blogger: Heather McDaniels
When you see a message scrolling or flashing across a billboard, or a video advertisement on the side of a stadium, or even short videos streamed on scoreboards at ballgames, you are seeing products of what is known as the digital signage industry. You are of course familiar with the concepts of advertisement and entertainment in public places, designed to meet a large audience; the digital signage industry is essentially an extension of these ideas, by which the same advertisement and entertainment are brought to the public through digital media. Now, thanks to the spread and usefulness of wireless internet, digital signage seems to be expanding even more, to the point that it will likely soon be surprising to see a billboard that does not change periodically, or a message that does not scroll endlessly.
Already, it is a bit strange to think back just a few years to when digital signage was a far smaller industry. Billboards used to always be solid, painted, and unchanging, and television screens in public areas (such as airports or the hallways at large stadiums) could sometimes only display one message. Now, it is extremely common to see billboards that can change their messages several times per minute (vastly expanding the number of advertisements they can display in a given amount of time), or screens scrolling messages that used to have to be posted one at a time, or one per screen. This is how far the digital signage industry has come just in the last few years, and, again, with the spread of wireless Internet, the industry will continue to grow.
Just like anything else that can use a wireless connection, the absence of cables and physical connections essentially signals a massive increase in speed and convenience. Not so long ago, you had to connect your computer by a cable reaching to a phone jack in the wall in order to access the Internet; now, you need only connect wirelessly to the nearest available network to enjoy high-speed, reliable Internet access. It is the same with the digital signage industry. Advertisers and entertainers are now able to mount television screens and other media display mechanisms just about anywhere they want, and can remotely, wirelessly cause messages to run across them. This is just another way that wireless Internet has improved the clarity, scope, and efficiency with which we do things – and the networks and speeds involved are only getting bigger and faster.
Category: Digital Signage Guest Posts
Advertise Me at the Digital Signage World 2011
advertise me has showcased their digital signage solutions at the Digital Signage World 2011. The event was held over two days (9th & 10th June 2011) at Hall 1 at Darling Harbour Exhibition Center Sydney Australia. The Digital Signage World 2011 is the second digital signage event that has been held in Australia and is the only dedicated tradeshow and conference for the digital signage industry and included seminars from key speakers and exhibitors.
Advertise Me was one of the many exhibitors at the event which included large companies such as Sharp, Fujitsu and Netcomm. During this exhibition, Advertise Me stood out from their competitors by demonstrating the use of Social Networking tools such as Twitter and Foursquare to communicate real time information on the screen. The setup of their stand was also unique which incorporated the use of a video wall(2×2 47″ FULL High Definition LCD Panasonic screens) to demonstate different applications for digital signage. Here’s the setup:
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The digital signage software that was used for delivering and distributing the content to the screens was PADS Professional developed by a Netherlands based company called Net Display Systems. Net Display Systems has thousands of installations in multiple market sectors from transportation, corporate and government to hospitality and retail.
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The PADS Professional software was installed on the Shuttle XS35 – one of the smallest and powerful PC we’ve seen on the market. The unit has an atom processor with an NVIDIA ION graphics chip set and is able to play Full HD videos without any issues. In actual fact, we played a number of Full HD Videos at the same time and didn’t notice any lag. For convenience, the unit can be mounted on the back of a screen with a Shuttle VESA mounting kit.
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The top left hand screen demonstrated the use of Twitter, Foursquare, News and Weather feeds, and the ability to show real time video (USB Camera) as an input source.
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The top right hand screen demonstrated the use of Advertise Me’s custom built SMS solution. This digital signage solution enabled visitors to select a music video clip from a list by texting a code to a mobile number. According to the company, this application can be used with any digital signage software that can be connected to the Internet and it’s use can be applied in any industry. Advertise Me also used this solution to distribute the PADS demo key via SMS.
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The bottom left hand screen played marketing videos and was also used to demonstrate the PADS software. This allowed Advertise Me to answer and show the user how easy the system is to use.
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The bottom right hand screen played an image slideshow demonstrating the use of digital signage in different industries such as hospitality, education, retail and the corporate sector.
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Facial recognition, hand and SMS interactivity were some of the innovative technologies being showcase at the exhibition and it is anticipated that businesses will soon adapt to these new technologies in Australia.
Advertise Me would like to thank their sponsors for their help and assistance:
- Net Display Systems
- Shuttle/Altech
- Panasonic
- Visual Sounds
- Squeak.com.au
Here’s a few more photos of the expo:
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Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Digital Signage Beauty or the Beast
The title of this post may lead you to believe that I’ll be writing about a movie but I decided to share with our readers my thoughts on the digital signage screens/hardware in the current market. This is divided between the Beauty and the Beast.
