Retail

People over shiny things: Successful DOOH must be intentional, customer-focused

Scott Schoeneberger shares keys to success in a rapidly changing DOOH environment. Top advice includes: being intentional is the only way to optimize ROI; listen to and focus on your customers, and use interactivity to create surprise and delight moments.

Provided by Bluewater.

October 18, 2022 by Daniel Brown — Editor, Networld Media Group

Provided by Bluewater.

Advertising and DOOH are evolving almost as fast as technology itself, and it can be hard for businesses and marketers to keep up. Focusing on essential principles of success has never been more important to teams in this space, which is why DST sat down to talk to Scott Schoeneberger to learn more about finding success in this rapidly changing field. Scott Schoeneberger is the managing partner at Bluewater, an agency that operates four industry-leading business units that support sensory storytelling across digital and physical canvases. He is the founder of the Michigan immersive night walk experience Glenlore Trails and the hybrid event platform Parallel Live. Schoeneberger is also an active board member at the Detroit Sessions, a non-profit which serves to connect a new generation with the classical arts by infusing art, space and technology to create inspiring performances that resonate with the culture of today.

Q: Diversity, inclusion and accessibility are increasingly important in the world of signage and marketing. How is the industry as a whole doing in this area, and what can be done to increase diversity and inclusion in the DOOH space?

A: DEI is an important part of life, business and happiness. In the DOOH space, there is still room for improvement regarding inclusivity and there are some areas where we can look to make improvements. First, we can be mindful of who we hire to help. There are plenty of qualified and diverse vendors you can select to help deploy your network, manage your network and create your content. Then, within the content itself, there is plenty of room for inclusivity by just being mindful of what assets are being selected and deployed to the field.

Q:Thanks to vaccines and other advances, consumers are finally coming back to physical gathering places. How can retailers leverage digital signage to turn browsers into buyers?

A: The impact of digital signage for retailers in today's market is incredibly powerful. I tend to view this in three categories: one, attraction and entertainment two, relevant offers and three education and interactivity.

The first category really speaks to the brand itself. This content is generally highly produced and attractive, adding to the overall feeling and design of the space. Its intent is to draw customers in and help them decide that they want to spend time with the brand.

The second is to help ensure timely offers or to ensure that other relevant purchasing information is in front of every customer. This could be highlighting sales or reaffirming that if a product is not available it can be quickly shipped to them.

The third is to help educate about products — the difference between two products or how a new product should be used — all with the goal of driving product sales. The interactivity can educate or entertain to help increase positive brand sentiment. All of these are helpful in a time when some may still be uncomfortable asking for help or if they have become so comfortable with online shopping that digital uptake is second nature even when in a physical retail environment.

Provided by Bluewater.

Q: What is experiential marketing, and why should retailers (along with other marketers) be focused on it in 2022?

A:Experiential marketing is a phrase coined to describe modern in-field marketing, specifically the type of programs that elicit feeling and emotion and heighten the senses. As the name implies, it's focused on the experience had by audiences and is often manifested in specialty events, pop-ups or other unusual and creative marketing efforts.

The experiential market is projected to keep growing and brands are spending a significant amount of marketing dollars because it delivers results. Retailers are also cashing in on the experiential train with quirky pop-up shops, store-within-a-store concepts and brand collaborations that deliver a unique experience for potential customers. These experiences almost always lead to a flurry of user-generated content circling the web and plenty of added media attention.

Retailers have the unique opportunity to activate both their retail locations and out-of-the-box locations. This approach can help reach larger target audiences and keep costs in check. Thinking of each retail store as a stage presents an interesting perspective for designing experiential marketing programs: there are no added location costs, there are less logistics to consider to get goods on-site and built-in staff is available to run any number of programs designed to bring customers in store to experience something different. Mixed with pop-ups in strategic locations and other collaborative ventures, you can maximize investments made into experiential all while creating unique experiences for customers to explore and engage with your brand.

Q:One of the biggest themes in DOOH right now is interactivity. Why is that, and what are some of the ways businesses can start making their ads interactive today?

A:Interactivity gives greater depth to digital signage content. It can provide educational value by allowing customers to drill down into information, receive instant feedback on products and place orders for products not available in-store. It can also be used in experiential ways to create surprise and delight moments. Most digital signage is directional, meaning it's broadcasted out to endpoints where it's played and hopefully consumed. Interactivity can be added through specific hardware installed on-site (touchscreens, sensors and other triggers) or can be provided through a BYOD experience, most often presented as a QR code that opens a web control or web experience. This bi-directional nature of interactive content makes it much more compelling to audiences, guarantees longer engagement and provides richer value as a touchpoint.

