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AV fortune-teller calls digital signage 'Holy Grail' opportunity (Video)

A/V industry expert Gary Kayye says digital signage is the future for advertisers and A/V pros alike.

April 18, 2013 by Christopher Hall — w, t

At the Almo Professional A/V E4AV traveling roadshow, rAVe Publications founder Gary Kayye delivers a live version of his annual predictions column about the coming year in A/V technology, Kayye's Krystal Ball.

The first roadshow in Chicago earlier this year featured Kayye as the keynote speaker, and that continues at the tour's next stop in San Francisco on April 25.

Kayye starts by reviewing where the A/V industry is now, then projects forward into the next 12-18 months. While it's an A/V-focused presentation, it's also a digital signage-centric one, as Kayye is pushing A/V installers and integrators to move strongly into the digital signage space before they're left behind.

One of the more interesting assertions Kayye makes in his presentation — and likely one of the more prescient — is that "in five years digital signage will simply be called advertising."

Focusing on the digital signage-specific portions of his presentation, Kayye said theta digital signage is one of the fastest growing segments of the A/V market, with pro A/V installers reporting significant growth in the percentage of their hardware jobs being devoted to digital signage and with home A/V installers citing digital signage as their second-largest market share.

Looking ahead, he said, the digital signage market will see "explosive growth," even though it's been growing at 40 percent each year for the last three years. To get in on the growth, he exhorted A/V professionals to either develop their own digital signage packages or partner with others who already have them. A/V companies also need to be sure to offer hardware and software, service, and content, especially the latter, since providing content can also provide 400-500 percent margins.

"Sell the entire package," he said. "Don't stop with digital signage; think digital signage networks."

That's when he said digital signage would eventually just be synonymous with advertising, and that the A/V industry needed to get on board now. For instance, he said, no one watches commercials on TV now, thanks to TiVo and DVRs, so advertisers are going to have to find new ways to reach consumers.

"Advertising in the home is going to move out of the home," he said, and since ad agencies still don't really understand digital signage, "this is going to be the Holy Grail opportunity."

Watch the entire presentation below:

Learn more about digital signage trends.

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