Let me explain. The Beauty are those devices that look very expensive and pleasing to the eye but functionally, the system behind it is useless. It may catch your attention at first but then when you get to know the ins and outs of the device, you’ll just put it to the side and wished you never purchased it. Then you have the Beast, which I classify as devices that look weird, ugly and cheap but is sturdy and the overall system is exactly what you want. So which one are you currently using at the moment?
In the years that I’ve been in the digital signage industry, I’ve seen so many Beauties and Beasts. We constantly receive emails from overseas businesses showcasing their products and to be honest there’s never been one that just stood out. Maybe it could be time for us to start developing our own system.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Show me the money Digital Signage!
I have been asked this question quite a number of times and thought I’d give my opinion on which areas you can make money in the digital signage industry. I have broken this up into the following areas:
Selling Hardware/Software
I believe this is an area that the majority of the IT and AV companies are getting into which has now become over saturated and too competitive. With the growing number of digital signage manufacturers and developers, choosing the right solution is also now becoming more difficult. There are too many options available on the market. Each system has it’s own features and issues so choosing the most suitable solution has now become more difficult. I don’t believe there is a one size fits all solution on the market and please don’t try to convince me. I’ve seen and tested quite a number of products, both hardware and software packages and they seem to be either too limited in it’s capabilities or too comprehensive which equates to being too expensive. If you’re starting a business in the digital signage industry, selling hardware and software packages is not where the bulk of the money is unless you started at the early stages of the digital signage boom, or if you became a distributor of a well know digital signage company in your country. I don’t believe resellers make a lot of money just by selling another company’s equipment or software.
Now if you’re thinking of developing your own player then that’s worse. You’re going to struggle selling and and penetrating the market unless your solution is innovative and different from the others.
Maintenance
This is an area or service you would generally offer to clients who are purchasing hardware and software. The only drama is that a large percentage of clients do not think or budget for this particular service. It’s pretty much like selling life insurance to someone who doesn’t want it so if you have a good sales pitch and provide your client with this service then you may be able to earn some yearly revenue. The only catch is to make sure your hardware is reliable so that you don’t have to spend the time, money and resources to replace failed equipment. If its software, you may be able to charge an additional fee for upgrades and maintaining patches etc. I don’t believe there’s much money to earn from this aspect of the digital signage business.
Installations
This involves anything from installing the screen, digital signage player, configuring the software, network, cabling etc. These are one off costs and generally its for paying the labour costs – either charged per hour or per screen. So if your an installer you can make a bit of money from this but it’s not where the big $$$ are.
Content
There’s no point in installing a digital signage system if there’s no content. The saying “Content is KING” can be misinterpreted but in in the digital signage world content is important. There are different types of content e.g video, images, text, RSS feeds, MRSS feeds, news, TV and if you’re a designer, content producer or provider you can make quite a bit of money especially when content needs to be refreshed on a daily or weekly basis.
Advertising Network
I strongly believe this is where the “secret treasure chest” is. Simply put, an advertising network is a collection of screens and an operator manages the contents on all of these screens. I know most advertising networks struggle in the first few years to make a reasonable profit but once they expand their screen and viewer coverage then they will be able to make a considerable amount of money. Advertisers are always looking at ways of marketing their new products and services and digital out of home advertising is an area that most advertisers are looking at spending their marketing dollars.
Building a advertising network can become costly at first (the operator covers the costs of all of the above areas) but the ROI is high if done well. It will be the most difficult and the most challenging but at the same time it will be the most rewarding.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Senior Product Line Manager For Digital Signage
Looks like there is another job posting for the digital signage industry. This job is based in Denver Colorado and its for a Senior Product Line Manager. According to the website getdigitaljobs.com the employer is Harris Digital Signage and this is the job post: (If you’re interested visit the website here)
Harris Digital Signage is looking for an experienced and technical Senior Product Line Manager to manage Harris? Digital Signage solution and products. In this role, you will be a member of a dynamic team with a start-up mentality to innovate and drive the direction of the Harris Digital Signage Solution for Digital-Out-of-Home networks. If you are a highly motivated individual with a proven track record and looking to bring innovative solutions to the market, you don?t want to miss this great opportunity.
While managing a team of two product managers, gather, prioritize, and document solution requirements and validate value proposition
Lead cross-functional team in concept development, new product introduction and lifecycle management for Harris? Digital Signage solution
Communicate and refine solution requirements with development team, and successfully guide product design, implementation, testing, and maintenance.
