Digital Dream City

Digital signage has seen great success in the retail, hospitality and education sectors. Now tradeshows are emerging as a significant platform where it is being used very effectively. The display of digital screens on such a place ought to catch the attention of many. Incorporating digital signage solutions into exhibitions not only make the show one of its kind but cut a lot of costs as well.Using Internet ConnectionShowcasing digital signage at exhibitions can get pricey with the huge costs of broadband Internet. However, with technology scaling new heights, there are ways to trim down on the online expenses by opting for 3G or wireless networks. Text can be flashed on the screens with the help of 3G mobile connections or wireless data cards that are relatively cheaper. Another option is to link the laptop to the 3G phones. To make things easier one could even download and stock up content in USB storages and play them on the display screens later.Catchy ContentThe second most important thing that plays a vital role in drawing audiences is the content that is presented through digital signage. In a setting where several kinds of people come, it is necessary to make use of crisp and snappy content that is going to appeal to most viewers. It is important to get the message across quickly because honestly no one has the time to read three or four lines of extended content. The information should be precise, to the point and catchy. Screen SizeThe size of the display screen to be used for digital signage is another chief aspect that needs adequate consideration. The size of Digital LCD screens vary from 22” to as big as 108” and one should pick the size according to the capacity of the exposition. The size should be proportionate with the overall size of the hall, neither too big nor too small. Also, the design or the appearance of the screen must blend with the design of the stall. Screen PlacementAnother imperative aspect to take care of is the positioning of the display screen. One thing that should be kept in mind is that the level of the screen should always be at eye level. Also, larger screens should be placed at the end of the booth and the smaller ones towards the front. Digital Signage solutions are being explored by many in the tradeshow business and the LCD screens are definitely here to stay. People are discovering new ways to make the most use of display screens that grab the attention of more and more people.Keywords:

The practice inside which communication along with contented exhibit on top of electronic computer screen can be changed exclusive of any change in physical sign. Digital advertisement may well be display on plasma exhibit panel or LCD, protrusion screens or projection screens. water gemstone Display or LCD signage is a better option as compare to displaying on the written designs as they offer better returns on speculation.

The contented of digital signage container exist forbidden along with distorted with the help out of the Internet. The content that can be displayed on the LCD signage is full-motion videotape and uncomplicated text. Since advertisements, informational matter and entertainment content be provided on the LCD signage, they are measured correspondent to television.

Other features provided by LCD signage are,

• Product Building

LCD signage is now a part of store adornment. It provides the viewer in order about the result sold at the store.

•Information

At eating outlet, airports and railway stations you can find this signage.

•improves Customer understanding

For example, people waiting for their turn at eating outlets are provided constant updates by LCD signage.

•Influences Customers move toward

It increases the service principles of post offices, restaurants and airports as they make available all the essential information to the patrons. It increases the eminence of the service provided.

•advertisement

At many places company like eating place and airports, companies pay for advertising on the LCD signage. It is an valuable and appealing way of promote a product.

The require of LCD signage has been regularly increasing since of its clear and distended view. Presently 42″ LCD are in demand. beforehand, 30″ LCDs were much in insist. It delivers a large angle in excess of 175 degrees. Also, the comeback time is of 12ms, contrast of 500 cd/m2, crisp images that are good to look at.

Some of the companies mechanized LCD signage are TM Display, Philips, Samsung Electronics and NEC. One can buy the product on the Internet after considering the condition. It is advisable that you select a model only after reading the blogs as it gives a true feedback to the pros and cons of a product.

