Two years ago Sean Andersen was brought on board the Interactive Services team at Six Flags Theme Parks and was issued a challenge. The company was refreshing all of its in-park digital signage and launching the Six Flags TV network and he was going to lead the charge. Whether he knew it at the time or not, Andersen had become Six Flags’ internal champion for digital signage.
“Internal champion” is the term that those in the digital signage industry use to identify the project manager and liaison within the company deploying the digital signage. Aside from managing all of the internal complexities that go along with a digital signage installation, these individuals also must have a firm understanding of the industry they are working with – from screens to content to environmental planning.
Two types of champions
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Six Flags TV is now installed in seven of Six Flags' theme parks nationwide and is the result of Andersen's internal championing. |
While the internal champion will be the face of the project within his company, there is usually someone above him that is championing the project from the helm.
“You need a senior-level executive that has the vision, the financial resources, the organizational position and the authority to deliver a project that includes many cross-functional aspects,” said Rebecca Walt, VP Consulting Services, Out-of-Home Digital Media at Reflect Systems Inc. “This key role is called the executive sponsor.”
The executive sponsor must have several key qualities:
1. The authority to execute projects. “The executive sponsor brings other stakeholders to the project such as finance, IT, marketing, advertising, security and other lines of business that may be impacted or could participate,” said Lyle Bunn, a digital signage consultant and author of the SPEED digital signage training program.
2. Budget authority. The executive has to have the ability to turn the switch and spend the money on the project. This usually requires close ties with the CEO and CFO and influence over decisions made with the company’s budget.
3. Business management skills. He or she doesn’t have to have an MBA, but the executive sponsor must have good management skills and business sense in order to have the rest of the company buy in. At the end of the day, the sponsor is going to have to prove a business case for the network.
The internal champion can operate under many monikers – change agent, line of business manager or project manager. Internal champions can come from many departments in the deploying company – marketing, IT, merchandising, to name a few – but what is most important is that the digital signage becomes one of these internal champions’ sole responsibilities.
“I believe that in order for a digital signage system to be properly managed and properly refreshed with timely and meaningful content, someone must have ‘skin in the game,’” said Mike White, president of Multi-Media Services. “Unless someone's job evaluation and potentially compensation is tied directly to the responsibility of that person, it will likely not be successfully managed and supported.”
Internal champions must:
1. Have cross-departmental functionality. The internal champion must coordinate stakeholders in technology, merchandising, store operations, advertising, marketing and other departments to work on the project. He or she has to have the people skills to get them on board, get commitments, delegate responsibility and be the go-to person in the company for all things digital signage.
2. Have an understanding of digital signage and new media. Often times internal champions are brought on board to specifically head up a digital signage project based on their experiences with similar projects, as in Sean Andersen’s case.
“The person needs to be excited or motivated to work with technology and embrace digital signage,” White said. “They must understand that digital signage is more than just a bunch of fun technology.”
3. Have business acumen. The internal champion needs to be one of the most organized and detail-oriented people in the company.
“They need the passion and the skill set to keenly focus on aligning the efforts to the business goals,” Walt said.