Analyze market and business trends, and develop solution requirements and roadmap plans to deliver to future market needs across a variable set of target verticals
Manage cross-functional relationships for the development of new products – including working with engineering, manufacturing, finance, and operations.
Participate on relevant standards committees and help to ensure product compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements
Accountable for program metrics, including roadmap development, schedule, cost analysis, pricing analysis, product forecasting, product quality, and customer satisfaction
Present technology, product, and roadmap to key audiences, including customers, partners, and internal groups.Qualifications:
* Undergraduate degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
* 5+ years of technical Product Management and/or technology marketing experience with 2+ years in a supervisory capacity
* 5+ years of expereince hiring, managing and developing a great team
* 5+ years of expereince in delivering products and services in a high growth environment
* 5+ years of expereince with technical concepts, managing tradeoffs and evaluating opportunistic new ideas with internal and external partnersPreferred Additional Skills:
* MBA and/or advanced degree highly desirable
* Proven analytical and quantitative skills; ability to use hard data and metrics to back up assumptions, recommendations, and drive actions
* Strengths in problem solving, issue-resolution, ability to work in a deadline-driven work environment, attention to detail, and ability to multitask
* Ability to work cross-functionally across many internal teams
* Prior experience in Digital Signage, DOOH is preferred
Category: Digital Signage Jobs
Digital Signage Job in LA as Regional Sales Manager
I came across another digital signage job today and from this I can sense the digital signage industry is booming in some parts of the world. This is probably the second job posting I saw this month advertising for a digital signage job in LA. The first was posted by one of our readers (Frank) – see the post here. The job is for a Regional Sales Manager in Los Angeles for a company called InlineAdz. It pays US$75k which is not too bad since it include commission etc. The job can be found here and good luck to those who are applying.
Category: Digital Signage Jobs
Guest Bloggers on the digital signage blog
It’s official, after many years of blogging we have decided to open our doors and accept guest bloggers. After some discussions we decided to invite digital signage industry experts from all over the world to help us share their industry experiences and insights with the rest of the digital signage community.
It is an open invitation, however, we are selective on the content.
There are some guidelines that need to be taken into thought when producing each post.
We will NOT be accepting:
- Advertisements about your company
We will include a short description about who you are and your company but we will not accept a post that is solely focused on advertising your company or your products. - PRs that get splatted across the internet
We want unique content so if it’s a PR that has already been submitted on the internet we will not accept it. - Duplicate blog posts
Please do not copy and paste content from your current blog, Unique content is what makes the digital signage blog different and we would like to keep it this way - Posts that indemnify or scrutinise other people or companies
As the title suggests, this part is pretty much self-explanatory. Please keep your content professional.
We will be limiting to publish 1 post per guest blogger a week.
We are looking for guest bloggers that have a passion about digital signage and are not purely looking for an avenue to advertise their company – we have a paid advertising section for this! So if you think you fit in this criteria and are interested to become a guest blogger for the digital signage blog then send us an email at info@digitalsignageblog.com with a short description on what you can offer to this blog and we’ll get back to you.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Guest Posts, Featured Post
What are some of the biggest challenges the digital signage industry is facing in 2010?
We would like to hear from our readers “What are some of the biggest challenges the digital signage industry is facing in 2010?”
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Digital Signage Proof of Concept
Are proof of concepts a thing of the past? When we first started in the digital signage industry it was quite common for us to prove to potential clients that the solution they were getting met their requirements. The only way we could prove this was to setup a “proof of concept” – this is were we setup a trial and install the system for free and the client gets to test this for a period of time.
This gives the client the opportunity to test the waters and determine whether the solution does what the client wants. At the same time it gives the client the opportunity to iron out some of their concerns and issues. At the end of the proof of concept the clients decides whether they rollout or continue with the solution. For the vendor they must do whatever they can to ensure they satisfy the client and win the clients business. Generally, the vendor must subside the cost of the hardware, software and professional services costs – so in reality it’s like a gamble.
As a digital signage solution provider we research the market and select products that exactly meets the clients requirements. A happy customer = a happy business.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Should digital signage operators pay TAX for digital signage screens?
I just read on the digitalsignagearticles.com that a few people have posted a twitter post about an Italian Tax on digital signage. Basically the article is about a tax (100 euro per year per screen/location) that needs to be paid by network operators in Italy to the government. I haven’t really seen that many implementations in Italy but it sounds like their Government is trying to cash in the digital signage industry. Why – because the Government can see that $$$ and revenues businesses are making from advertising on digital screens.
