Digital Signage Software

A Guide from Digital Signage Today, Kiosk Marketplace and Self-Service World
Software for Digital Signage
INSIDE: For companies deploying digital signage, software choices can be intimidating. Heres what to look for in a software platform and how it should interact with your screens (and your people).
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Contents
Page 3 Page 4 Page 6 Introduction Chapter 1 |
Shaping the customer experience
About the sponsors
The consumer drivers what are your customers looking for? Visual elements and the customer experience
Page 9
Chapter 2
Categories of digital signage Out-of-home/ad-driven networks Brand-driven networks Informational networks
Page 16
Chapter 3
Delivery A few words about operating systems
Page 24 Page 29 Page 30
Chapter 4 Conclusion Appendix
Content Making your content multitask The virtual back-office
Selected articles from DigitalSignageToday.com
Sponsors
Lincoln, Neb.-based Nanonations self-service kiosk software and digital signage software creates powerful ways to interact with customers. Its enterprise-class platform gives clients the ability to seamlessly integrate dynamic digital media with a back-end that monitors, measures and manages each customer interaction.
Digital Signage Today, operated by Louisville, Ky.-based NetWorld Alliance, is the leading online publisher of news and information on the emerging world of digital signage, dynamic messaging and cutting-edge business communication technologies. The content, which is updated every business day and read by professionals around the world, is provided free of charge to readers.
Published by NetWorld Alliance. 2007 www.networldalliance.com Written and edited by James Bickers, editor, Digital Signage Today Dick Good, CEO Tom Harper, president and publisher Bob Fincher, executive vice president and general manager, Technology Division Joseph Grove, vice president and associate publisher
Introduction
f youre researching your companys initial foray into digital signage, congratulations youre about to help usher in a very exciting time for your company. Digital media has remade much of the business world in the last five years, and the next five promise even more amazing things. Youre stepping into an emerging field that has limitless potential for the way you communicate with your customers and how they feel about you. Youre also about to face one of the most complex purchasing decisions youve come across in some time. You might not realize it yet, but there are tough choices to be made every step of the way, from the hardware and the creative partners to installation and networking. One of the toughest choices you will face involves choosing the software platform to deliver your digital messages. Why is this so tough? Because there are so many options. There are literally hundreds of software packages whose goal is to help you communicate via digital signage, and many of them cover the same ground. They all have the basics send media of one type or another to a screen of one type or another pretty well covered, but it is in the nuances where the big decisions lurk. Some platforms are better at animation and moving images than others; some
handle high-definition, and some do not; some require proprietary hardware devices, while others are built on open architecture. Some will work well with your existing media and workflows out of the box, while others will need some tweaking. In some cases, it might be your processes that end up getting tweaked. Is it worth the trouble? Oh yes, for many reasons that are about to become clear to you. Youre about to reinvent the rules of communication for your business, and youll immediately wonder why you didnt do it sooner. But the importance of good research at this stage cannot be overstated. What were not going to attempt to do in this book is tell you which software platform is right for you. That would be a bit like telling you, authoritatively, which car you should drive. There are just too many options, and variations of need, to ever make such a recommendation wisely. The goal in this book, rather, is to give you a big-picture view of how digital sign-
James Bickers, editor Digital Signage Today
There are hundreds of software packages whose goal is to help you communicate via digital signage, and many of them cover the same ground. It is in the nuances where the big decisions lurk.
2007 NetWorld Alliance Media
Sponsored by nanonation
INTRODUCTION
age software works, what it should do and what features you need to consider. By the time youre finished, you should be sufficiently armed to have a conversation with a software vendor and ask the right questions. Id like to thank Nanonation, whose sponsorship of this guide enables us to provide it to you at no cost.
Chapter 1
The consumer drivers what are your customers looking for?

Customer response to digital signage is of paramount importance. In order for the customers experience to be a positive one, your digital signage software should be able to do several things.
igital signage is still an emerging technology, but already some trends have taken shape, and one of them is unfortunate: Since the screens themselves look very much like the LCD and plasma screens many of us enjoy in our homes, companies have looked upon them as televisions, and have handled their content plans accordingly. But digital signage is not television. It is not an entertainment medium (even though it can be used as one), but a communications method. Companies that use digital signs to endlessly rebroadcast advertising content are forgetting to take into account their customers mindset and reason for coming into the store in the first place. If your intention is to take your television commercial and simply play it in a store, that just becomes noise, said Bradley Walker, president of software company Nanonation. Your software should be able to very thoughtfully integrate brand elements and brand assets, but deliver them in a new way. We talk a lot about compositing using the software to establish a digital media brand for in-store signage and use the flexibility of the software to populate those templates using a variety of media types. Perhaps the key difference between at-home media and in-store media is the mindset of the customer at the moment of viewing, or the time/place/manner consideration. A person at home in the
evening, watching television on his couch, is in a relaxed frame of mind. He is expecting to be in front of that screen for a given period of time an hour, perhaps, or two and his mind parses the content accordingly. That same person standing in a retail environment at 5:30 in the afternoon is feeling things very differently. He is probably tired from a long day at the office; he really wants to squeeze in a workout and dinner before ending up on the couch for that decompression session, and that means he needs to get in and out of this store as quickly as he can. To someone with this mindset, a litany of looping ads will not only be ineffective, it will be an outright deterrent. Chances are, his relationship with the brands of both the store and the items marketed on-screen will be damaged.
Visual elements and the customer experience

Clearly, the customer response to your digital signage is of paramount importance. Secondary to that is the cost savings and efficiency you bring to the company.
CHAPTER 1
But focus first on what the customer gets from seeing one of your screens. To make that experience a positive one, your digital signage software should be able to do several things: Display a variety of media types. Screens that simply rotate through a series of static images are fine, but customers will quickly learn to ignore them, since they act so much like traditional signage. To remain effective, a signage network needs to have the flexibility to change things up animation one moment, static imagery the next, live video the next. Display media at appropriately high resolutions. Many consumers discovered something once they got their shiny new HDTVs home non-HD content looks terrible on them. The same holds true in the in-store environment, but the stakes are much higher. If your signage software isnt built to handle HD, youre asking for trouble down the road. Integrate with other aspects of the environment. The signs will not be hanging in a vacuum, and that means they should be networked into the other things going on around them. For instance, if in-store music can be heard nearby, the software should be able to mute or lower the volume on it while a message with audio is playing on-screen. Not all digital signage software is capable of this level of interaction, but its a valuable feature
Digital signage software should be able to handle high-resolution content, and display it at an appropriately high resolution.
for future expansion and fine-tuning of the network. Dynamically generate playlists based on any number of criteria. Different media should play at different times of the day, and the software package should be able to pull the proper media, schedule it on the fly, and update playlists as needed. Managers should be able to insert media where they see fit, with the playlist adjusting itself accordingly. Dynamically select media assets via tags. All media assets should have one or more tags associated with them,
CHAPTER 1
and your software should be able to intelligently pull media based on smart tagging conventions. This allows content creators to tag their work, place it in the proper location, and the system will automatically begin using it as appropriate. Support audio. Not all signage applications need audio, but it is an important feature to be able to add if needed. Scale as needed. Even if you start
with a simple signage solution, having the right software to control your signage will improve your overall success, said Jeff Hemingway, co-owner of software company Storming Images. You may start out with one sign and grow to 10 signs per store. Software designed to scale and expand the network of signs is important when investing in a solution. The ability to control the signs from a single point or multiple points is key to the flexibility of controlling your signage network.
SHOPPING FOR SOFTWARE

