Article

Romance your brand with digital signage

USC sub shop uses surf theme to reach students.

January 23, 2006

This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, Jan/Feb 2006.

 

Picture the sun warming your face as you listen to waves lapping on the beach. You look out at the water and you're amped because you see a righteous wave coming in that you can't wait to ride — even if it probably means you'll end with a wipeout that sends you back to the beach.

 

Just as you're about to grab your board you hear, "How may I help you?" and you realize you're not at the beach but standing in line at Malibu Subs, the newest dining venue at the University of Southern California (USC).

 

"I like to call it ‘eater-taining,'" said creator and director Michael Gratz of the award-winning Hospitality Services Division at USC.

 

Malibu Subs, a risk that Gratz took and has spent the last two years preparing for, is the 34th dining venue on the University Park campus at USC. It celebrates your brand with digital signage U SC sub shop uses surf theme to reach students Paul Barron, contributing editor California's surfer culture while adding a healthy new twist on the traditional submarine sandwich. "Our students requested fresh and healthy, made-to- order sub sandwiches," said Donald Ranasinghe, director of operations at USC.

 

BringingMalibuto life

 

The surfer theme, which was developed by Gratz and his team at USC, is true to the lifestyle of the region and makes students feel at home, thus creating a connection with Malibu. But it wasn't until they began working with Epicure Digital Systems that their brand came to life, both visually and emotionally, through high- tech digital marketing — marketing that helped drive the brand of Malibu Subs in terms of building relationships and convincing customers they were buying a high quality product.

 

"I was intrigued with the customization that could be done with digital signage," recalls Gratz, who said they bought the signage and marketing from Epicure even before committing funds to the project, knowing that they wanted to do something with digital menu boards.

 

"We looked at avenues on how to help bring this brand to life," said Gratz. "We looked at the successful sub brands out there and realized they were lacking in terms of building a customer connection. We looked at digital signage as a way to bond with the people at USC."

 

Matching brand to clientele

 

Epicure's brand identity system involves every area from menu development and design to digital signage, motion graphics and promotion, to name a few.

 

"The digital menu board makes an immediate connection with the customer," said Gratz. "The initial draw is the signage, which gives the atmosphere the feeling of being a happening place.

 

"Digital menu boards give operators the ability to change menu items instantly, which is costly with traditional static boards. For example, Gratz said that they'll look into adding hot sandwiches in the winter and possibly new vegetable selections in the spring, all of which will be easy to manipulate digitally.

 

At Malibu there are four digital display screens, two of which display the menu and have moving marketing messages with revenue-producing promotions such as "double meat," as well as educational promotions that highlight healthy items such as guacamole.

 

The other two screens have surfing videos from around the world. Gratz's dream is to have a live Web cam on those screens where customers can watch live surfers — a way to bring Malibu to downtown Los Angeles in a real way.

 

"It's about romancing the brand," said Gratz, "visually stimulating with the screen and creating a unique sandwich."