I’m pretty sure that this digital signage TAX will flow through many of our countries and operator or the owners of the screens will be expected to pay the government for having a screen at the front of their store facing the public areas.
So let’s start a poll to see what your responses are.
Are there any countries that are currently paying for digital signage Tax?
Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
A great digital signage sales proposal
What does it take to develop a great digital signage sales proposal?
Whichever way you look at it, spending the time and money to develop a great digital signage proposal is one of the best ROI outcomes that your business will see. So were do you start with creating a proposal if you haven’t done one before. Putting together the first digital signage proposal will always be the most difficult but if it’s done right you can re-use this and develop a template to suit your business and your clients. Now, you have to remember that creating a great digital signage sales proposal can be a major difference between your company’s success or failure and this depends on how well you delivered and prepared for the proposal.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
3D modelling and animation – content for digital signage
If you’ve seen the movie Avatar then you should know that I’m refeering to when I mention about 3D. Yes, 3D technology is now becoming more affordable but importantly its catching the attention of the digital signage industry. Various screen manufacturers have released 3D screens that do not require the use of 3D glasses. As more of these screens are being installed in retails stores or corporate offices, businesses will need 3D content to place on these screens.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Digital Signage, Information Technology and the Audio Visual Industry
advertise me has been in the digital signage industry since its infancy in Australia and we’ve experienced the convergence of the Information Technology and Audio Visual industry. Both are now becoming so dependent on each other that professionals in the IT industry are learning skills from the audio visual industry and vice versa.
What are the main reasons behind this and which industry does digital signage fit in?
In this particular post I will attempt to explore these areas and hopefully others can follow and join me with sharing their thoughts and ideas on this particular topic.
Let’s firstly look at the roles and responsibilities of both industries:
The IT industry
Generally speaking, when someone uses the term IT (Information Technology), the first thing that comes to their mind is computers – basically this is what the majority of digital signage players are (embedded computers, laptops, desktops, Macs etc). One thing that needs to be clarified is that IT encompasses much more than computers, it covers broader areas such as software development, desktop management, server management (Windows, Linux, Mac, etc), network infrastructure, security and helpdesk support. All of these areas form the basic foundation of the IT backbone and digital signage is one of those technologies which have a great dependency on the IT framework. The design, stability of the overall IT infrastructure needs to work in order for the digital signage network to also be reliable and efficient.
Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Featured Post
The perfect digital signage player
You may be quite disappointed when you read this but I’m quite sad to say that since the start of my professional career in the digital signage industry I do not believe there is a “perfect” digital signage player in the market. Like everything else in this world nothing is perfect and depending on our perception of what perfect is, we may not be able to find one.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
Weekend Fun: Playing with the digital camera
This weekend I thought I’d play around with the Nikon D60 Digital SLR camera and test my skills in trying to take those “awesome” shots. Now, since we’re in the digital signage industry I thought I’d take photos of something relating to this industry (basically anything I had lying around) and here’s what I could find:
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High Definition Set Top Box and DVD player. Both were connected to a rear projector screen. |
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S-video cable – this is becoming almost obsolete but you’ll be surprised on how many digital signage players are actually using this type of connectors |
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Short VGA cable – at Advertise Me, we like to make sure all cables are to the correct lengths |
I also took several photos of a vegetarian place I went to called Zen Oasis in Berrima Australia. We have a strong belief in our company that “a healthy body and mind allows one to achieve higher levels of growth”. The food was awesome and the environment was tranquil and peaceful. If you’re around that area, I highly recommend that you visit this place (make sure you book in advance as it’s always busy). Here’s a few photos that I took: (by the way, I’ve had no lessons on photography so apologies if they look amateur).