Anke Gill, director of marketing for software firm 1-2-1-VIEW, offers four tips for what to look for in a digital signage package: Ease of installation and management. Operators should ensure the system is using an IP network with a Web-based management interface. And unless operators are certain they will only ever have the same number of screens, they have to ensure that their system is scalable and grows with them without breaking the bank whether they have 10, a hundred or thousands of screens. System flexibility. The system needs to be flexible enough to schedule different content on different screens at different times to target different audiences. This, of course, requires the system to be extremely versatile, meaning that it should be able to handle a broad selection of media, such as video, live broadcast, graphics, animation, live news feeds and also emergency broadcasts like fire and earthquake warnings. Remote control. There are some important control and power-saving functions, such as switching screens on and off remotely, which not only make day-to-day operation a lot more convenient, but also save a great deal of maintenance cost for the operator. Reliability. A digital signage system needs to be 100-percent reliable, so operators should make sure they choose a dedicated digital signage system that is built on a proven consumer electronics platform and is designed to perform 24/7.
Chapter 2
Categories of digital signage
electing the right software package requires a thorough understanding of why the business is adding digital signage in the first place. Does it want to sell ad space, promote the brand or enhance the in-store experience? Hopefully, these decisions have all been mapped out long before the shopping for software begins. If not, stop reading now and call a meeting with the stakeholders. If you are adding screens just because everybody else is doing it, you are flirting with disaster or, at least, with an inordinate amount of wasted time, money and effort. Digital signage has three primary uses out-of-home/ad-driven, brand-driven and informational and each one has implications on software selection. In most cases, a well-crafted network will be a blend featuring some aspect of all three. Thinking about what the consumer needs to get at the right time is more important than the model, said Brian Ardinger, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Nanonation. The software should support all of these models, and should support the insertion of ads into an overall digital media template that is owned and branded by the deployer.
There are three primary uses for digital signage out-of-home/ad-driven, brand-driven and informational and each one has implications on software selection.
nage in recent months has concerned the ad-driven model. Under this model, companies sell time and space on their screens, either to in-store brands or third parties. The network that is usually held up as an example of how to do this right is Wal-Mart TV, which, in terms of number of messages delivered to number of eyeballs, can be said to be the fifthlargest television network in the United States (after ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox). If a company decides to go after advertiser dollars, it needs to select a digital signage platform that provides acceptable proof-of-play statistics. Without solid numbers detailing what ads were shown and when, media buyers will not have confidence in the network. In contrast to broadcast TV, a modern digital signage system should be able to record every instance of an ad displayed on each screen the player level is not enough, said Nurlan Urazbaev of BroadSign International. At the end of a campaign, a proof-of-play report compares the number of planned ad plays we call them ad repetitions with the achieved ones. Having these statistics, it is easy for the ad sales department to
1. Out-of-home/ad-driven networks
Much of the attention paid to digital sig-
CHAPTER 2
show what exactly advertisers paid for, reconcile invoices, etc. Solid proof-ofplay also facilitates creating rate cards and campaign planning and budgeting. The level of specificity provided by a proof-of-play report (also referred to as play log, billing log or performance log) varies from one software package to another. Perhaps the most important distinction to note is whether the software measures proof-of-play at the player level or the screen level. In other words, if the message was sent to five screens, but one of them was not functioning correctly, is that counted as five ad plays or four? Being able to measure proof-of-play at the screen level knowing, in this example, that the screen was off, and only four ad plays should be recorded is an attractive capability, and one that will be especially important if the screen deployer wants to court advertisers.
Something analogous happened in the early days of digital signage, as a number of companies touted the promise of high advertising revenue as a means of paying for the machine. Give us your wall space and well make you rich, many of them implied (or said outright). That was easier said than done, and although advertising is a key component of many digital signage deployments, it is important to understand its role in the overall process. Retailers need to ask themselves what business they are in retail or ad sales, said Mike Abbot, vice president of ADFLOW Networks. For most retailers, we feel that the benefits of in-store digital signage networks are still found in controlling the message and using the network as a marketing tool to help achieve fundamental retail objectives. One of the biggest flaws of the pay for your screens with advertising model is that it ignores the tightly integrated nature of the screens in the retail environment. Not just any advertising will do, and most retailers would be better served building their core business than chasing that small percentage of available ads that would fit in their environment. Most retailers looking at digital signage networks have invested millions in building up their brands and loyal customers, said Jason Cremins, chief executive of U.K.-based digital signage firm remote-
Should retailers really go into the advertising sales business?

In the months and years after the ATM was deregulated in essence, making it possible for businesses and individuals to own and operate their own ATMs for profit there was a sense, often put forth by the people selling them, that such machines were like licenses to print money. Just buy the machine, deploy it and watch the profits roll in what could be easier?
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media. The thought of spot-selling advertisements on their screens that do not complement or have any relevance to their business is unacceptable. Another approach, which has been more successful than the pure advertising play, is to offer ad partnerships with suppliers. In theory, any manufacturer wanting its product to sell well within a given retail environment will be open to spending advertising dollars to push those products within the store. This works in theory, and in practice sometimes, but cannibalization is often an issue. This is a tricky one, as many retailers already tap into the marketing budgets of their suppliers, Cremins said. While budgets may be moved over to digital signage, is the income incremental? In most cases, I would say that it is not. Wayne Ruttle, ADFLOWs vice president of sales, said cannibalization of marketing funds is a serious impediment but so are lack of ad-sales skills and confusion about who within the organization is tasked with keeping the ad inventory sold. At best, we are seeing this as a small subsidy of the retailers digital signage network investment, he said. While some large retailers chiefly Wal-Mart, with its very successful in-store TV network have made the advertising model work, smaller companies will have
a tougher time and might be better off spending their efforts elsewhere. It comes down to scale and focus, said Brian Nutt, principal of Captive Indoor Media. Major advertisers are looking for mass-market reach and not smalltarget markets. So if a retailer is looking to move cost to a third party, they will either need scale or the ability to sell ad space. Advertising is a difficult and competitive industry. I think the (digital signage) ad model has merit, but needs a couple more years to mature. Be leery of the promises of ad-paid, instore media networks, Ruttle said. This industry is still in its early stages. Watch out for the hype.
2. Brand-driven networks
While only a relatively small number of businesses can truly benefit from the ad-driven business model, there is probably not a single business that would not benefit from the use of digital signage as a brand-enhancement tool. At a bare minimum, the digital signage platform selected should be able to handle all of the companys existing media assets. If the company has created extensive video and rich media assets, those should all be available to be plugged in, without the need for conversion to other file formats. If the company
Continued on page 13
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CHAPTER 2
OF PLAYLISTS, LOOPS AND LAYERS