The next time that you’re in a grocery store, waiting room, or any venue that has a digital signage network, take the time to study the content. While you’re doing that, look at the people walking – or sitting – nearby. Are they paying attention to the screens? Do they have the look of somebody who is interested enough to respond? Chances are, the answer is no. And if the marketing collateral that is being displayed doesn’t get a person’s attention, it is not doing its job.
In most of the signage content I’ve observed, the sales message is completely buried. This is true whether it’s a 3-minute segment at my local grocery store or a 20-minute segment at my dentist’s office. The problem is the level of complexity within the message. In today’s article, I’m going to make the case for simplicity in your signage content. The factors that influence your viewers – for example, color and motion – should be consistent with a simple message.
Less Is More
Here’s what we know about most people who view a sales messages: they’re impatient, often lack focus, and don’t like to think about what they’re watching. That might sound harsh, but understanding your viewers’ perspective will help you craft content for your signage network that compels action. The segments that you – or your creative agency – design must not overwhelm people with too much information. While they’re watching, they’re not thinking. Providing too much information makes them less willing to continue watching.
Throughout any segment, there’s also an ever-present possibility that your viewer won’t understand what he or she is watching. If the marketing collateral that you’re displaying is not completely intuitive, it will raise a question mark in their mind. Each question mark represents a moment of disconnect. If your viewer disconnects too many times, you will lose their attention.
This is the reason why your signage collateral must deliver its message in a tight package. Less is more. That doesn’t mean that every piece that you create for your network should be short. Rather, it means that every piece should be designed to cater to an impatient, unfocused, and unthinking viewership.
Getting Attention Quickly… And Keeping It
The best way to capture the attention of passersby is to begin each of your signage segments with a fast jolt of intriguing content. By “intriguing,” I’m not necessarily referring to full-motion video or other eye-catching collateral. It could be as simple as displaying the three most powerful benefits of a product in an easy-to-read font. The reason for the initial jolt is because those first few seconds are when a person is deciding whether to continue watching or to keep walking.
Once you have their attention, your segment must continue to hold it. This is a fine line. As I noted above, less is more. However, if you don’t continue to tantalize your viewers throughout the segment, you’ll lose their interest. On the other hand, if you give them to much, too soon, you’ll confuse them. And once they’re confused (even slightly), their ability to comprehend what they’re seeing begins to decline. That’s why you need to walk a fine line between providing too little and too much information throughout an entire segment.
Creating Simple Content
Think of each screen within your signage network as a billboard. And think of every piece of digital signage content as a request for your viewer’s attention. As they’re speeding by, you have mere seconds with which to capture them. If your content does its job, they’ll not only notice it, but they’ll pull over to the side of the road and continue consuming it. And while they do, you’ll be communicating the benefits of your product in a way that compels them to take action.

For years, researchers have known that certain colors can evoke specific emotional responses. What’s more, various hues have cultural connotations that can elicit different reactions or inferences based upon heritage and ethnicity. The question is whether these elements can be used in the content that you develop for your digital signage network to arouse a response.
In this article, we’ll approach the topic of color usage in digital content by exploring customer preferences and the effects of specific tones. I’ll explain the emotions that are commonly induced by red, blue, and other hues as well as the differences in cultural perceptions. Finally, I’ll describe their true impact on generating a response.
Customer Preferences
Color is deeply ingrained within most people. Here in the U.S., it’s a larger part of our culture than most people realize. For example, blue is often cited as the most popular while red evokes the most intense emotions (we’ll talk about emotional responses below). The American flag, arguably one of the most widely-recognized and emotion-inciting emblems, is comprised of red, white, and blue; each is powerful on its own accord.
Customers have color preferences. They can influence moods, purchase decisions, and behaviors. But, the extent to which this influence can be leveraged through digital signage content is still unknown. Most customers have limited exposure to digital signs. That’s why effective content that motivates action must be delivered in short spurts. Signage exists in an environment where much of its effect occurs within the first minute. That’s usually not enough time to accurately measure the emotional impact of different tones.
Reds, Blues, And Other Hues
Even though the impact is undetermined, it’s still worth noting how various hues affect people. Research has shown that red can increase a person’s heart rate and stimulates faster, shorter breathing patterns. As I mentioned above, red evokes the most intense emotions. By contrast, blue has a calming effect on most people. It suggests dependability and resiliency.
Green, like blue, also has a calming effect; darker shades imply a conservative nature. Yellow is often misunderstood and as a result, misused in signage content. While it suggests optimism, it also increases frustration levels. While network operators might think yellow will attract the eyes, the effect on response can actually be damaging.
Noting Cultural Differences
Today, any business or high-traffic public area will attract members from several ethnic groups. While the cultural diversity in customer bases implies new marketing opportunities, it also makes it more difficult to use color in signage content. Cultures perceive colors differently. For example, red implies excitement for those in the west, while it has traditionally represented purity in India. Further, red indicates good fortune in China while signifying a time of mourning in South Africa.
Evoking An Emotional Response
All digital signage content should be developed to evoke an emotional response. That is the core of effective copywriting. While color can be used to enhance specific aspects of the content, it cannot be relied upon to persuade viewers to take a desired action. For example, consider a shoe store that is using digital signs in order to increase sales for a given pair of shoes. The content should be written carefully to persuade store visitors to make a buying decision. Various colors can be used to support that message based upon what we know about their psychological effect, but their impact is largely unknown.
This is the reason why digital signage content – and all marketing collateral – should focus on the core principles of copywriting. Those include attracting attention, building interest and desire, and designing a clear call to action.

