… for sales, and, may be, a little bit of branding along the way.
11 out of 12 experts quoted in Laura Davis-Taylor’s article “Branding or Sales Lift? Having it Both Ways” spoke in favor of using in-store digital signage for generating sales lift, while the branding function is performed in the background, as an ancilliary process. The article was published in the October issue of the Marketing At Retail magazine and continued the ’branding vs. sales uplift’ debate that, according to Laura Davis-Taylor, is still raging in the industry.
Frankly, I wonder why the debate is still even on. There are already so many existing vehicles for branding, why misuse digital signage airtime when it is best suited for closing a sale? (more…)
November 1st, 2007
Nurlan Urazbaev
The traditional “impression”, or “opportunity to see” an ad is no longer enough to prove the efficiency of advertising at retail, says Dick Blatt, President & CEO of POPAI, a point-of-purchase advertising trade organisation. Mr. Blatt told a POPAI digital signage conference in Montreal on Thursday that big advertislng dollars have started to pour into shopper marketing. He cautioned, however, that the problem the industry was facing now was how to keep these budgets in the absense of reliable metrics.
POPAI, among other trade bodies, has been working on establishing metrics to equip advertisers with insights into the real effect of their in-store initiatives.
A recent POPAIÂ MARI Proof of Concept research was the first attempt to measure the level of engagement shoppers have with the marketing-at-retail (MAR) displays. (more…)
October 26th, 2007
Nurlan Urazbaev
Digital signage ads are less annoying and are more relevant to the viewers than any other types of advertising, a new study by OTX (Online Testing eXchange) revealed.
The results of the study are wrapped up by Marketing Charts:
“Most adults say advertising on digital signage catches their attention – and they consider such advertising unique and entertaining, and less annoying than both traditional and online media, according to a study by OTX (Online Testing eXchange) conducted for SeeSaw Networks. (more…)
October 26th, 2007
Nurlan Urazbaev
Media owners say the share of revenue from advertising is increasing relative to revenue from ‘end-user spending’. MARKETINGWEB says half the media executives polled in Accenture’s Global Content Study 2007 said advertising, driven by growth in digital advertising, could become the most prevalent business model within five years.
Traditionally, media revenues have been split between end-user spending (65%) and revenue from advertising (35%). End-user spending is defined either as subscriptions to media or buying media off the shelf, reports MARKETINGWEB. (more…)
October 24th, 2007
Nurlan Urazbaev
According to the Cinema Ad Council, ad spending in movie theaters grew 15% in 2006 to $455.6 million, driven by strong ticket sales and the digitization of ad content distribution.
Advertising Age reports that the out-of-home advertising market has been growing as “spending shifts from traditional billboards to more accountable digital platforms,” and reached $6.8 billion in 2006. The majority of these dollars were spent on in-store networks and digital billboards.  Movie theaters have managed to lure marketers by selling the big screen as an alternative to cable networks or multiple-market billboard buys, (more…)
October 19th, 2007
Nurlan Urazbaev
Digital signage as a medium appeals to advertisers because of its potential to deliver both pin-point targeting and unprecedented levels of accountability. What may be this industry’s dirty little secret, however, is the fact that a large number of networks that are currently enjoying success do not have the proper reporting in place to provide this accountability to the marketers they service. (more…)
October 19th, 2007
Daniel Parisien
We are getting really solid expert feedback triggered by the discussion and by the following questions from Darin Gilstrap posted last week:
“Since there are several media math formulas currently being used to calculate digital signage media buys, I truly wonder which formulas are really apples-to-apples. Can you charge a national advertiser a flat ad-spot rate/per month/per location across 500, 1000, 2000+ locations? As a network grows do advertisers hesitate to pay more based on network growth? What about niche audiences for example women-only, Hispanics, African American networks, do they garner higher rates based on tighter targeting.”
Rob Gorrie of ADCENTRICITY sells digital signage advertising to major media buyers. Here are his insights from the frontline trenches:
RG: Love this question – right in line with the type of mature answer buyers need. Here’s the long answers:
Media formulae – there’s no one size fits all…and that’s part of the secret…our medium is NOT a commodity, nor is it a “rate card”. A bunch of Omnicom clients (execs) I deal with relate this space to TV/Broadcast and feel it’s a trailer buy to a TV spend, which is measured against a quasi GRP. On the other hand, some of the guys I deal with in the WPP camp throw it in to outdoor, as a subset, which is measured on……..something 
(perceived passerby traffic)… (more…)
October 15th, 2007
Nurlan Urazbaev
Andrey Kazakov asked this question last week: “Is there some special license that needs to be obtained to operate Plasma screen network in Canada (and particulary in BC)? I intersted in contacts with small scaled Digital Signage network operators in British Columbia
Cheers,
Andrey”
Rob Gorrie of ADCENTRICITY provided the following substantial answer:
Let’s separate out the 3 types of screen networks that reside under the caption “OOH” (Out Of Home):
1.) Outdoor Digital (roadside (rural/urban) digital signage “LED” type boards)
2.) Place-based (LCD/Plasma screens in Doctors offices, Restaurants, Health Clubs, etc)
3.) Retail (Digital LCD/Plasma in Convenience Stores, Grocery, Pharma, etc)
Retail and Place-based are pretty green field right now. There aren’t a lot (if any) “Government”/”CRTC”/”FCC” rules governing the operations of these networks because, fundamentally, these are closed networks, operated privately….so no one in the regulation business really has a foothold here. (more…)
October 15th, 2007
Nurlan Urazbaev
There is a lot of talk in the industry around whether or not digital signage networks should participate in the Emergency Alert System. Although digital signage networks are not yet obliged to do so (they are not included in the list of media that are required by law to participate in the EAS), this looks like a temporary situation that may soon be legislated, given the growing reach of digital signage.
Even in the absence of the legislation many networks have recognized the need to incorporate the EAS or other types of emergency alert systems. Often the nature of the venue demands this functionality (for instance, student campuses, hospitals, arenas, etc.) (more…)
October 15th, 2007
Brian Dusho
Most of the big flat panel guys are in the game now when it comes to digital signage, though only a handful appear to be going at it hard — LG being one of them.
They had a big presence at the DSE show this spring in Chicago, and now they are doing a three-city road show focused very specifically onese kinds of opportunities.
Called TransVolve, the shows are set for tomorrow in New York and then the following week in LA. BroadSign will have people who will be hanging out and staring longingly at the free open bar at the show in LA. (more…)
October 15th, 2007
David Haynes
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Brian has spent the last four years working with retailers, advertising/ media companies, and technology companies to develop successful business models in the digital signage industry and assisted in the formation of several of the industry trade organizations. He is an active member in 
Nurlan is director of marketing for BroadSign International. He has been with BroadSign since day one and brought along a lot of media expertise from his diverse career that ranged from a reporter to a radio executive, entrepreneur and owner of a media consulting company. He is a staunch proponent of standardization and ROI measurements for digital signage advertising.