One of the legacies of television and radio broadcasting is the playlist a schedule of media assets to be delivered either at a certain date/time or in a certain order. The term playlist has migrated to the world of digital signage, but different companies define it in different ways. In some instances, it refers to a full schedule of every file that will be played at specified times. In other usages, it refers to a dynamic set of rules that chooses assets based on criteria such as time of day (also called day-parts), seasonal changes, events and in-store promotions. While classic broadcast playlists may be used for digital signage programming, more often they morph into the concept of a loop, or the systematic repetition of one or more media assets. For instance, a display in the clothing section of a department store might be programmed with a loop of ads for several different brands. Some software applications replace playlists with a dynamic programmable loop, where traffic managers enter instructions on how to play each ad and the software automatically generates a loop for every screen, for every day-part at every location. Loop length is the amount of time is takes for the loop to repeat or, put another way, the amount of time it would take a customer to see the same spot twice. Planning a loop length requires knowledge of customer traffic patterns and dwell times. The length of the loop should be proportionate to viewer dwell time. The fixed length of the loop is maintained by insertions of various default filler content in the slots not occupied by paid ads. Digital signage software also allows for segmentation of the screen into various regions analogous, for instance, to the crawling text across CNN. Screens can be broken into multiple segments for various purposes. For instance, it is common to see a sliver of screen real estate devoted to local weather conditions, while the larger window runs promotional content and special offers. Many advertisers, however, insist that their ads should always be played on full screen, so the system should be capable of switching from split screen to full screen when required, said Brian Dusho, executive vice president of BroadSign International. One of the more sophisticated applications of digital signage involves layering, in which bits of content can be stacked on top of one another. For instance, if the same ad is running in several markets but with minor text differences, it could be built with two layers a text layer and a graphics layer. The graphics layer could stay the same in all markets, with just the text changing locally, reducing the amount of rendering needed.
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has done most of its merchandising through static POP displays, the software should be able to handle intelligent scheduling of static images. Give the person deploying the network flexible tools, so that no matter what their brand image is or how they want to showcase it, the software will allow them to do it, Ardinger said. If you pick the wrong software, it may not be able to represent your brand properly. Key to this is the ability to create custom workflows. Lower-end software packages require the user to learn the steps needed to drive a campaign; higher-end packages allow the user to define those steps as he sees fit. Take as an example Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which recently remodeled its fleet of luxury ships. Part of that remodeling was a pair of 65-inch highdefinition displays, located outside the spa and fitness center. The screens are used as virtual concierges, giving patrons information on spa services. They are touch-enabled, so the software had to be capable of handling interactive media. And perhaps most importantly, the spa manager needed to be able to update content on the screens but other members of the staff were not to be allowed to make changes. That required a custom workflow at the software level. The ability to create such a custom workflow is not built in to every digital
signage software package but it was essential for Royal Caribbean in this case. In a brand-driven environment, you may have different stakeholders within an organization that are going to contribute, so the ability to change the backend workflow and adapt it to the enterprise is more important than something that just plays back media, Ardinger said. Also, the platform should be extensible enough to allow the integration of data from other sources. For instance, you might want the ability to add weather reports to a portion of the screen, or upcoming event data that would be served up by another network somewhere within the company. Make sure the software you choose can be modified sufficiently to allow those outside pipelines of data to flow into the right places.
3. Informational networks
In most instances, a purely informational network is the simplest to deploy and is often the most useful for the consumer. Examples would include screens in a hotel or convention center telling patrons which meetings are in which rooms; screens in banks displaying current interest rates and stock prices; and screens in airports showing flight numbers and arrival/departure status. Such networks are often merely extensions of existing sets of data that the company is already managing. This serves to
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make the software decision fairly easy, as the mandate to find a signage package that will integrate with that existing data often narrows the field considerably. Even so, it is wise to look to the future. You might not have plans to use the screens for anything other than room reservations at the moment, but you might find a real need to use part of that
screen real estate for something else six months down the road. Once you have located signage software that works well with your existing data set, shop around for the most robust features for future expansion. Technology initiatives always tend to get bigger rather than smaller, and you will not want to have to redo your whole network the first time an expansion is needed.
CASE STUDY: MAYTAG USES DIGITAL SIGNAGE TO ENHANCE ITS BRAND

Maytag is North Americas largest appliance manufacturer. Traditionally operating through a dealership retail model, Maytag has recently introduced new concept company stores. In these state-of-the-art appliance centers dedicated exclusively to the Maytag brand, Maytag wanted to establish a new and better means of communicating with its customers. Going beyond traditional static point-of-purchase solutions, digital signage was the answer. Recent studies have shown that advertising at the point-of-purchase does indeed influence buying decisions. This is significant, especially given that 60 percent of shoppers visit stores without a planned purchase. ADFLOW Networks provided a turnkey solution that met all of Maytags requirements. Integral to the design of the new Maytag stores are fixtures built specifically to house the digital display screens. These screens showcase the Maytag brand, while educating customers about the products in different areas of the store. Each store has screens that display content consistent with the surrounding product merchandising and placement. For example, screens in the kitchen-appliance section display features, benefits and advertising for Maytags awardwinning line of refrigerators. As a result, consumers see brand images on the stores digital displays consistent with the images they see at home on Maytag television advertisements. But theres a difference: Research indicates that message retention for in-store digital signage is more than 50 percent higher than for traditional broadcast advertising. By better educating its shoppers using digital signage, Maytag looks to enhance the shopping experience and drive sales higher.
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CASE STUDY: INTERACTIVE DIGITAL SIGNAGE AT BORSHEIMS

Borsheims, one of the worlds premier high-end jewelry stores and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, recently completed an expansive remodel of its Omaha showroom. Nanonation worked with Borsheims to create a dynamic digital messaging system behind the watch displays and at the gift-wrap counter to augment the customer experience in the store. The system includes a fourscreen video wall flush mounted to the wall behind the watch pHoto courtesy oF nanonation counter that plays high-impact Luxury retailer Borsheims interactive digital signage makes the content from manufactures such customer feel as if the entire in-store experience is centered on his interests. as Movado and Omega, and Borsheims branded content. What makes the system unique is the addition of a 15-inch touchscreen mounted behind the counter facing the salesperson. As customers look at various watch brands, the employee can touch the appropriate icon on the screen to trigger specific content. For example, if a customer is shown an Omega watch, the salesperson can touch the Omega icon to trigger only Omega promotions to show on the screen. This level of control augments both the sales process and the customer experience.
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Delivery
he first digital signage networks were deployed before the world knew the wonders of affordable broadband Internet connectivity. Today, it is no trick to send large files across the country; just a few short years ago, that was a pipe dream. And the pipe just wasnt big enough.
distribute content and playlist updates to multiple locations on multiple displays. The choice between broadband and satellite is usually based on availability and rates the digital signage network doesnt care which is employed. Digital signage software also needs to be extensible and flexible enough to work well in a variety of environments. No two stores are alike, and delivery options will likely have to be tweaked on a per-location basis. Make sure the software you select is flexible enough to handle this.
Derisively referred to as sneaker-net applications, early digital signage systems relied on manual updates, usually in the form of a VHS cassette or, later, a DVD. These media were shipped to each location, then updated by a store manager or employee. Early Or were they? One of the biggest drawbacks to sneaker-net, aside from the cost of producing the media and mailing them, was the fact that there was no real way to confirm that the update had taken place. Who was to say that the latest tape wasnt sitting, unopened, on a managers desk? Amazingly, some companies still rely on manual updates of non-networked screens, perhaps driven by the outdated notion that they are saving money. It is almost certain that they are not. Clearly, for a robust digital signage network, broadband or satellite connectivity to a central host is a must, said Tony Turiello, group manager of solution sales for Panasonic System Solutions Company. Its the only cost-effective way to
digital signage systems relied on manual updates, usually in the form of a VHS cassette or, later, a DVD. These were shipped to each location, then updated by a store manager or employee. Or were they?
Also, look for software with the ability to create custom workflows. Since it is unlikely that a single person will be operating the network and if there is, there will always come a day when he will work somewhere else it is important to be able to build user-friendly touchpoints into the workflow, to speed the content approval and deployment process. There are some solutions out there that are very tailored and force the person using it to make certain choices, said Brian Ardinger, senior vice president and
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Delivery
CASE STUDY: UMPQUA BANK

Umpqua Bank is a 200-location bank located in Oregon, Washington and California. The company calls its locations stores rather than branches and has an in-store design that feels more like a Starbucks or Internet caf than a bank. One of the companys new initiatives is a type of store called a Neighborhood Store one with a smaller footprint and an enhanced emphasis on the community. Central to the Neighborhood Store concept is the Discovery Wall, an ultrahigh-definition four-screen video wall that displays animations across the entire wall. The content is synchronized between two Dell PCs, each controlling two of the screens. Customers can interact with digital brochures by picking up RFID-enabled 3D icons that sit on the shelf near the Discovery Wall. When an icon is lifted, the RFID reader triggers an interactive Flash presentation on a touchscreen next to the icons. Each icon represents one of the banks products. The customer can interact with the media on the screen and optionally touch a print command on the screen to print a full-color brochure for the product he is viewing.
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Delivery
chief marketing officer for Nanonation. If those limitations are a good match, then thats fine, but if you want any type of customization or have existing systems that you want to leverage, you want to look for a software platform that will leverage those systems, existing media and existing business processes. In most cases, this means a Web-based component. Most digital signage soft-
ware platforms are built at least in part around Web connectivity, making it possible to do authorized updates and modifications from anywhere. A good content-management application will have the ability to enable users to simply log into a Web-based application from any computer with Internet access,
CASE STUDY: AGIS BRIEFS EMPLOYEES USING DIGITAL SIGNAGE