As the cost of advertising continues to increase, companies are pursuing alternative methods for getting their message in front of people. Direct mail campaigns, billboards and buying space in magazines and newspapers are all still viable channels of marketing. However, advances in electronic broadcasting have opened the door to new, cost-effective options. Digital signage has quickly become a staple in the marketing budgets of companies of every size. Businesses have discovered that they can leverage their advertising reach by deploying these signs. Below, we’ll describe the benefits of using digital signage, potential applications and how the technology can boost your ROI.
What Is Digital Signage?
At its simplest, digital signage is the use of multimedia displays for the purpose of broadcasting a message. The broadcast can be used for marketing objectives, customer service, or to communicate any type of information to an audience. Some solutions employ unsophisticated message boards. Others are deployed across a network of hundreds of plasma screens. In each case, the signs are typically controlled remotely by a computer. The messages that are broadcast onto the signs are programmed on the computer and can be changed instantly.
Benefits Of Using Digital Signage
Digital signage offers a number of attractive benefits. First, businesses are using the technology to expand their marketing reach. The costs of using the signs is often far less than purchasing advertising in other media (such as magazines). Second, the content that is displayed onto the signs can be modified within seconds. Because the content is controlled and broadcast remotely from a central computer, a broadcast to a network of hundreds of signs can be altered easily. Third, digital signage allows organizations to communicate messages that are designed to leverage consumer behavior. For example, a message can be broadcast to mall shoppers about a sale at one of the stores within the mall.
Ways To Apply The Technology
While many companies have been using digital signage for marketing purposes, it has several other applications. The technology can be used to communicate information. For example, airports can display “real time” data about arrival and departure times. The signs can also be used to reduce the cost of hiring employees. Rather than hiring people to manage a kiosk for answering customer questions, an interactive plasma screen can be a cost-effective alternative.
Digital signage is also being used increasingly within businesses in which customers wait for service. For example, restaurants can deploy signs that entertain those who are waiting for a table. Movie theaters can display movie trailers and ads for concession stand items for customers who are waiting to enter the theater. Theme parks use digital signage to help those who are waiting in line to pass the time. Companies are also beginning to take advantage of branding opportunities. Digital signs can be placed throughout a store or venue to constantly market that venue’s brand, thereby encouraging customer loyalty.
Boosting ROI By Lowering Costs
One of the largest expenses for businesses is the cost of communicating with its audience. That communication includes advertising, brand-building, or simply distributing information to customers. Digital signage can increase a company’s return on investment by reducing these costs. Advertising messages can be deployed dynamically from a centralized computer. A company’s brand can be supported perpetually without the need to purchase magazine space. Digital signage can also replace employees to help customers with directions, product details and other information.
Businesses continue to realize the advantages of using digital signage to broaden their reach while lowering their cost of doing so. Meanwhile, the technology behind the medium continues to drive prices downward. As companies seek more cost-effective ways to market their products and communicate with their audiences, digital signs are likely to become a primary marketing channel.

