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Target marketer, digital signage leaders discuss how to use big data without creeping out the customer

How do you deliver dynamic digital signage based on Big Data without creeping out customers? Target, Lamar and other companies discussed how to use Big Data to drive customer experiences while respecting customer privacy.

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April 5, 2019 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

In the era of Big Data, retailers are in an arms race to deliver the best experience for customers based on customer data, especially with digital signage. Many companies are looking at using dynamic content, which responds directly to customers' needs. However, there is one big problem when creating dynamic content: how do you avoid creeping out the customer? No one wants to feel watched, after all.

Richard Ventura, VP of sales, NEC Display Solutions, moderated a panel with Joel Allard, senior business partner, Target, Len Dudis, CIO, Grupo Vidanta and Ian Dallimore, director of digital growth at Lamar Advertising at the Digital Signage Expo, held in Las Vegas from March 26 to 29, on this topic.

What customers don't like

Allard told a story about a time he attended a retail lab where a guest walked into a store that was running low on an item the guest had been searching for online. The lab used a display to say, "We still have this item in stock, we know you are here to get it."

"That experience wasn't loved by people who walked through it," Allard said.

Dallimore said that advertisers such as Lamar are moving away from a one-to-many model of communication to a one-to-targeted model of communication, since customers respond to relevant information targeted to their wants and needs. However, making the message too targeted can have the opposite effect.

"I don't think anyone in this room would like their search bar to be displayed on digital signage," Dallimore said.

Another common mistake is to simply bombard the customer with so much information from apps, digital signage and other platforms that they simply tune it out.

"You never want to hear the words 'stop bugging me,'" Allard said. "To push constant deals on the customer gets to be too much."

What customers like

The key to using Big Data without creeping out customers is to offer them good deals, according to the panelists.

"When you provide value for data, people will be okay with it," Dudis said.

This value can be something like a coupon or discount or a personalized experience.

"If we use data correctly, we deliver personalized experience or route customers to somewhere good for them," Dudis said.

One example of this is using facial detection technology that identifies a customer's gender, age or other details to deliver personalized advertisements, rather than facial recognition technology, which directly identifies them.

The panelists also said that retailers shouldn't just gather data for the sake of gathering it. If retailers do this, they can either create massive liabilities for themselves or they can fall into the trap of too much segmentation.

Dallimore said that many advertisers want to segment their audience to an incredibly granular degree such as 24 year old Asian male who owns a cockatiel that wants to purchase Tide Pods.

"When we segment data too much, we miss the point that 39-year old white males also purchase Tide Pods," Dallimore said.

The panelists recommended focusing on broader audiences when delivering digital signage experiences, so that way they don't miss out on boosting sales and brand awareness.

Keep your industry accountable

There are unfortunately always going to be companies that take advantage of data and invade customers' privacy. These companies degrade customer trust in advertising technology such as digital signage. Companies need to be willing to call out these bad actors, according to the panelists.

"Call out bad people in the industry that use data unethically," Dallimore said.

The panelists also said that retailers need to keep in mind digital signage and Big Data's true purpose. It's not about simply aggregating data, it's about the customer's journey.

"Remember it's a personal journey," Ventura said. "If it doesn't accomplish something, pull it out."

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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