The AGIS Allianz Dresdner Information Systems Ltd. is a complete subsidiary of Allianz Germany. As a service provider of information technology to the Allianz group, AGIS provides a sophisticated IT product and service to the Allianz corporation, including the Dresdner Bank and other notable companies. AGIS, one of the biggest self-affiliated groups of IT-service providers in Germany, designed, planned, provided and ran for its customers IT-infrastructure and workplace technology including enabling technologies. In addition, AGIS offers solutions for mainframes, client/server, telecommunications, EDP printing and post processing. AGIS was established in 1998 as the IT subsidiary of Allianz. At the beginning of 2003, AGIS and DREGIS, the IT subsidiary of the Dresdner bank, were merged into AGIS Allianz Dresdner Information Systems Ltd., during the course of the takeover of the Dresdner Bank PLC by Allianz PLC. Today, more than 2,000 employees process up to 50 million transactions per day and more than 700 million printed pages yearly. The size of the company precluded the fact that it no longer wanted to inform its staff by way of the company bulletin board. A modern digital signage terminal system for this problem had to be adopted. Since the end of 2005, AGIS employees in Unterfhring, Munich, have shown the most important internal information, videos and animated shows about the company as well as current news over two 40-inch LCDs. Every display is controlled from a PC and both are integrated into the internal network. The core of the system is the Composer software from Friendlyway. Through the Composer, the business information, videos, animation shows and the RSS-fed implemented news displays are controlled and incorporated into the network.
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Delivery
enter a user name and password and upload a new media file, said Wayne Ruttle, vice president of sales for ADFLOW Networks. It will allow you to preview this file to ensure all is acceptable, approve the file for broadcast, select the display screen location where the file must play, preview the current playlist for that display screen, (schedule the file) and log off.
Windows
The 800-pound gorilla of operating systems, Windows boasts the largest installed base and support infrastructure. As a result, it is the first choice for many developers. Weve played around with a lot of different operating systems over the first 15 years of our operation, said Doug Peter, president of St. Clair Interactive, which exclusively builds solutions on the Microsoft platform. We made the decision to standardize on one, because we dont believe you can be an expert on everything. Peter said the ability to communicate with legacy systems is key, because otherwise a new in-store technology turns into a silo, and therefore becomes a source of extra work and expense rather than a means to reducing those things. Windows, in his experience, does the best job of middle-manning all of the new connections that need to be made to get the project to work. Most clients have a huge variety of platforms in their enterprise, and whats really essential is to find the middleware
A few words about operating systems

Digital signage is a consumer-centric endeavor, which simply means that your customers will not really care what is going on behind the scenes, so long as it provides them with something of value. The person viewing a screen does not care what software package is being used to deliver the media, and he certainly doesnt care whether it is running on Windows or Mac OS. That said, the selection of software does go hand-in-hand with selection of an operating system, so it makes sense to keep the options in mind at the front end. If the best software package for your needs is written to run on Macintosh, that means youll have to plan your hardware purchases accordingly and you may have networking issues if your existing infrastructure runs Windows or UNIX. Here is a quick overview of the three major operating system options, and their relative strengths and weaknesses.
Windows boasts the largest installed base and support infrastructure of any operating system.
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Delivery
that will allow us to talk to all of them, he said. The fact of life is, 80 percent of retailers run Windows. Ardinger said the primary advantage of Windows is its ecosystem of peripheral devices, a natural result of the products market share: More developers building more Windows systems for more clients means more devices will ultimately be supported. And then you have the benefit to your employees, which is not insubstantial. The fact that practically every new PC ships with a copy of Windows already installed means that workers are used to interacting with Windows machines and wont need much hand-holding, WireSpring Technologies President Bill Gerba said. The large installed base means that most people are comfortable with Windows metaphors for accomplishing various actions on-screen, he said. And it also means that on-site technicians are likely to be somewhat familiar with the OS. That said, Windows is not without its weak spots and chief among them is security. Security patches are a fact of life in Windows world; the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, lists 324 known vulnerabilities for Microsoft Windows.
It is the biggest target for virus and spyware and adware writers, as well as the most frequent target for hackers, Gerba said. Many vendors find it necessary to bundle extra anti-virus, anti-spyware and remote patch management software with the systems to mitigate the threats.
Mac OS X
The Macintosh operating system, like the hardware it exclusively runs on, has behind it a passionate legion of fans for whom nothing else will do. It has its fans among in-store technology developers, as well. Sandy Nix, president of D2 Sales, said the Mac is an ideal platform for in-store media applications. Stunningly reliable hardware performance, rich graphics and virtually no virus vulnerability. She points to a kiosk project D2 developed for Burger King, an entertainment device integrated into the playground
Mac OS X
Some believe that Mac OS X is an ideal operating system for kiosks, given its reliability and emphasis on aesthetics.
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area found in many BK locations. Designed to build brand loyalty by creating a positive association between the restaurants food and the touchscreen games, the colorful machines were developed on the Macintosh platform. There are units in the field that are 8 years old and never had a service call, she said. We manage the help desk on those units, and even though there are hundreds of units still out there, the equipment up-time average is 99.99 percent and still going strong. Visually, Mac has a strong reputation, too. On the graphics side, Mac has some OS-level functionality that gives us a richer media experience, Nanonations Ardinger said. What Mac OS X has done with their graphics system is pretty impressive. Nix said the primary drawback with OS X is not with the equipment, but the fact that relatively few OS X developers are creating applications and drivers for instore media. Because there are few scalable, reliable applications, there are few deployments on Mac, she said. That low volume means the peripheral vendors often dont write drivers for OS X. There wont be more deployments until there are more software and peripherals, which wont happen until there are more deployments its a vicious circle.
Linux
The dark horse in this race is Linux, a name that has risen in the business consciousness in recent years, thanks to a growing understanding of the opensource movement. Confusing the issue, though, is the fact that Linux isnt a particular thing its a type of thing that exists in an almost endless number of varieties. Because Linux is released under the GNU General Public License (commonly abbreviated simply as GPL), any person or entity may take the source code, modify it as they see fit and redistribute it. As a result, several hundred different varieties of Linux are available. Open-source software such as Linux is also undergoing constant tweaking and improvement by the army of volunteer programmers that work on it. New builds of the platform can be released as often as daily, which can be a major source of frustration for someone trying to develop an application that runs reliably. The problem with Linux is, were very dependent on media players, St.
Linux has two very powerful words working in its favor: Its free.
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Clairs Doug Peter said. Every time Linux changes, you would have to go in and rewrite the device handlers. But even with all these strikes against it, Linux has two very powerful words working in its favor: Its free. The same GPL that enables it to branch into a myriad of different distributions specifies that it be made available at no charge. Just download an .ISO file, burn it to a CD-R and youre ready to install.
For the self-service industry, Vista represents some amazing new possibilities with a few very important caveats.
What about Vista?

