One of the world’s largest retail chains wanted to reduce printing costs for new promotional materials each week. Because their sales and promotions changed so frequently, the paper cost of promotional material and new campaign rollouts were becoming unmanageable. Often times they were spending tremendous amounts to create paper promotion banners. Then if the item sold out, they were left with a useless sign. Other times the opposite would occur. Their messaging wouldn’t be effective and sales wouldn’t be increasing, but they couldn’t replace the content because their budget had been spent.

The future has arrived. We are now seeing a transformation in the outdoor advertising industry as billboards everywhere are being retrofitted or newly erected as electronic displays capable of very high resolution and impeccable image quality. So, is it time to jump in and take your outdoor displays to the next level? With the cost of hardware falling and regulations lifting, it may be the right time to enter the new age of digital outdoor advertising.

While working in retail, I was constantly asking (or being asked), “Will this __________ (insert retail initiative here) make the customer experience better?” Even though my core function was to deliver a digital signage experience, I was on several teams that carried different responsibilities: marketing, branding, merchandising, and store design. You can imagine the joy of four meetings a week where the same stuff was discussed but nothing was accomplished. As an agent of customer engagement, I was challenged with taking those four competencies and combining them on a digital signage network that carried on its shoulders the weight of visual appeal for the entire chain.

In winter 2010, Bell Canada, Canada’s largest communications company and provider of mobility wireless, satellite television, local and long distance phone service, and IP-broadband technology, provided the ultimate fan-zone experience in Vancouver, British Columbia, using dynamic place-based media called the Bell Ice Cube. The Bell Ice Cube was located in the epicenter of an international sporting event where visitors watched teams compete live in HD, cheered on athletes, listened to live music and met some of the world’s best athletes, all under one roof.

Together Mobile Marketing & Digital-Out-of-Home Will Revolutionize the Advertising Industry – Unfortunately, Agencies and the Brands They Represent Still Work Inside the Square Box of Traditional Media I recently came across a post in Mobile Marketer titled: Mobile does not garner enough impressions: CTIA panelist and before reading past the headline the same sense of frustration I have been feeling for the past year came across my mind again as I was already irritated without having to read more.

Initial television content consisted of little more than radio programming distributed on a different media. Sure it was a way to entertain the American family, but producers and advertisers lacked vision, no pun intended. Now with the ability to assault the visual sense as well as the audio sense, television can have a greater impact. As time has passed and the television advanced, it has become part of nearly 100% of American households. Programming has improved as have commercials. Then, just when producers and marketing executives seemed to catch up, technology jumped ahead again.

One of the biggest enablers of the growth of digital signage overall is the availability of high-definition LCD, LED and plasma screens. Driven by increased demand and technological innovations in the consumer market, these display monitors are advancing rapidly. Today’s state-of-the-art display monitors and televisions feature an eye-grabbing 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) of resolution, making them ideal for a variety of digital signage applications.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: You’re ready to start a network. You have a marketing department fantasizing about customer engagement with digital signage, and a venue just perfect for an extravaganza of digital engagement. You get your marketing team together and hop on a plane to the nearest digital signage tradeshow. But when you get there, you’re bombarded with a show floor full of technology, noise and people who talk really fast and say things like “ROO” and “ROI.”

Just a few minutes away from Myrtle Beach, Coastal Carolina University is home to over 8,000 students pursuing degrees in 42 fields of study. In addition to a rich academic program, Coastal Carolina University boasts over 100 clubs and organizations on campus, making for a busy extracurricular scene. While investigating the possibilities of digital signage for keeping students up to date on all the news from academic...

Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, is a unique and outstanding institution of higher education. AU has buildings spread over 120 acres, with a full-time student population of 2,100. The challenge faced at AU and at universities around the country is to be able to communicate effectively with students on many levels, and in a way they find inviting.