Article

The NAB show through a digital signage lens

The Las Vegas expo showed that digital media is washing over and around what has been termed digital signage or digital out-of-home.  

June 2, 2009 by Lyle Bunn — Strategy Architect, BUNN

The media economy was front and center at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual convention as issues of content distribution, business models, monetizing media and the changing media landscape dominated discussions.

The broadcast sector dominates the "Marketing Industrial Complex" and digital signage was positioned in many ways as an extension of broadcast during NAB09. While the focus was on better approaches to creating, managing, distributing and presenting content,  the emphasis was "one-to-many broadcasting" (the trend to new display modes and message targeting in the out-of-home environment).

Read also:NAB: How broadcast can impact digital signage   

In the enormous change in marketing communications that is in progress, the tide of a "blue ocean strategy" is being drawn by the economies of digital in media creation, management, distribution and presentation.

"Digital signage/digital out-of-home is the natural extension of broadcast," said Jimmy Schaeffler, whose NAB Executive Briefing Series book "Digital Signage" has become a best seller since its release at NAB last year. "DS/DOOH is moving through a shift from being technology provider pushed to being pulled by advertisers, retailers and other communicators. Just as digital signage grew explosively in the post-9/11 economy as message delivery budgets shifted toward new approaches, the growth is continuing in the current economic climate."

Harris stands out

Harris Corp., a $5.4 billion giant in the broadcast, communications infrastructure and media flow business, had the highest digital signage profile during NAB due to several significant product and deployment announcements.

At NAB, Harris outlined the media flow similarities to DS/DOOH for broadcasters, narrowcasters, CCTV and IT-based media management and distribution for operators and integrators. The importance placed on the media and business models was reflected in the robust, scalable capabilitiesof the Harris InfoCaster for network media management and the unique abilities of Harris Punctuate to manage content and ad campaigns across networks and different media platforms.

In describing their selectionof Harris Corp. products, Alex Martins, COO of the Orlando Magic, said "The stadium will include 1,200 displays presenting media individually and in groups based on Harris media management. As a result of this relationship, everyone who visits the new Orlando Events Center will enjoy a unique level of fan engagement and an unparalleled experience, and our arena will undoubtedly become a technological showcase and the new standard for sports and entertainment venues worldwide."

In announcing that McDonald's is launchingthe next stage of the fast-food chain's unique, branded TV channel using Harris InfoCaster, Brad Hunter, West Division marketing officer for McDonald's, said "It is comforting to know that Harris can manage this end-to-end platform, allowing McDonald's to focus on the day-to-day operation of its restaurants."

Key takeaways

The ability to reach consumers, patrons and staff with compelling visual messages in out-of-home environments characterized as points of purchase, transit, waiting and gathering makes digital signage an attractive communications tool.

Given these points of display, digital signage can be used to brand, merchandise and present a call-to-action simultaneously. Messaging is typically five to 15 seconds in duration and often does not include audio.

The ability to target messages based on the display location, time of day and even by the demographic profile of a viewer add to this value. The critical mass of installed displays at 900,000 currently in North America and growing by 44 percent annually, positions the media to be worthy media planner/buyer consideration. 

Digital signage fits into the middle of the marketing communications continuum between the audience reach of TV and radio at one end and the engagement of mobility and internet on the other.

The growth of other media such as TV and Internet are offering valuable lessons to digital signage users, network operators and suppliers, including:

• Users such as advertisers and other communicators are learning that the content must be relevant to be effective. This is achieved by combining content, context, audience and measurement.

• Network operators are continuously focused on improving access to and the efficient use of the medium.

• Suppliers know that the technology must be RAS-able" – reliable, available and scalable, and that the more easily it can be applied and used, the better.  

Some broadcasters have already entered the DS/DOOH market and others are determining their strategy. CBS OuterNet, NBC Everywhere and others' involvement has included acquisitions and investment in networks, and bundling DOOH into advertiser proposals. Other broadcasters and cable operators are considering collaborations that allow leverage of ad sales force activities and cross-promotion. 

"DOOH is ready to be more efficient, so it can be more effective," said Jeff Dickey, a co-founder of SeeSaw Networks. "Based on the growth of individual networks and the growing installed base of displays within these networks, economies from more efficient ways of planning and placing content campaigns on multiple networks and trafficking media is an apparent area of growth. In short, making it easier to plan and place advertising can unleash the enabling value of the inherent characteristics of digital out-of-home."

Dickey continued, "This will continue to propel the medium, offering a compelling outlook of continued growth and positive advancements in the way that media and messaging serve society".

Several firms familiar to the digital signage sector were also busy at NAB including Stratacache and Tightrope Management Systems. Each offers media management systems.

Broadcast International, a respected systems integrator, noted that it is integrating digital signage and store security and continues to develop CODECs to maximize satellite efficacy for specific applications.

"We have developed our own integrated player and software to offer to the digital signage marketplace," said David Van Epps of BI.

Also on hand was HD Cloud. They leverage transcode resources, which has been part of the infrastructure that enables TV and entertainment commerce is being extended to serve new approaches to media presentation such as digital signage, digital out-of-home, place-based, social networking and mobile media.

A media file creator or presentation operator sends the native file to HD Cloud with the reformat request. HD Cloud identifies transcode resourcing and directs the file with the work request, managing the job process, turn-around, file distribution, completion and billing. During the process, HD Cloud stores the file credentials and meta-tagging.

Lyle Bunn is a highly regarded independent advisor and educator in North America's digital signage/digital out-of-home sector.