Microsoft shipped its new operating system to consumers Jan. 30; the previous 27 months had seen an unprecedented beta-testing process in which hundreds of thousands of volunteers put the system through its paces. During the test period, more than 2.25 million copies of the beta were downloaded. For in-store media, Vista represents some amazing new possibilities with a few very important caveats. The operating system allows developers to create rich, interactive experiences that can scale to any size screen. But hardware requirements are steep, and deployers will have to weigh whether it is worth the upgrade for their projects. Much of the attention Vista has received has focused on its new graphical interface, which is nothing short of amazing. The Windows Aero GUI represents the first time since the release of Windows
95 that the entire Windows user experience has been taken back to the drawing board every aspect, from buttons to dialog boxes to icons to fonts, has been redesigned. The emphasis is on aesthetics, with liberal use of 3-dimensional graphics, transparency and animation. Aero comes with some steep hardware requirements, though. To take advantage of the new look and feel requires a processor running at least 1 GHz, 1 gigabyte of system RAM and a minimum of 128 megabytes of video RAM. Mark Justice Hinton, author of PC Magazines Windows Vista Solutions (Wiley Publishing), said Vista is designed to run on most PCs sold in the last two years. However, users wanting to take advantage of the new graphic interface will need something very powerful. He noted that Microsoft designates two
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different classes of Vista-ready PCs: Vista Capable and Premium Ready. The former has lower hardware requirements, but wont be able to take advantage of the Aero interface. The core of the Vista graphical experience is the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), which allows developers to easily manipulate video. Built-in processes make it possible to invert, rotate and dynamically size video elements and clips. A kiosk could have three video clips playing on the screen at one time, wrote Microsoft retail technology strategy director Tim Gruver in a white paper on Vista and kiosks. A user could then bring a particular video clip to the foreground as others remain in the background or switch between the video clips with a simple click. This means that multiple video clips can now be easily incorporated into kiosk applications to display product information. Perhaps more importantly, the WPF makes it possible to create elements that are resolution-agnostic that is, they grow and shrink dynamically so they look good no matter what screen resolution they are displayed at. A new emphasis on vector graphics means images and elements can be greatly increased in size without pixelization which holds great promise for largeformat digital signage applications.
WPF also has ramifications for remote content management and updating. Applications can be posted to a Web server; clients who subscribe to the server will be automatically updated with the new application.
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arely will a company enter into a digital signage project with a clean slate, a complete void of creative and marketing materials to be displayed. Generally, it is the opposite most companies will find that they need to sift through the mountain of media assets they already have, determine which ones will make the jump to digital and work on a plan for getting them there. Perhaps one of the largest considerations when selecting a digital signage software platform is finding one that can handle your existing media assets. There is a huge temptation for implementers to duplicate data into a new database, said Brian Alexander, vice president of Agilysys Professional Service, Retail Solutions. For long-term success, data should be derived from its master source, ensuring consistency of data throughout the users experience. That means your software should be able to catalog, index and use your existing media assets preferably in the format that they are already in. This gets down to the nitty-gritty of file formats: If your media clips are stored in QuickTime and the software package youre looking at only supports WMV, its probably not a good fit. You want to leverage as much as possible, instead of creating something new, said Brian Ardinger, senior vice president and chief marketing officer
There is a huge temptation for implementers to duplicate data into a new database. For long-term success, data should be derived from its master source, ensuring consistency of data throughout the users experience.
Brian Alexander, vice president of retail solutions, Agilysys Professional Service
for Nanonation. The software should be able to use your existing data types, read information stored in tags and make smart decisions from those tags about how to use them. Tagging is an important part of the digital delivery process, and one that media managers are already familiar with. Software that is used to manage a library of media assets is called digital asset management software, commonly referred to as DAM. Products such as Canto Cumulus, NetXposure ImagePortal and ADAM allow companies to build complex libraries, containing everything from videos to photography to PowerPoint presentations and Word documents. Part of the value to DAM software is the level of control it gives to management. Security options prevent unauthorized users from placing assets in the library, which is very helpful when trying to keep branding material consistent and up to date. It also creates a workflow for the
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creation and approval of new media assets. DAM tools also allow each asset to be tagged with one or more attributes; for a digital signage network, for instance, graphics files might be tagged with all of the resolutions and screen orientations they are suitable for. Interestingly, the latest version of Microsoft Windows Windows Vista has some enhanced tagging functions built in. For small endeavors that dont merit a full-blown DAM system, this file system level meta-data might be sufficient for asset management. Whatever asset management system is chosen, it is crucial that it interfaces directly with the digital signage software. If an intermediary step is required to get the signage software to talk to the asset manager, again, this is probably not a good fit.
and then repurposed to the size of the target device. This may be the goal, but it is not always carried out. The tools do not exist in the typical organization to multipurpose content, said Doug Peter, president of St. Clair Interactive. Everybodys creating content for their own purpose. So theyre doing their weekly flyer or their catalog or their in-store merchandising or their digital displays or their kiosk, but nobody is creating content once and publishing it through multiple channels. Theyre trying to, but its still a manual process. To make repurposed content a reality, three guidelines must be followed: Publish content at the largest size needed; Publish content at the highest resolution needed; Publish separate content for separate aspect ratios. So, if the largest screen in the store is a high-definition 60-inch display, content must be created at that size and resolution. Your digital signage software should be able to down-sample as needed to
Making your content multitask

The introduction of digital screens to the business environment drastically increases the number of bits of media needed. That ad that used to hang at the front of the store telling people which way to the eye-care center? It now needs to exist in three additional formats, two of them widescreen, and all three of them different sizes. Ideally, content would be created once,
Digital signage software should be able to down-sample as needed to lower sizes, but it should never be up-sampled, due to loss of quality.
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lower sizes. However, you never want to up-sample, as this results in a loss of quality that can be drastic. As for the third item, widescreen displays (those with a 16:9 aspect ratio) require different content than normal displays (4:3). Your signage software most likely can stretch or compress the media as needed, but this results in distortion that is unpleasing. A lot of people are satisfied with playing back JPGs at 640x480 resolution, and then scaling that up onto a plasma screen, Ardinger said. You can do that, but is it the best use of that nice, expensive screen youve paid for? And does it give the best brand impression? Another key strength of digital signage software is the flexibility to modify the workflow, the process by which media assets are added, approved and scheduled. Every business has its own workflows, and usually these have evolved organically over time; seldom do they match any step-by-step procedure from a book. Likewise, a digital signage software platform that requires its users to conform to its step-by-step procedure will necessarily create a large amount of work and heartache that could be avoided. Look for software that will allow authorized users to customize the workflow and approval processes, change the places along the digital supply chain where
2007 NetWorld Alliance Media | Sponsored by nanonation
Perhaps one of the largest considerations when selecting a digital signage software platform is finding one that can handle your existing media assets.
assets can be inserted and generally allow the flexibility needed to run a team of both creative and technical individuals.
The virtual back-office

Finally, consider the impact your digital signage initiative will have on your workflow. Along the virtual supply chain that leads from concept to creative to distribution on-screen how many people will need to touch the content? How will they work together? How will each party know where each item is in the process? The software you choose to power your digital signs will largely define your workflow. As you explore your options, spend time with demo installs and screenshots to get a feel for the way the software will work with your staff. Look for tools and shortcuts that will increase efficiency.
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And look for structural components that mirror those you already have in place. For instance, if your office uses a colorcoded system to rank how important a given item is, look for software that will let you emulate that system on-screen. If your asset manager uses tags whose names have special significance for you, make sure your digital signage software will allow you to rename its internal components as needed.
Who approves the media spots? Ardinger asked. Who can upload particular media? Can they actually publish it once they upload it? Is it coming from multiple data sources? These are all things that the architecture needs to be flexible enough to handle, rather than forcing you to change your business processes to work with the tool in its particular way.
CASE STUDY: DIGITAL HEALTH INFORMATION CHANNEL AT SESCAM

The Health Care Services of Castilla la Mancha (SESCAM) in Spain deployed a digital signage network to inform its patients and employees about the health services and news from the regional government. Scala Certified Partner ASVideo in Spain installed the Digital Signage System for SESCAM and created the content. The SESCAM Informa Channel is composed of a digital signage network in three new medical speciality centers in Illescas, Tarancon and Ocaa. To date, nine plasma screens have been installed in Illescas, nine in Tarancon and 10 in Ocaa. The content displays a main script composed of multiple zones where the corporate image of SESCAM is mixed with corporate videos, health suggestions and campaigns. To attract the attention of the audience, the screens display news from the SESCAM Web site and weather information from an external feed. Video clips are used to animate the content in the background. Overall, the content is composed of text, graphics, graphical images and video clips. The entire network is controlled from the central main offices of SESCAM and is linked to the ASVideo office where new up-to-date content and support is continually provided. The plan is to expand the installations in the three existing centers and add two new specialty centers and three new main hospitals.
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ON THE QUALITY OF TRANSMISSION