Category: Digital Signage Weekend Fun
Advertise Me interviews Blue Pony
| advertise me: | Hi Nathan, thanks for joining us for this interview. |
| Nathan: | No problem we appreciate the opportunity for conversation. |
| Advertise Me: | Could you please tell us a little bit about Blue Pony, and it’s history? |
| Nathan: | Blue Pony emerged in July of 2004 as a custom content creation company. We were formed by the owners Joel and Keersten Nichols. Joel and Keersten recognized the digital trend and the industries forming and embracing new technologies. We started creating content for the entertainment industry for concert tours. Our content has been used on tour with Sara McLachlan, Poison, the Eagles, in the Movies with Alvin and the Chimpmunks, and on TV with American Idol and America’s Got Talent. Along the way we found a natural fit creating great content for other industries. We felt especially at home with the growing digital signage Industries. We feel quality content is a need across all industries utilizing visual media. |
| Advertise Me: | I really like the Blue Pony Logo, how did the company come up with that name and the inspiration for the logo animation? |
| Nathan: | Thanks, we get a lot of compliments on it. Our sister company, Apollo Design Technology, makes lighting accessories like gobos, gobo rotators, gel, and more for the lighting entertainment industry. Our owners named Apollo after their beloved horse they received companionship from for 23 years. Unfortunately, Apollo passed away last spring. It seemed natural to build the new company sporting the name, Blue Pony. |
| Advertise Me: | In the digital signage industry, the term “Content is king” can sometimes be misinterpreted. What is your explanation for this statement? |
| Nathan: | I look at it this way. You can have the greatest technology to playback, display, schedule, and report with but at the end of the day the content playing back is what counts the most. There are certainly other variables that must align to add to success like location and placement, but effective well designed content is crucial. If the content is not effective the viewer won’t be engaged. If the viewer is not engaged by the content it is not an effective advertisement. Ineffective advertising is not likely to be renewed by the advertiser. |
| Advertise Me: | Thank you for that explanation. Now ,what type of content does Blue Pony supply and what is so different about the content Blue Pony supplies? |
| Nathan: | Great looking, well designed content is a great first step. What makes it kingly is matching it to the demographic (matching the style and material to the right group), dwell time requirements (what are the conditions of the environment? How much time do we have to communicate the message?), and environment (Making sure the content looks and feels at home and not odd and awkward). We create custom tailored content with an efficient and effective design process. Our design staff is experienced with Digital Signage ads and they have developed a thorough understanding on how to create effective signage content. We believe firmly that unique, custom content is important that is why even our “stock content” offering has a custom aspect. |
| Advertise Me: | What is the difference between stock and custom content? |
| Nathan: | In addition to a completely custom content option we have a content line in development called, Quick Designs. A Quick Design is a base design created by our design staff. The animation can be chosen as a spring board for design and we can plug in logos, images, and different text call-outs. We can even make color changes too. When you choose a Quick Design, one of our skilled designers will ensure your completed ad will look great. We feel it is better than a “template” that inevitably doesn’t quite work for whatever reason. Plus a template will likely look just like the one the other guy bought.
We also have a line called Dash Packs and regular stock background loops. Some of our Dash Packs are themed filler material for your network. Holiday greetings and celebrity birthdays are some that we have offered. http://digitalsignage.bluepony.com/content-options/dash-packs/ We never stop creating content, whenever we have time we work on new motion backgrounds to add to our online web library of stock content. Stock background loops are used across many industries. They are affordable and can be combined with other elements to create unique looks. http://www.bluepony.com/shop/ |
| Advertise Me: | How does the company source content material, e.g images, video footage etc? |
| Nathan: | Many times the material is supplied by the customer. They may provide a logo or product images. Because we have an in-house production company we are able to acquire our own stock video and photography. Furthermore, we have access to many royalty free image sources for use in our content. |
| Advertise Me: | In this digital age, content can be easily sourced from the net and some businesses and customers don’t realise that they are breaching copyright laws when using someone else’s content. What are your thoughts on this and does Blue Pony track where their content ends up? |
| Nathan: | We can’t stop it no matter how fancy we make the code. However, we are protective of our clients’ content and not every ad we produce makes it to our website. The entire process of ad development happens securely within our client preview portal. Everything is secure and access is only granted to the necessary individuals. In addition we offer our customers free mock content that we have developed. We learned quickly that most digital signage networks just need something to show their first clients by way of example until we build up a content portfolio that they can use for future sales. |
| Advertise Me: | Could you please briefly explain what steps and processes are involved when developing content. |
