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Circle K, Target, lemonade claim most read spots for July 2019

As the summer heat intensifies, Digital Signage Today readers cooled off with stories on DOOH fighting for the right to run lemonade stands and Circle K keeping up with the times with digital signage.

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August 6, 2019 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

As the summer heat intensifies, Digital Signage Today readers cooled off with stories on DOOH fighting for the right to run lemonade stands and Circle K keeping up with the times with digital signage.

The top story for this month looked at how Circle K is preparing for the gas stations of the future, where customers will spend longer in the store as their electric cars charge. In order to engage this audience, Circle K is beginning to use digital menu boards and digital signage in greater numbers.

Another story examined how Country Time, a lemonade manufacturer, battled against laws that restrict kid-run lemonade stands with a DOOH campaign, while another story examined how Target and Walmart can take their digital signage game to the next level.

You can read more about the top five most read stories for July 2019 below. They are posted in reverse order.

5. Use movies, TV to inspire your digital signage designs

Your organization is made up of people, and so is your audience. When trying to engage them with digital signage messages, it's crucial to keep this in mind at all times. One way to make your screens instantly attractive is to tap into the power of popular culture when crafting your digital signage designs.

4. Why adopting SD-WAN can save you big bucks

Everyone acknowledges that SD-WAN(software-defined networking in a wide-area-network) can save money. More than half of IT leaders expect a 25-50% return on investment (ROI) from SD-WAN, but most people only talk about the savings gained from moving from moving MPLS circuits to IP or broadband circuits. While this transition does yield significant savings — in most cases more than 50% savings — it is only one category out of several. Depending on the number of sites connected with MPLS circuits, and the cost of the replacement circuits, this immediate savings from transitioning to IP based circuits can be large.

When customers MPLS lines to the best-practice IP networks, they often see savings on the order of 60%-70%.

3. DOOH fights to make lemonade stands legal

One of the most common images of summertime is a lemonade stand, usually run by a few children with their parents keeping a close eye on them. What few people realize about this quintessential summer scene is that lemonade stands are actually illegal in most states in the U.S.

In fact, 35 states have essentially made lemonade stands illegal due to a number of other laws such as child labor or business permit and licensing regulations. Country Time recently attempted to battle these laws through a DOOH campaign.

2. 2 ways Target, Walmart can take digital signage to the next level

As a customer and technology writer, I often take notice of how big retailers utilize technology such as digital signage on the storefront. While I can't speak for every store(since many stores will run trial campaigns), I do notice a pattern with how retailers in my area such as Target and Walmart use digital signage.

Target for example, uses digital signage to:

• Push out the latest music videos in the entertainment section.
• Push out latest Target advertisements.
• Deliver branded videos that emphasize the happy, stylish brand image.

Walmart, on the other hand typically uses signage to:

• Deliver advertisements throughout the store.
• Integrate shelf-edge displays to provide information or videos about products.
• Attract loops on kiosks.

While these are all valid uses for digital signage, these big retailers can push the technology much farther to deliver next level customer experiences through interactive and dynamic content.

1. Circle K tames aim at better customer experience with digital signage

Gas stations aren't always known for having the best customer experiences. Most are fairly small establishments that serve a very distracted audience of locals, commuters and travelers. However, technological changes such as electric cars will encourage customers to spend more time in the store as their cars charge. Circle K is aiming to improve the customer experience to prepare for this change.

"We strongly believe that the physical store will continue to play a central role in the future, but gas stations as we know it needs to change," Niklas Lindholm, senior manager category, concept and convenience, Circle K Sweden said in an interview. "By working omnichannel on a regular basis, and by understanding the benefits and opportunities digitalization gives us, we have all data necessary to succeed in tomorrow's landscape."

About Bradley Cooper

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Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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