One of the theoretical benefits of a regulated industry such as broadcast and its exacting standards is that a certain level of quality can be ensured. And for the NTSC television standard used in the United States, a decent quality has been maintained. But should government really dictate quality? Who should define quality? The industry at large has leaped far beyond National Television Standards Committee as the standard of quality, that is, if we are defining quality by pixel resolution and color palette, etc. All of this will soon improve for consumers as the Advanced Television Systems Committee (U.S. HDTV committee) shuffles analog broadcast bandwidth to the new digital television standard. The entire allocation scheme is past due for a major overhaul, and it appears this will happen in the next few years. The old worries of transmission signals interfering with each other are a thing of the past with todays digital technology, but flexibility, quality of reception and signal dispersion remain pressing issues for digital broadcast. The popularity of the ATSC standard has given way to the more robust Digital Video Broadcasting standard adopted by most nations, but not in the United States. Somehow, regulated industries seem to settle for the lower common denominator, offering reliable but lackluster results. Fortunately for marketers, digital signage is not limited to what the broadcast industry and its government regulations deem as best for the masses. Today, using IP technology, digital signage can playback 1080p signals all day long that provide stunning clarity and depth on a 50-inch monitor. The ATSC signal will go to 1080i, which is still good, but a compromise nonetheless. This only matters, really, if you are looking at a very large screen. At this juncture, very few digital signage screens are that large, or even need to be. Since digital signage networks can use ATM transfer, the quality of packet transmission is ensured and can be scaled to meet individual needs. The bigger benefit for digital signage is this kind of creative control of the media. Most significantly, the resolution and the aspect ratio of the display as chosen by retailers should determine the format of the media, not a committee. ATSC defines an aspect ratio of 16:9. Marketers deploying digital signs may not want a landscape view; a 9:16 may be more suitable. Digital signage gives them this flexibility. This is the kind of flexibility digital signage always needs to offer, or it will begin to resemble broadcast. This is not a one-sizefits-all industry, but offers the flexibility to be tailored to the individual needs and whims of marketers who want to capture and engage patrons at the point of sale, or in some manner, provide a better customer experience. That is what digital signage is all about.
David Little, director of marketing, Keywest Technology
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any choices are available when it comes to digital signage software, and you have some research and work ahead of you. But its certainly not a rough process find a partner you trust, and begin exploring. Youll likely be wrapped up in the excitement of what youll be able to accomplish, and before long it wont even feel like work. If you take anything away from this guide, please let it be these simple points: Choose software that fits with your existing systems. This means find software that understands your existing media assets, talks to your legacy hardware and software systems and is flexible enough to interface with your workflows.
Choose software that will grow with you. You may have just a few screens at first, but with any luck, it wont remain that way. Ask a lot of questions about scalability. Make sure you can afford to grow with whatever product you choose. Choose software from a company with a positive reputation. The barriers to entry are low in the software field. Spend time with the people who make the software you choose, and make sure theyre not just hobbyists with a Web site. Make sure they are a solid business that will be around to support you. Best of luck to you in your endeavors. I hope youll visit Digital Signage Today regularly and let us know of your success.
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Appendix
Managing digital signage content
By James Bickers
This is an excerpt from Content and Content Management for Digital Signage, a free how-to guide from Digital Signage Today. Opinions are sharply divided on whether it is a good idea to divide the screen real estate on a digital signage network. Of course, there are those networks whose entire business model is built on the segmented screen for instance, captive audience networks like those in elevators or airports that sell ad space around and alongside streaming media content like news and entertainment. But aside from those very specific models, it is sometimes wise to segment screens into different regions or zones, each with a specific purpose. Doing so wisely requires more than a little restraint, as well as a concerted focus on what is in the best interest of the viewer. Here are six best practices for dividing screen real estate: 1. Go with the flow. The screen as a whole should suggest a logical flow that is, the viewer should intuitively be able to tell where they should look first, what they should look at next, etc. Generally this is accomplished by making the content that is of greatest value to
the viewer the largest. If a recipe is sharing screen time with an ad for a specific food product featured in that recipe, the recipe itself should get the majority of the screen space. Otherwise, the consumer will subconsciously register the entire screen as an ad, and is more likely to ignore it. 2. Keep it consistent with your brand. On-screen content should be consistent with all other messaging in the enterprise. This begins with simple things like color schemes and fonts, and extends into more esoteric matters like the size of design elements, relative positioning of type and images and visual styles. It doesnt matter whether your content is created in-house or by an agency; in-store digital media needs to be added to the list of products managed by your creative team, and that same team should be involved in meetings to decide how to allocate screen space. 3. Make smart use of contrast, color and size. Human eyes will always land on the largest, brightest item in any given field use this as a way to guide the viewer around the screen. If you are using scrolling text for ancillary messaging, dont make that text larger or brighter than the message that needs to get the primary focus. Minimize the attention given to information that people will seek out when they need it, like weather conditions or news updates. And again, use color schemes that reflect the rest of your branding if your brochures and
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static signage have trained people to know that your headline text is in beige type on a light yellow background, use the same pairing on-screen to create a psychological connection with other messages. 4. Understand motion and how it affects viewers. If something is moving or changing, our eyes are naturally drawn to it. You can use this to your advantage, or you can allow it to become a liability. If animation or motion are going to be used, make sure they are most prominent in the area of the screen that deserves primary focus. Too much movement elsewhere on the screen will distract from the message, if not cause the viewer to give up in frustration and look away. And keep in mind that viewers hate unnecessary or gimmicky movement and effects overly cute transitions, tickers that move too quickly and blinking text should all be avoided. 5. Keep it simple but only if it needs to be. If you are trying to tell your viewers about the movements of the NASDAQ, updated every ten minutes, youre going to presenting a visually sophisticated message, with lots of sidebars and graphs and scrolling numbers. If youre trying to tell your viewers how to make delicious chicken skewers that the family will love in just a few minutes, the situation calls for a much simpler approach perhaps just a single large window with a video demonstration. Understand the level of depth of your
content, and plan a visual strategy accordingly. 6. Eschew gratuitous information. Its a great time to be in the business of delivering content, because there is so much of it out there. Weather tickers? You bet. Sports scores, updated by-theminute? Headline news? Latest blog posts on any given topic? Viral videos? User-generated content? Its all there for the taking, but just because you can put something on your screens does not mean you should. Take a step back from the entire endeavor, and remind yourself what it is you are trying to communicate. Phrase it in the simplest terms possible (Im trying to tell people about XYZ new product, Im trying to get people to go to the bank counter at the front of the store, Im trying to increase sales of house brands.). Now, what content do you truly need in order to convey that message?
Give the people what they want building a content strategy based on customer expectations
Human beings enter into virtually everything they do with one or more expectations, and when those expectations are met, they feel happiness. When their expectations are not met, they feel any number of negative emotions disappointment, betrayal, anger, frustration. Imagine picking up a glass filled with iced tea and taking a drink only to
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find out that it actually contains soda. The immediate visceral reaction is a negative one, as if the drink tastes bad. It does not, in fact, taste bad its just not what you were expecting, and your subconscious threw an alert at you, saying Something is wrong here. In fact, you like soda, and a moment later you take another sip, and this one tastes much better. The liquid did not change; your expectations did. Customers entering your space will have expectations about the experience they think they are about to have; the same is true of each individual aspect of the experience as a whole. If you serve coffee, it had better be good coffee; if you have shopping carts, the wheels had better not stick; if you hire customer service representatives, they had better give good customer service. When customers look at a digital sign in your place of business, they are likely expecting one of two things: information that is directly related to their relationship with you (marketing driven messages, product promotions, etc.) and information that is not (weather, news, community events, etc.). Critical to the success of a digital signage network is delivering the information customers expect, when and where they expect it. For instance, does a subway commuter looking at a screen want to see information about what is on sale at the nearby
grocery store? Probably not, even though they might find that information valuable at a later time. They would more likely appreciate weather information, since they are about to step out into the world where weather will directly affect them. Customers walking in a shopping mall will not stop or even slow down to watch an advertorial, said Anke Gill, director of marketing for 1-2-1VIEW Corporation. These customers want quick and relevant information that can be digested in a short period of time. Customers sitting in a doctors waiting room or in a bank, however, expect something very different from digital signage they want to be entertained so that their waiting time is perceived to be shortened. The content emphasis here should be on longer content segments with high entertainment value. Shoppers want to be entertained and informed, not just advertised to, said Tony Turiello, group manager for Panasonic System Solutions Company. Dont broadcast advertising for 40 or 50 minutes at a time break it up with other non-advertising content. While the audience is captive, dont penalize them for it creatively engage them. Some possible goals for marketing-driven messages include: Improved customer experience making the customer happy through entertainment clips, lifestyle mes-
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saging, or positive affirmation (Thank you for your business!) Product information not just where things are, but creative use of video to demonstrate product value (recipes in a grocery store; tax-time tips in a bank; in an auto parts store, video on how to change your own oil) Special promotions weekly sales, overstocks, upcoming events, micro-sales (For the next 15 minutes, get 10% off XYZ!) Ambience nebulous content that might not create a top-of-mind impression on viewers but instead aims to create a general feeling of well-being; to make the customer glad he is there Goals for information-driven messages include: News content headlines, weather, financial news, sports Community events Corporate communications welcome messages in a lobby, cafeteria menus, upcoming building events Wayfinding Public relations messages Most digital signage networks will benefit from a selection that draws from both lists, usually woven together (i.e. dont stack all of the sales information up next
to one another; intersperse community information and ambience between promotions to eliminate the subconscious notion that this screen just shows ads). Consumers want to be engaged, said Richard Fassio, founder and president of creative content agency Modern Digital. Engaging can encompass everything from entertainment to informational content. Every situation will have a different definition of what is engaging. This is why it so important to define what the user experience will be in order to create a compelling media strategy. If you aim at nothing you going to hit nothing smack dab on the head. Defining what experience you want someone to have this is the first step.
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Digital signage: focus on growth