| Nathan: | I’d tell you but then I’d have to… No problem. We use all the usual software one would come to expect from a video, motion graphic design house. The differences are that we invest in the top of the line workstations that render video files pretty quick. We stay up to date with costly plug-ins, new fonts, and equip our production team with the best tools for content creation. That being said the process in brief goes like this. You contact us for content, we ask a few questions about your requirements or have you complete our content request form. The form gathers the details we need to determine a price to develop your content. We then generate an estimate and send it to you for approval. Upon approval of the estimate we schedule your content for production and email you a link to the project directory we create. This directory is where you can upload assets for production and it is also where our designer will place a preview for you to review your content. You would receive a link to review the content and would be able to provide feedback directly within the content timeline on the preview page. We implement any revisions you request and seek approval on the content. Upon approval we prepare the output file exactly to your specifications. You then can download your final content directly from the project directory. And repeat! |
| Advertise Me: | From past experience, how long should the content be displayed on the screens for? |
| Nathan: | It really depends. Site research might reveal the average frequency of visitors. If they see it once or twice that’s great. But if they have already processed the information and see it too many times they will tune it out and ultimately ignore the screen altogether. Two Weeks would be a sweet spot, in my opinion, but it does depend on the venue. |
| Advertise Me: | What makes Blue Pony so different from all the other content providers? |
| Nathan: | Experience, Customer Service, Quality, and Value. Customer Satisfaction is really important to us. When you engage Blue Pony you don’t just get a designer, you get an entire team of professionals who understand your business technology and goals. We realize without our customers success we will not succeed. |
| Advertise Me: | What has been the most successful and challenging content developed thus far? |
| Nathan: | Interesting. Hmm, well it is all challenging to determine how to best develop the next piece, but that’s the fun in it. Success? I hope the majority of our ads have had a shining moment but we rarely get to hear of there stardom. We seek feedback for our clients and get it from time to time. Bust most of the time we are like the auto repair shop and only hear from the customer when a new set of tires are needed. |
| Advertise Me: | Are you able to share some general pricing information with our audience? |
| Nathan: | Sure. Generally speaking all of our ad pricing is based on a rate of $135 per hour. That only is helpful to know if you have the other variable…How much time? On average a standard 20 second motion ad will cost $350. A premium ad of the same duration might average out at $500. What’s the difference between Standard and Premium? Purely time. If a premium budget is specified by the client we give our designer more development time which in turn translates to a more refined or sophisticated content piece. |
| Advertise Me: | This is our final question that we normally ask all of the people we interview. What do you see as the next “BIG THING” in digital signage? |
| Nathan: | Interactive signage and deeper integration to the personal technologies people carry, like cell phones, ipods, ect. |
| Advertise Me: | Nathan, thanks for taking part in this interview and we hope to speak to you again in the near future. |
To read more interviews click here: http://www.digitalsignageblog.com/category/digital-signage-interview/
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About Blue Pony?
Blue Pony is a premier digital content provider for limitless applications who produces custom as well as stock content.
About Advertise Me:
Advertise Me is a privately owned Australian company specialising in all aspects of digital signage solutions.
Our team of highly skilled professionals is able to introduce innovative ways for businesses to communicate with their intended audiences for a variety of purposes including informing, educating, entertaining and selling.
You can expect us to:
- offer the most affordable and cost effective solutions tailored to your specific business needs.
- provide you with concise and accurate information and will ensure that you understand and are comfortable with our proposals.
- strive to make our clients happy and successful.
We have partnered with a number of key reputable organisations and will continue to build further partnerships to deliver the most effective solutions for our customers.
Visit our website at www.advertiseme.com.au for more information.
Category: Digital Signage Interview, Featured Post
Weekend Fun: Comic for Digital Signage
For this weekend fun, we want to share with you a comic on digital signage. I think this one has been floating around for a couple of days and it’s from the Blondie comic series by Dean Young & John Marshall. Thanks guys, we’re glad to see that the digital signage industry is getting noticed and acknowledged by the comic industry. Also, thanks to Ronnie for sharing this.
Source of the image: http://www.jsonline.com/comics/32402404.html?feature_id=Blondie&feature_date=2009-08-25
Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Weekend Fun
Advertise Me Interviews Ronni CEO of Minicom Digital Signage
Many of us in the digital signage industry have in one way or another read their blog, heard or even used one of their products – I’m referring to no other than Minicom.
