I was walking past a sushi takeaway restaurant yesterday and noticed that they were using digital signage for their menu board so I stopped and had a look at how it was implemented. They had three 32″ LCD screens with rotating menu items and the design of the menu was quite impressive but not the solution. Let me explain.

At the front of the restaurant there are 3 32″ LCD screens. Each one of them displayed menu items except for the first one. This one actually had the message “No Video Input” and for most of us we know what this means. My guess is that the device connecting to the screen was either damaged or wasn’t turned on. Now most likely if the other two were on the the first unit would most likely be damaged.

So what happens here, two of the three screens were only displaying the menu so what happens to the menu items listed in the first screen. I quickly looked around to see whether there were any other signs of a menu list… and I couldn’t find any.

So now the restaurant only has two thirds of a menu and in my point of view the business may potentially lose customers if this continued.

In this particular case, what would you have done differently if you were the consultant or installer of this particular restaurant? We definitely know that if the menu system is a critical part of the overall running of the businesses we would had a backup plan or strategy to overcome this issue. For example, we would have installed a system that would allow the restaurant owner to quickly switch the templates (via a USB numpad keyboard) so that all the menu items would be rotated on the 1 screen – basically in this case it would be shown to 2 of the three screens. Otherwise, if the LCD screens had a SD card reader, using static images to display the menu items. This  would have been better than displaying the “No Video input”.

In this particular case, what would you have done differently if you were the consultant or installer of this particular restaurant?

Feel free to submit your answer as a comment.

Category: Digital Signage Blog News

It is surprising to see what how different businesses apply their content in the retail digital signage market. Not surprisingly, a very high percentage of digital signage applications focus on advertising – how to best create the most impact on promoting a sale. Depending on the nature of the business, the location of the screens and the intent of the campaign, this can prove to be a very effective strategy.

The other day I walked into a department store looking to pick up some outdoor gear. In the heap of trying to figure out what is best to buy, a digital signage screen in the middle of the aisle was playing short clips on some of the gear on how to use it, as well as offering useful outdoor tips. It was just like watching one of those “Infomercials” on outdoor travel.

It wasn’t till a few minutes later that it hit me – user experience. A strategy for making customers feel assured in their decision and comfortable of what they are buying, and bringing them back to the store. Now this is a different feeling that you walk away with compared to that of “I just scored a bargain!”

It will be interesting to find out what measures the store has in place for tracking sales made against the duration of the digital signage being played.

What will be even more interesting is to be able to track the number of sales made against the number of people entering that aisle looking for outdoor gear. In the wake of technology today, there are many tracking systems out there that do just that – track people’s presence, eye motion, and even human behaviour. But that is a different topic all together!

By the way, I ended up walking out of the store with over $200 in gear!

Discuss this topic here on digitalsignageportal.com.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Events

Almost 8 out of 10 people I talk to have the perception that “digital signage” is about digital advertising of some sort (promotional, educational, informational, etc) on large screens. The other 2 either have not heard about it, don’t know what it is, or are part of the minority that have come across it in one way or another and understand its application.

Earlier on I read an article about the future of media – broadcast transmitted and content delivered by the Internet. It’s becoming a trend amongst the online community now, that the TV show aired last night is readily available the next day on some video sharing network.  Take YouTube for example, it’s all about the experience that online audiences get when they watch a video, comment on it, share it, embed it, or even blog about it.

In digital signage terms, this translates to customer experience. Whether it be in-store advertising or renting your space to media agencies, let’s get our head around the idea of digital signage being a profit making network, and look at it from an audience point of view. Is your focus on delivering your products visually to your customers, or perhaps it could be trying to make money out of your ad space? Or is your focus on ways to keep your customers coming back again and again for an experience they wish to re-live? Over time, which strategy (or strategies) will last the longest?

Whether or not the results of my personal survey (above) are a good thing (or bad), the initial impression that customers (and businesses) have formed in their heads about digital signage will determine its application. Without doubt digital signage is a growing industry with many influences, it will be interesting to see if the same frame of mind about digital signage would exist over the course of its growth.

Category: Digital Signage Blog Info, Digital Signage Blog News