By Brad Gleeson
Industry veteran Brad Gleeson is a columnist on Digital Signage Today. Visit the Ask Brad section in our discussion forum to post a question. As a new contributor to Digital Signage Today, I thought it might be helpful to devote this first article to my foundational beliefs, prejudices, thoughts and hopes around what we in the business refer to as the Digital Signage Industry. In this way, I feel I can position this contribution for you, the reader, as well as establish my pedigree, so to speak, on why you might spend any of your valuable time reading what I have to say. This could be a dangerous strategy for a first column, but I feel compelled to give you fair warning. The digital signage business is still very new, but its been around at least 10 years Just ask John Kirkpatrick. His fledgling company, FRED Systems, may have been the first digital signage company. I met John (now at 3M) when I was starting ActiveLight back in 1998. The concept behind ActiveLight was to build a value-added distributor of advanced display products (plasma displays and large-format LCDs) that specialized in applications like digital signage. We even used the words digital signage in our original business plan.
Jeff Porter and Scala will tell you this concept has been around much longer. I believe Scala just celebrated its 20th anniversary at Digital Signage Expo, in fact. Be that as it may, I would say that digital signage has only taken on the status of an industry over the last few years since around 2003. That year, several things happened that kick-started this business. ActiveLight published the first Dynamic Digital Signage Resource Directory the veritable Yellow Pages of the industry. It listed every company that considered itself to be involved in digital signage at that time around 300 companies. Also that year, NSCA created the Digital Signage Pavilion at the NSCA Expo, followed shortly thereafter by ExpoNation and the inaugural Digital Retailing Expo (both events sponsored by ActiveLight). Third, POPAI agreed to be the administrative body for the first Digital Signage Industry Association. This Association came about due to the efforts of a group of digital signage industry veterans, including Jeff Porter and John Kirkpatrick, as well as such Sean Moran of PRN, Jeff Dowell of Clarity (now of 3M), Brian Dusho (now at Broadsign), Dan Slott (Convergent/Technicolor), Manny Almagro (MarketForward) and several others who came together for a series of meetings around 2001 which I organized
Brad Gleeson
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and dubbed as the Digital Signage Superfriends. I am clearly a party to the revolution a hardware-guy-turned-marketing-man for the future of this industry. While I no longer run ActiveLight (it was sold to Electrograph in 2006) and have no direct responsibility for digital signage in my new position as vice president of business development for Planar Systems Inc., I remain a fervent believer and evangelist for digital signage. OK, interesting history lesson, but where does that leave us in 2007? The digital signage industry has clearly evolved into a more complex and capable being than ever before. Examples of this can be seen in the headlines of stories you might find in this very publication: Wal-Mart and PRN announce expansion of the Wal-mart TV network 3M acquires Mercury Online Thomson acquires PRN and Convergent Cisco acquires Tivela Planar acquires Clarity Visual Systems Target, Bank of America, Chevron (insert major brand name here) launch digital signage networks Both Arbitron and Neilsen have active measurement programs to gauge the effectiveness of digital signage
IBM and Google host keynote presentations at 2007 Digital Signage Expo These are clearly signs that the industry is coming of age blue-chip companies making significant investments through deployments and acquisitions. But even this is not the big news, in my opinion. These companies, along with the major display manufacturers all of whom have launched digital signage products or initiatives are reacting to the current buzz-factor around digital signage. The more interesting news is the way the new and smaller companies are rewriting the rules about digital signage into business models that the companies listed above (with the possible exception of Google) havent yet thought of. For example: SeeSaw Networks emerges as central clearinghouse for digital signage advertising on nonhomogenous networks Wireless Ronin goes public and establishes $90M market cap (on less than $3M sales) Ripple lands a full page article in USA Today for its Coffeeshop Network No less than three companies are competing for the gas-station-pumptop digital signage market DS-IQ provides analytics middleware to dynamically measure and
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improve the effectiveness of digital signage networks and content There are also cautionary tales and warning signs that we must heed if we are counting on this industry for our long-term success. Along with every success above, we could find an equally spectacular failure. I havent done the analysis, but I am willing to bet that a large percentage of the companies who were listed in the inaugural Digital Signage Resource Directory in 2003 either dont exist or have morphed themselves into something else in order to survive. Are we paying attention and what can we learn from these false-starts? As I walked the floor of the Digital Signage Expo in Chicago, I was struck by the professional presence of the large companies and brands as listed above, but also by the sheer number of interesting and creative smaller companies, many of which Id never heard of, who were staking a claim to a piece of the digital signage industry pie. My goal has always been to focus on growing the pie, and thereby benefit as my piece of that pie also grows. Clearly, there are an awful lot of people and companies who feel the same way, and are devoting themselves and their companies to transitioning digital signage into the kind of industry we can all be proud to be a part of at the beginning. I hope to highlight many of these companies, and what makes them
interesting and noteworthy, in my coming articles. Please help me by dropping me a note or a question on what you are surprised by, interested in or curious about concerning the digital signage market and industry. Id love to hear from you.
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Restaurants move to digital menu boards