This week we had the opportunity to turn the tables around and interview Ronni, the CEO of the Minicom Digital Signage Division:

Ronni CEO of Minicom Digital Signage
| advertise me: | Hi ronni, thanks for joining us for this interview – I know you’re a hard man to catch with your busy schedule. |
| Ronni: | Thank you for having me. Yes, it has been a very busy first half year. |
| Advertise Me: | I thought we’d start something different today and want to firstly ask you what’s your “elevator pitch” when meeting new or potential clients (our readers)? |
| Ronni: | Minicom Digital Signage is an established and recognized pioneer in the digital signage market, hence, we believe and are trusted that we know the market, the application and the needs. Our solutions control, extend and distribute multimedia and communication between the players and screens, making sure the message gets across… Our solutions reduce TCO and ease the DS deployments by providing the platform for in-site content distribution based on innovative technology. |
| Advertise Me: | Please tell us a little about how Minicom Digital Signage started with Digital Signage, and what was the inspiration behind the business? |
| Ronni: | Minicom Digital Signage has been a leading vendor for control and communication solutions in the computerized classrooms. Roughly ten years ago, we discovered that some of our integrators had been using the educational solutions to extend and distribute video signals in digital signage applications. This was during the days when you typed “digital signage” in Google, Google returned large format plotter printers. This is how we entered this market and swiftly recognized that we stepped into a major development, if not to say even advertising revolution. Since then we have been totally focused on the digital signage application, without looking left or right, resulting in a high degree of expertise. Other vendors come from the Pro-AV field, hence are more generalists and as a result of this they provide less focused solutions, answering the specific digital signage needs. |
| Advertise Me: | Over the years, Minicom Digital Signage has proven to be a strong provider and leader of Digital Signage products, so what makes Minicom Digital Signage so successful? |
| Ronni: | Once again: focus. Whoever turns to us, knows that we have accrued a decade of experience. We talk to all participants in the value chain on a daily level and maintain outstanding partnerships with most of the players in any layer of the market. We have recognized that the installers play an important role and consider the network owners as the effective endusers. |
| Advertise Me: | There is now a trend of increasing Digital Signage solutions using Software as a Service (SaaS). What is your opinion on this? |
| Ronni: | I believe it is part of the effort of the players in the market to find a suitable, competitive business model while maintaining an ongoing revenue stream. The digital signage market is project based, so for technology providers there is the challenge of captivating customers over a longer period of time. SaaS can be a win-win solution: at the one hand it dramatically reduces the capital expenditures for the network owners, at the other hand it provides the software vendors an ongoing, constant flow of income. I do believe that the model will further evolve and at the end of the day the industry will be more service driven. |
| Advertise Me: | Quite a number of companies, including Minicom Digital Signage, are now starting to integrate their solutions with environmentally friendly plans. Can you elaborate on how Minicom Digital Signage is playing their part for a greener world? |
| Ronni: | Our solutions reduce by their nature electricity consumption. With our architecture there is no need for a PC next to each screen. You may backrack all of the players in a single, secured room and dramatically reduce the number of PCs required since several displays can be fed from the same player. Furthermore, with our management platform, we allow all displays to be switched off when the shop closes. Besides, our technology is agnostic to the display, PC and SW vendors, hence, when upgrading a system, it doesn’t need to be swapped out. |
| Advertise Me: | What has been the most successful and popular Minicom Digital Signage product? |
| Ronni: | The DS Vision 3000 series has been a breakthrough in the market. Not only it carries full HD (1080p) signals as far as 600m and more, but it offers a built-in management platform, allowing to access and manage the display’s management port.
![]() DS Vision 3000 |
| Advertise Me: | Do you have any advice for people who are planning to start a business in the digital signage industry? |
| Ronni: | There are lots of experienced and less experienced persons attracted by the positive vibrations coming from our market. Obviously, the lesser educated ones will not only burn themselves, but their customers will also suffer. It happens too often that a customer comes to us, asking us to it right after he had one-two failures before. So the bottom line for newcomers is to really understand the application, from content to measuring. There is no quick money in this market and competition is getting more intense. In any event, partnering with more experienced, established companies will always be an added value and accelerate the entry. |
| Advertise Me: | What is the Minicom Digital Signage Certified Reseller program and why should businesses partner with Minicom Digital Signage? |
| Ronni: | As mentioned, we invest a lot of attention and money into our long year old partnerships. Many of them have originated from the partner program. Networking is an important aspect in the market as we need each other in projects. Minicom Digital Signage, being a pioneer in the market, has a lot of legacy value to offer and with the partner program we provide access to these assets. |
| Advertise Me: | This is our final question. What do you see as the next “BIG THING” in digital signage? |
| Ronni: | I am not a prophet and we are driven by evolution, rather than revolution. So by nature it is hard to answer this question. However, we do observe an increasing engagement by more important players from the traditional advertising and OOH markets in the digital signage playground. This will ultimately change the rules of the game and lead to major consolidations. |
| Advertise Me: | Ronni, thanks for taking part in this interview and we hope to speak to you again in the near future. |
| Ronni: |
Thank you very much. It has been my pleasure and honor. |
To read more interviews click here: http://www.digitalsignageblog.com/category/digital-signage-interview/
About Minicom
World leader in “last mile” connectivity – Flawless transmission of audio, video and serial signals has enabled Minicom Digital Signage to become the leader in the production of advanced multimedia distribution and extension solutions for the digital signage marketplace. The digital signage industry has come to rely on Minicom‘s CAT5 and optical fiber-based hardware systems to deliver high resolution, high performance multimedia content. Today over 50% of all “last mile” deployments worldwide depend on Minicom technology.
