The Venue Drives the Medium
By Lionel Tepper
Content development represents one of the biggest challenges—and ongoing expenses—for digital signage networks. The type of content that you need to acquire for your network is driven by the nature of the venue. The challenge for networks is to understand why certain content works best, and find cost-effective resources.
Defining the View Mode
Let's assume you're developing a retail network. One of your primary goals is to think about the consumer's path to purchase in order to move shoppers to action. As shoppers move through a retail environment, they respond to visual stimuli that affects their behavior, shifting them into different modes of receptivity. With digital signage these modes are defined as the pass-by-mode, the dwell-time mode, and the interactive-mode. Each of these modes presents a different creative challenge for content developers, and an opportunity for marketers to engage with consumers.
When developing content for digital signage networks a clearly delineated usability plan should be developed that defines the traffic flow around each signage placement. This traffic flow plan defines the mode, which in turn defines the density of screen content that will be effective for delivering messages at a specific location. Logic holds that the less dwell-time there is, the simpler the screen content needs to be to engage effectively with a target audience.
To determine the correct view mode you need to consider what action is expected at each location. Pass-by-mode is defined as any area where the viewer is in motion. For example, a screen placed in a transportation concourse at an airport would leave little or no dwell-time for most viewers. This type of "pass-by" location requires short, simple messages to communicate effectively. By contrast, an area with high dwell-time, such as a waiting room, completely changes the presentation of information. Longer dwell-time enables longer messages and greater density of information on the screen. Multi-zone screen layouts where different content sources, such as news feeds, weather feeds, and video that are mixed together, work best with environments where the audience experiences longer wait times.
When consumers engage with a screen they have entered into the Interactive mode. The interactive mode enables content to become multi-layered, providing a richer, self-guided experience. Products like the iPhone have trained people to interact with the screen, and consumers have come to expect interactive experiences. Smartphones are rapidly being transformed into shopping tools that enable consumers to interact directly with digital signage networks to retrieve information, download virtual coupons, and capture Web address information. Enabling technologies such as QR codes, proximity sensors, and augmented reality are blurring the line between the virtual world and the real world, bridging the gap between the physical and the digital. These interactive experiences are deepening the connection between consumers and brands, and offer marketers a new path to reach their target audience.
Creative Process—Part Science and Part Intuition
Once you have defined the range of view modes for your screen locations, you then need to consider the effectiveness of the message. How do you know if your content is effective? Creative development is a process that is part science and part intuition. Content does not exist in a vacuum. Content development requires a clear understanding of consumer trends, and access to market intelligence is a vital part of the process.
A creative brief based on the most current market research should be developed that details the target audience and objectives for the message. The creative brief serves as guide for content development and provides a measuring stick to gauge whether a concept meets marketing objectives. It's also important not to confuse concept with execution. The concept is the platform, the "big idea" that positions the message. The execution is how the concept is presented in its final form by combining brand identity with graphic technique. Concept development is a subjective process based on market research and personal experience, whereas execution of a concept is based on graphic design standards and production technique. There is no substitute for starting with a solid concept built from a well-thought-out marketing plan.
Gauging Effectiveness
Let's assume that you are piloting a retail-based network with screens that engage consumers across all view modes. One way to gauge the effectiveness of the retail network is to conduct intercept studies that poll consumers on the effect of the network on their purchase decisions. Intercept studies provide valuable feedback that can help fine-tune a message by testing in a real-world environment. If budgets permit, then engaging an expert in the field of retail research and consulting such as Platt Retail Institute, Retail Media Consulting, and Millward Brown may offer valuable insight.
Return On Message (ROM) is a digital signage optimization tool developed by MediaTile, a provider of cellular-based digital signage networks. ROM is a process methodology that gauges the effectiveness of content based on a weighted average that measures relevance, attraction, placement, interaction, refresh, and schedule to define opportunities for improving message impact. At the end of the ROM process, a report is generated that includes a “ROM Content Index,” built on core elements defined by the Digital Signage Association’s Content Best Practices Committee. The ROM process acts as a feedback loop to improve a network’s effectiveness.
“Our Return On Message system answers the fundamental question of how to effectively measure and improve the impact of digital signage,” says Simon Wilson, CEO of The MediaTile Company. “Using the ROM methodology, brands, retailers, ad agencies, and corporate communication teams can now easily define and implement a content strategy that increases the success of any digital signage network.”
Finding Cost-effective Solutions
A number of companies have emerged in the last few years with content solutions aimed specifically at delivering cost-effective solutions for digital signage networks. These solutions include affordable high definition stock content, real-time data feeds, and software-based solutions to simplify and streamline the content development process.
Content Feeds
The Internet has enabled real-time delivery of content in the form of news feeds for a variety of information, including weather, financial, and traffic conditions. Companies that specialize in delivery of live feeds include ScreenFeed, DataCall Technologies, AHN Media, and AccuWeather.
Screenfeed delivers daily feeds of licensed content for digital signs that are available in multiple resolutions in portrait or landscape formats. Screenfeed currently offers 3 channels of content that are available on a subscription basis. These channels include the News-in-Pictures channel feed that includes high-definition images with current headlines covering US news, celebrity news, and sports. A Celebrity Life Video channel feed includes 7 celebrity video-based clips daily, and a Weather channel feed includes a 5-day local forecast and a current-day forecast with a 36-hour outlook. Screenfeed is designed to be compatible with most digital signage software that handles scheduling of Flash-based, media RSS feeds, and JPEG file formats. For more information, visit Screenfeed's Web site at: http://www.screenfeed.com/
DataCall Technologies’ N-Volve is a real-time streaming service that provides a wide range of news feeds, and includes general interest, weather, traffic, sports, financial, and world news. DataCall’s clients include Helius, Scala, 3M Digital Signage, Chy TV, AdtekMedia, and Keywest Technologies. For more information on DataCall Technologies, visit http://www.datacalltech.com
AHN Media (All Headline News) is a global news agency and content service with offices and regional bureaus in South Florida, New York, Washington, DC, Las Vegas, Denver, Europe, and Asia, providing 24/7 coverage of breaking news and content. The company is a provider of news, weather, and other content for Web sites, wireless, digital signage, interactive applications, broadcast, and print use. For more information on All Headline News, visit http://www.allheadlinenews.com
AccuWeather delivers accurate weather data to digital signage companies in the form of weather videos and graphical weather information. AccuWeather also offers its clients Graphical News Modules that feature brief news stories covering US, world news, business, sports, and entertainment news. The modules are updated on an hourly basis and include an image, headline, and brief story that can be easily digested in 10 seconds or less. For more information on AccuWeather, visit their Web site at http://www.accuweather.com
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