By Bill Yackey
This is excerpted from the guide, Restaurant Digital Signage. It wasnt so long ago that chalkboards were the only type of menu boards found in restaurants. They were easy to maintain, easy to change and they were relatively inexpensive. They were also very bland and synonymous. As the idea of quick and inexpensive meals gained national appeal, more quick-serve restaurants came on the scene. The result was a battle for attention in the fast food sector. Restaurants have responded with new advances in technology such as selfservice ordering and digital signage. For the fast food industry, digital signage used as menu boards pose the biggest opportunity to incorporate digital signage into restaurants. The benefits of having digital menu boards are they solve the problems standard backlit boards faced with space and item changes. Digital menu boards essentially have an infinite amount of space because the presentation can change multiple times while the customer is making his/her food selections. Digital menu boards also can be con-
nected to a network that can be remotely operated. Remote connectivity eliminates the need for employees to have to manually change the signs on site. As fast food restaurants further integrate digital signs into their systems, the on-site employees wont have to deal with menu content at all, as it will all be controlled digitally from a central location. So why doesnt every restaurant have these new boards already? One factor outweighs the others: cost. Most menu boards are made up of five or six panels. Some operators expect to use the same amount of flat screen monitors, which can be very expensive. Hybrid, or a combination of fixed and digital panels are a more affordable, practical and effective solution. In the past, flat screen monitors were somewhat cost-prohibitive for restaurants, said Mike Abbott, vice president of ADFLOW Networks. Now the price points, brightness and sizes are better. We should be seeing a lot more digital menu boards in the future. Although consumer flat screens run in the neighborhood of $1,500, commercial grade screens are quite a bit more. They are made from heavier-grade materials and have to have more hours to their life, as they are left on sometimes all day long. Couple that number with installation, mounting, content development and in-
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tegration prices and it is understandable why the local McDonalds doesnt have an integrated digital signage network yet. Mainstreet Menu Systems, like many other menu and digital signage companies, are expanding to include digital menu board capabilities. Mainstreet offers a digital menu board solution called VisionQuest. The board can be controlled through a PC where menu templates and information are uploaded from a network connection, internet connection or manually from a compact flashcard. The system allows for content management (scheduling and dayparting) from a remote location. Nextep Systems, a software design company out of Troy, Mich., also offers a dynamic digital menu board solution called the Enterprise. Like most digital menu board networks, the Enterprise is connected to the Internet through a DSL line, which gives restaurant owners the power to schedule day parts, change menu items and prices and control the menu board remotely from any PC. Mainstreet Menus and Nextep both understand that with the cost of flat screens and Internet service not all restaurants can afford to go digital right away. Most small chains dont have DSL and
dont want to pay an extra $500 for the service just to support their digital menu board, said Tommy Woycik, president of Nextep Systems. Some large chains change menu options all the time and some change once a year. Not everyone needs a full-blown digital menu board network. Mainstreet offers entry-level versions of digital menu boards that dont require a network connection to operate. Both systems also have the processor built inside the casing for the flat screen, so no external PC is needed to control the menu board content. The price for the boards-in-a-box is competitive with that of a new custom stagnant menu board. Doug Watson, regional vice president for Mainstreet Menu Systems, says the best and most effective digital menu boards are hybrid systems where one or two of the panels are digital and the rest are fixed. On these boards the digital panels serve as advertising, while the others remain informational, Watson said. This way the customer isnt over whelmed with five moving digital signs and gets confused on where to look.
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White paper: End-user perspectives on software

By Bill Yackey
producers whose products drive content on these out-of-home screen media networks there are at least 40 companies around the world which claim to offer solutions for this market. At first glance, it seems as if those 40+ software vendors are all chasing the same two markets (i.e. digital signage or kiosks) with me-too products. And many of them are. However, when one takes a closer look at this broader market for out-of-home screen media, we see the emergence of the same kind of market segmentation that one would expect to find in any technology market as it leaves the early-adopter stage and begins to gain broader acceptance. At this stage, the networks operators, brands and retailers are beginning to identify which screen-media formats work for them and which do not work for them. As this happens, they are developing different programming and venue models which, in turn, are driving the market segmentation of the technology vendors that serve this market. For this study, DecisionPoint Media Insights surveyed ten digital-media professionals who work with digital signage software as a regular part of their jobs. These ten professionals work with five of the most popular software packages that serve the North American market. From the interviews, it was clear that the market segmentation mentioned earlier
Editors note: This white paper is provided by DecisionPoint Media Insights. Statements made in the text reflect the views and/or opinions of its author(s) only. Out-of-home screen media networks are being developed across the globe today at a rapid pace. As Web-based marketing increasingly proves its effectiveness to the brands, retailers and media companies, many of the market-acceptance barriers to these digital signage and kiosk networks are beginning to fall away. However, just because these barriers to acceptance are falling away, it does not necessarily follow that network operators and retailers are automatically finding the best programming formats or the best locations for those networked out-of-home screens. Also, it is important to understand that most retailers and networks operators do not yet understand which technologies will be the most effective at driving their programming, leveraging their venues and most importantly, meeting customer needs. Among the technology vendors that serve this screen-media market, we see dozens of players around the world today. Even within the software sector which we will define here as software
2007 NetWorld Alliance Media | Sponsored by nanonation
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in this section is proceeding at an increasing pace, even within the narrower digital signage market. At least two of the surveyed professionals are working in organizations where they use (or will soon use) three different digital signage software packages. In each case, these professionals clearly understand that there is no one-size-fits-all digital signage software product. Instead, they will use product A for one type of networking need, product B for another and product C for yet another. For software vendors in this market, the challenge going forward will be to:
understand the needs and wants of the key segments of this market with an eye toward needs that are currently not being met; identify which software vendors are pursuing what market; evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the software vendors in each segment; and position their companies and their software product offerings so that they become market leaders in a highly profitable segment and leverage that leadership over time.
There is no one-size-fits-all digital signage software product. The challenge is to understand the needs and wants of the key segments of the market with an eye toward needs that are currently not being met.
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Performance/importance summary
The following chart plots the average of all respondents scores based on how they rate the importance of the attributes (Importance) against how well the system performed (Performance). The two bold grid lines indicate the average performance scores (vertical line) and the average importance scores (horizontal line) for all of the attributes being measured. It is against these lines that judgments are made regarding those attributes that are above or below average in ratings.
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High importance/high performance scores

Respondents rate the following attributes as important and perceive that their current vendors do relatively well on each of them.
HIGH IMPORTANCE/HIGH PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES Provides remote screen/device control (on/off, volume, screen status) Provides historical playlog reporting (i.e., advertising, affidavits) Provides real-time reporting Has playback scheduling granularity month, week, day, hour, minute Provides a wide range of supported file formats Provides multiple system user access levels/roles
Importance Score (1-7) 7 6 6 6 6 6
Performance Score (1-7) 7 6 6 6 6 6
High importance/low performance scores

Respondents rate the following attribute as higher than average in importance but perceive that their current vendors perform lower than average.
HIGH IMPORTANCE/LOW PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES Offers extensibility/interoperability; that is, the system is capable of integration with third party systems for external data input or output
Importance Score (1-7) 5
Performance Score (1-7) 4
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Low importance/high performance scores

The following attributes are lower in relative importance to the respondents, though their vendors do relatively well on each.
LOW IMPORTANCE/HIGH PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES Offers a wide range of distribution technologies Offers turnkey solution, including installation, monitoring and playlist management from a single vendor Provides capability for delivering multiple content channels per location/player
Importance Score (1-7) 5 5 4
Performance Score (1-7) 6 6 5
Low importance/low performance scores

The following attributes are lower in relative importance and their vendors perform less than average on each attribute.
LOW IMPORTANCE/LOW PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES Has on-screen data overlay capabilities Offers advertising model support mechanism for providing view of available time slots Offers content playlist review (thumbnail) prior to publishing Offers complete promotion planning for digital signage networks Content review portal Provides ability for local override (via sneakernet) of network-controlled screen content
Importance Score (1-7) 5 5 4 4 4 3
Performance Score (1-7) 4 3 5 4 3 4
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A Guide from Digital Signage Today, Kiosk Marketplace and Self-Service World

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Categories of digital signage Out-of-home/ad-driven networks Brand-driven networks Informational networks

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Chapter 4 Conclusion Appendix

Content Making your content multitask The virtual back-office

Selected articles from DigitalSignageToday.com

James Bickers, editor Digital Signage Today

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

The consumer drivers what are your customers looking for?

Visual elements and the customer experience

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

The consumer drivers what are your customers looking for?

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

The consumer drivers what are your customers looking for?

SHOPPING FOR SOFTWARE

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Categories of digital signage

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Categories of digital signage

Should retailers really go into the advertising sales business?

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Categories of digital signage

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Categories of digital signage

OF PLAYLISTS, LOOPS AND LAYERS

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Categories of digital signage

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Categories of digital signage

CASE STUDY: MAYTAG USES DIGITAL SIGNAGE TO ENHANCE ITS BRAND

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Categories of digital signage

CASE STUDY: INTERACTIVE DIGITAL SIGNAGE AT BORSHEIMS

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

CASE STUDY: UMPQUA BANK

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

CASE STUDY: AGIS BRIEFS EMPLOYEES USING DIGITAL SIGNAGE

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

A few words about operating systems

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

What about Vista?

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Making your content multitask

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

The virtual back-office

CASE STUDY: DIGITAL HEALTH INFORMATION CHANNEL AT SESCAM

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

ON THE QUALITY OF TRANSMISSION

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

2007 NetWorld Alliance Media

Selected articles from DigitalSignageToday.com