About Advertise Me:
Advertise Me is a privately owned Australian company specialising in all aspects of digital signage solutions.
Our team of highly skilled professionals is able to introduce innovative ways for businesses to communicate with their intended audiences for a variety of purposes including informing, educating, entertaining and selling.
You can expect us to:
- offer the most affordable and cost effective solutions tailored to your specific business needs.
- provide you with concise and accurate information and will ensure that you understand and are comfortable with our proposals.
- strive to make our clients happy and successful.
We have partnered with a number of key reputable organisations and will continue to build further partnerships to deliver the most effective solutions for our customers.
Visit our website at www.advertiseme.com.au for more information.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Interview, Featured Post
About digitalsignageblog.com
Who are we?
We are a group of technology enthusiasts who are passionate with the uses of gadgets and nifty pieces of equipment.
When digital signage came into our picture, we got excited and decided to take it for a ride. In fact, with the tremendous popular rise of digital signage and its applications everyday, it has now become part of our profession.
Our first success was Advertise Me, an established digital signage company in Australia.
Through establishing many clients and partners, we created the Digital Signage Portal.
And if that wasn’t enough, we decided what the heck – let’s blog about it!
So what is this Blog about?
We have been operating in the digital signage industry since its birth in Australia, and have come across many experiences in this line of business.
Apart from working, we also obtain many useful sources of news and information that we think would be beneficial to the digital signage community.
So where else would we collaborate all our experiences and news? Right here of course!
Contributors
There are currently several contributors to the digital signage blog.
From time to time we like to invite others to write something or submit a topic to us, and we will post it on the blog.
Having said that, if you would like to share a post with us, feel free to send it to info@digitalsignageblog.com.
Don’t forget …
To visit our Digital Signage Portal to interact with the digital signage community from around the world or visit the Digital Signage Articles for a mix of different digital signage articles from around the world.
Now if you’re looking to exchange links visit the Digital Signage Experts.
Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Blog News
Will the Microsoft Xbox 360 take over the Digital Signage Industry?
Just recently I read an article about the upcoming Microsoft Xbox Motion Sensor that allows the users to control games with our bodies. Unlike the Wii, this means that you do not have to hold anything to interact with the console and game.
This new product is being called “Project Natal” and is basically a sensor for the Xbox 360 which tracks movement, listens and executes commands from the console… don’t know what I’m refeering to? then watch this trailer from Youtube:
If you’re from the digital signage industry you’re thinking to yourself “The future of Digital Signage interaction?”. If you’re like me, when something catches your attention you start brainstorming on how this can be applied to the digital signage industry. If I was working for Microsoft I would recommend and provide directions to the management team to push this product out to businesses to use as a digital signage console…. and not just a gaming console. Let’s think about this, most digital signage players out there in the market are using desktop PC’s, embedded PCs or some form of a PC – fundamentally that’s what the Xbox 360 is – and soon it will have a sensor. In my eyes, I can potentially see this used as a digital signage player and not just a gaming console.
In the past, many top digital signage gurus predicted that the next “big thing” in digital signage was going to be interaction and guess what…. they were right.
Lets imagine this scenario:
- You walk into a clothing store and you’re having trouble picking a dress for the night out with the girls.
- Now like in the example in the trailer, you walk up to the dsx (digital signage xbox) and you contact your best friend to get advice on which dress you should wear.
- In the application, you have the virtual product catalog of all the dresses available in the store.
- The application takes a picture of you (measuring your body size, height etc) and you start trying out the different dresses (virtually).
- Along the way you and your friend discuss whether the dress is suitable or not.
- When you found some of the dresses both of you like you add it to you’re favourite list.
- You then press the “TRY” button or say “Let me try these” and the shop assistant brings in the dresses for you to try.
- All the transactions and information end up being recorded online so that the next time you visit a store that has the dsx you can retrieve this previous information.
This is one of the many applications I can see working for the digital signage industry and I can’t wait till we trial one of these units.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Blog Products, Digital Signage Blog Video
Are you from the digital signage industry?
Today we thought we’d run a poll to see how many people who visit our blog are actually from the digital signage industry. So if you have 2 spare seconds we hope you can participate in this poll – yes it literally just takes 2 seconds.
Category: Digital Signage Blog News
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