The simplest way to make ads interactive and cost-effective (as we're not adding physical infrastructure) is to create a web-enabled sidecar to your content. This is often delivered through a QR code on the screen which is linked to a web controller or second screen experience. If your playback devices allow for custom HTML5 programs to run in the playlist, you can easily deploy on-screen apps that can be controlled by a viewer's mobile phone. This could look like controlling a branded game of pinko where winning presents a discount code, making selections on a trivia game or just controlling the playback of product marketing materials. Alternatively, this could open an entirely second-screen experience that can be promoted through digital signage, social and other traditional marketing channels providing more use cases for the investment.

Provided by Bluewater.

Q: It's more important than ever for businesses to optimize ROI on every penny in their ad budget. What are some easy ways to do this?

A:Spending time planning and strategizing will always be top of the list for optimizing any program for ROI. Start by consulting subject matter experts on what to expect. From that information, you can put together multiple scenarios and poke holes in them to find and connect threads that can help you maximize your ROI.

Looking at digital signage as an example, you may need to consult with those comfortable with networking and IT for connectivity and security, those with expertise in the AV space for what display hardware to use in various locations and those with knowledge in content strategy to ensure you aren't setting yourself up for failure. Knowing that you aren't going to be re-working any part of your deployment is a good place to start as that will immediately drain ROI.

Having a clear strategy for what you want out of your digital signage is the No. 1 way to optimize ROI. This means that every customer is seeing the proper offer with enough frequency to either trigger a purchase or recall the offer when they are ready to make a purchase. When creating this strategy, you will most likely find there are many threads to connect between other brand and marketing initiatives and your own digital signage campaign such as content that's already being created, which can be easily repurposed, or other collaborative efforts like seasonal refreshes that can help reduce the amount of physical printed pieces going out. Being intentional is the only way to optimize ROI.

Q:People are fascinated by emerging technologies and there's a lot of speculation about where digital signage and marketing in general are headed, from AI and IoT to QR codes and the metaverse. What are the biggest trends to pay attention to as we enter a new year?

A: Digital signage is still very much in its infancy. What used to be the major cause for consternation — the infrastructure — is now all but table stakes. There are plenty of solid options for software, hardware and networking components. But more importantly, there are a lot more subject matter experts in the market who can effectively budget and deploy a digital signage network. With that said, there still seems to be a gap in the delivery of effective content and a lack of strategy that goes into it. Go into any retail location and take note of the content being played. Quite often there is more content being pushed out than available wait time — a clear miss if you're looking to drive specific actions. Given the tremendous speed of innovation in the software layer, I expect to see a lot of new features being added to help combat this such as AI that helps with both analytics and the generation of content to keep playlists moving. With the re-adoption of QR codes, we will likely also see more interactivity in digital signage through a BYOD format.

The biggest change I expect to see is the adoption of digital signage in experiential formats. This could look like taking the proven mechanics to expand beyond a 16:9 format and beyond a "techoration" or creative mosaic-style installation. Entire walls could be deployed as digital content that allows a storefront to change its look and feel. As we experience weak supply chain conditions, retailers must lean into immersive entertainment to drive traffic back to their stores.

Q:Things are changing fast, and it feels like all the rulebooks are going out the window. What is your single biggest piece of advice to businesses, advertisers and content managers to thrive through change?

A:My best piece of advice would be to continue listening and focusing on your customers. Their feedback will help guide you through change and ensure you're staying relevant. If you remain open to the idea that what worked once may not always work, it allows you to navigate through the rapid churn with your customer's voice guiding the way. Just beware of falling into the trap of shiny new things as the changes needed to stay relevant are usually a series of micro changes to existing methods, not an adoption of something entirely new.

About Daniel Brown

Daniel Brown is the editor of Digital Signage Today, a contributing editor for Automation & Self-Service, and an accomplished writer and multimedia content producer with extensive experience covering technology and business. His work has appeared in a range of business and technology publications, including interviews with eminent business leaders, inventors and technologists. He has written extensively on AI and the integration of technology and business strategy with empathy and the human touch. Brown is the author of two novels and a podcaster. His previous experience includes IT work at an Ivy League research institution, education and business consulting, and retail sales and management.