posted by Nate Nead on July 2nd, 2009 • No Comments Week's Lead Count: 30 Total: 188 laconic \luh-CON-ic\ adjective 1 : using few words; expressing much in few words; concise: a laconic reply. I am going to try and keep this one short and sweet so all you Patriots can have a splendid Independence Day celebration this weekend. Those of you in the United Kingdom: I'm glad we've overcome some our differences in the last 200+ years. There have certainly been some interesting stories that have crept in this week. My personal favorite was the custom 360 LED by Barco for U2's World Tour. The display contains over 500,000 pixels and is boasted to be the largest display ever taken on any tour. Willie Williams, U2 show designer, said about the display: “Video is the most powerful tool you can have on stage. But now that video is so ubiquitous in rock stage setting, we needed a very extreme change of canvas to be heard. The transformable LED gave us the chance to create a transparent 360° moving video element, unprecedented in this industry. It is the icing on the cake on this design.” When you are U2 you can do these sort of things, I suppose.  Dave Haynes decided to break out of the pack this week with his debut of pressDOOH--a media and communications firm for the digital signage industry. This was not surprising after our brief rendezvous at InfoComm 2009, wherein he said he had been kicking around several ideas for branching out on his own. There will always be the need for relevant content as there's always a paucity of great written content available. IDklic continues to roll out the Pharma Network in top Belgium pharmacy chains. My post on dental digital signage was somewhat providential given the subsequent IDklic press release. The medical sector has, in the words of Karen Carpenter, "only just begun." CEO of IDklic, Jean-Charles Figoni, echoed these sentiments when he stated, "We believe that digital signage has great potential to create additional revenue streams for a range of brands and retailers." Not only is this release interesting due to the niche, but it's also of interest due to the claimed quick ROI of 12 to 16 months. Slammin! We'll, of necessity, need to pay close attention to this sector as it continues to grow. Finally, it looks as though Simage has been able to eek out some additional funding. The total tune: $1.4 million. Now what are you going to do with yourselves? Simage, like eCast, is targeting the bar, lounge, and restaurant crowds. After all the casinos, this seems to have been the next big "hot spot" market segment vendors have been jumping into. Thank you for posting. I hope you enjoyed this week's digital sign news, and a happy 4th of July to everyone! posted by Nate Nead on June 29th, 2009 • No Comments You and I both have read the articles boasting the impact of digital media. Much of it comes from internal sources. And, when it's reported externally, internal sources beat the horse long after its expiration. I am very skeptical by nature, not because I'm a pessimist, but because I enjoy being confident in my offerings. We have read the case studies, seen the whitepapers and know many of the newer mediums are more impactful and measurable than tradition. But does that impact lessen as we reach information overload with mass dispersion? When the spillway is overflowing, doesn't the effect of all mediums decrease? Rightfully, the answer to this question is--like many others--dependent on perspective. The key to understanding the possible impact from any source has to do with critical mass. Let's take Google as an example. People are a bit more reticent to engage in "click-throughs" via Google PPC than they were five years ago. I know I click on them less. And with the increases in click fraud, the resilience of that particular ad method has been questioned repeatedly. However, with the increase in Internet use in the last two years--including those who previously had shied away--we see newer mediums increasing in effect. Twitter is one example . Much like statistical inference, the greater your sample, the greater likelihood you have of "getting it right." The same goes with advertising, the greater your sample from the population, the more of an impact you'll be able to make.  But some might cry, "but the barrage blurs the bulletin." Or, "I'll have to practice malfeasance in managing to get my message above the melange." This is certainly true for those with limited ad budgets who know nothing of guerrilla marketing tactics. Those with unlimited resources see the digital advertising flood as a welcome breath-o'-freshness, a veritable way to bombard the senses of the public ad nauseum. Those with limited budgets see a different perspective. SMB advertisers on SMB budgets will find it daunting to go head to head against the likes of Coke, Wal-Mart, and Circuit City (oh wait...I meant BestBuy). While some might see the expanding landscape as a vision blurer, others will recognize that the opportunities expand simultaneously. Regardless of your perspective, there are still methodologies and industry champions who'll be making meaningful messages regardless of the increasing ad foray. The increase in media methodologies will continue to necessitate industry adaptation. It is taking place already, but acceptance is slow. Increasing the landscape necessitates a simultaneous expansion of specific targeting capabilities. Hence, the need for facial recognition capabilities, audience measurement software, large databases of content, and high-powered media playback devices will continue to grow. Companies like TrueMedia and Cognovision may seem obscure and expensive currently, but as the market expands, so will the need for such company leaders. To conclude, it might best be said succinctly in this manner: the deluge of information that will come as various digital mediums replace the traditional will only blur the message if we fail to adapt to the most useful methods for targeting. In other words, digital signage, SMS marketing, and Internet advertising will only create an advertising vacuum if we fail to "hone to the bone." And because digital allows for "trimming the fat" out of ad budgets by giving better ROI measurement, it means there'll be more money to spend on all sources for branding and advertising. We're not where we need to be and even farther from where we would like to be, but the gap is shrinking. As this ethereal chasm contracts, we must ask ourselves, "what am I doing to make sure I'll be current when the predicted phenomenon = reality?" posted by Nate Nead on June 26th, 2009 • No Comments cavalcade ? \kav-ul-KAYD\ ? noun 1 a : a procession of riders or carriages* b : a procession of vehicles or ships 2 : a dramatic sequence or procession : series Facebook and a Live Streaming Box This functionality is an extension of what Ustream and Facebook did with some Jonas Brothers concerts last month — events which drew huge numbers. How huge? This huge, according to Ustream: BC Ferries Get Digital Menu Boards British Columbia ferries are installing a digital menu network powered by none other than Scala: The Coastal Cafe is a popular destination, especially during the first 20 minutes of the ferry ride. Inspired by successful digital menu boards on the mainland, BC Ferries realized a digital signage network would allow for passengers to preview food options while they were waiting to enter the cafe, and it could be easily updated to reflect menu changes. It would also allow for cross-promotion of other ship amenities. The use of the digital menu in DOOH will continue to expand. Carl's Jr. Digital Signs Indoor Direct is at it again: With the addition of the Carl's Jr. locations, Indoor Direct's network will cover about 1,150 "quick-service" restaurants belonging to 15 national chains, including well-known brands like Denny's, Wendy's and Sizzler. Interestingly, this has to do with another digital menu board install. Like I said, this is certainly a growing sector. Multi-user Touchwall by Schematic I really like the capabilities of this unique touchscreen: The experience begins when an attendee places his or her event badge against the Touchwall. Equipped with an RFID reader, the Touchwall recognizes delegates through RFID tags embedded in the conference badges. Once the badge is authenticated, the Touchwall provides a personalized workspace on the display, from which users can then navigate the event. Multiple people can work side by side, creating a productive and fun environment for sharing information and ideas. That's it for this week. Stay tuned and thanks for submitting your stories everyone! |  Digital Signage Blog RSS Feed   |
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