Within theaters, movie posters are quickly becoming an advertising medium of the past. While they used to be effective in luring moviegoers to the theater, digital signage has made them seem dated and dull. The drawbacks of using movie posters to advertise upcoming films is that the posters are static, costly and can easily become useless when consumer tastes change (which happens quickly in the movie business). Digital signs attract attention. Once installed within a theater, they can be a cost-efficient way to market to a captive audience. Below, we’ll explore how movie theaters are using digital signage to increase their revenue, encourage customer loyalty and react quickly to consumer preferences.
Digital Signs At The Concession Stand
When moviegoers visit a theater’s concession stand, they effectively raise their hands and identify themselves as willing customers. Digital signs can be placed throughout the concession stand to advertise drinks and food items. Because these purchases are mostly impulsive, it’s a prime opportunity for theater owners to cross-sell or upsell customers. A customer can be easily encouraged to add a bag of candy when ordering a bucket of popcorn. They can be enticed into ordering large drinks for a family rather than medium-sized drinks.
Executed properly, digital signage can be used to increase the average order amount. Because most items sold at a theater’s concession stand are already highly-profitable, increasing the average order amount can have a dramatic effect on profits.
Cross-Promotion Of Movies
Consumers’ movie preferences can be fickle. They can change as a result of a star’s recent public escapades or a well-executed media blitz. Action movies may be popular one week and romantic comedies the next. This is the downfall of using static movie posters. In addition to the high cost of designing and printing the posters, their “shelf life” is unpredictable. If an upcoming movie’s star loses public support, the poster can become a drain on the theater’s available advertising real estate.
Digital signage has a key advantage in promoting current and upcoming movies while having the ability to react to the public’s fickle tastes. If a movie (or its star) falls out of favor, the signs (message boards, LCD screens, plasma TVs, etc.) can be changed quickly to market other movies.
Multiple Targeted Messages To A Captive Audience
Moviegoers are essentially a captive audience. Once they enter the theater, they don’t leave until they have watched the movie. During that time, they may wait at the concession stands, loiter in the hallway before entering the auditorium, or visit the restrooms. This provides theater owners with the opportunity to market to a targeted audience.
Marketers know that once a customer has purchased an item (in this case, a movie ticket), they become a more valuable prospect for additional products or services. Digital signs can be used to leverage this opportunity. They can promote food items sold at the concession stand, upcoming movies and other products sold at the theater.
Increasing Revenue With Digital Signage
While installing a network of digital signs throughout a movie theater requires an upfront investment, it can significantly lower the cost of marketing to moviegoers. Messages that promote movies and concession items can be displayed to an audience which has demonstrated a willingness to spend money on similar products. That can have a considerable impact on a theater’s revenue.
Digital signage also allows movie theater owners to react quickly to consumer preferences. By controlling the network of digital signs from a computer, the content that is broadcast on the signs can reflect trends and tastes in real time. While movie posters will likely always have a place in the promotion of films, theater owners are discovering that digital screens are a more effective use of their limited advertising real estate.

The use of “digital signage”  i.e. the presentation of digital screen content in public places, is increasing due to various factors including: reduced cost and high availability of large LCD and plasma screens, high return on investment when compared to non digital advertising, availability of purpose designed software and hardware devices and network ubiquity.

This market sector is likely to keep growing, embracing delivery over mobile networks using interactive media, new advanced ultra thin flexible displays, emerging standards for interoperability across diverse applications.

Nevertheless this is a complex area, often involving many different suppliers and stakeholders with the accompanying difficulties technical compatibilities and desirable marketing goals, without expensive expert assistance.

There are many companies who will supply part elements but rely on the end client to “fill-in” the missing links in providing the final solution. This can make the client appear as project manager and not enjoy the benefits of a full service provider.

A full service provider will deliver many of digital signage solutions as well as specialist disciplines as web marketing, ecommerce, kiosk systems all of which are very applicable to the digital signage market, and in many cases indistinguishable.

Typical digital signage scenarios

Scenario 1: Provision of a single or multiple touch screen technology displays (kiosks) within an exhibition stand environment or public domain i.e shopping centre information points.

Scenario 2: Installation of a touch screen within a clients own product i.e mechanical excavator/agricultural vehicle providing a complete interactive facility to potential customers. This typical installation would be powered via the vehicle battery from either 12v or 24v portable supply. Each screen could be networked with others via a central server either on-line or using local wireless facilities.

Scenario 3: Management of multiple screen installations nationwide with sales campaigns being presented simultaneously, and changed overnight or as required. Monitoring required at each display to ensure correct operation.

Solution components

The above scenarios epitomise the specific challenges in devising solutions to meet customer requirements that typically involve many variables.

Kiosk type applications (Scenario 1) will require an intelligent client device (computer) at each display. These client computers would be equipped with fast graphics and network interfaces. However no additional software would be necessary on these except a standard web browser, if the main application and content was delivered from a simple server, either locally (e.g a laptop with a wireless network interface) or from the internet. Additional innovative features may include static detectors that would alert each system when a user approached and triggered an appropriate greeting. In the future it may be possible to use holographic or 3D displays with the same system.

The custom application described in Scenario 2 above would represent a special case of the kiosk system. The physical hardware would be adjusted for the different environment, but the operation could be identical but using different content, served by the server and designed to deal with different inputs. If desirable the server and client computers could be one.

The general use of digital signature over a network of displays (Scenario 3) would also be addressed by the framework discussed above. Security would be important,  and possibly maximised using “push” technology. Each client computer could be accessed from a central point if special attention was necessary. Simple scripts could be written to either report back to the central server from each client or poll each client from the server to determined proper operation. Campaign scheduling could be achieved by pushing content from the server or adding the campaign content to the server location from which the client is programmed to refresh content.