Big Picture - August 2015 - (Page 20)

dynamic signage Content Is Still King New trends and best practices for dynamic signage. | by Beth Osborne W e've all seen it: Terrible dynamic signage; screens thrown up with nonsense content that annoys shoppers and wastes marketing dollars. Regardless of what brands want to communicate or sell, if there hasn't been true consideration of how the design works to achieve that, then it's just a bunch of flat screens with nothing much to say. Content really is the make-or-break factor for successful dynamic signage projects. Simply throwing up screens with thoughtless content is a terrible waste of your client's money. So, let's work together to eradicate all those terrible PowerPoints and static JPEGs, which are still way too common for this to be 2015 and 20 years after dynamic signage became a scalable product. It's a good time to talk about what's trending now and to revisit best practices. Treat this as a friendly reminder - and one your competitors may (still) not heed. BIG PICTURE August 2015 ENGAGING THE AUDIENCE More than ever, content is being created for interaction. Brands want consumers to walk into their space or see their dynamic signage and do something. The interaction could be social, promotional, or physical - think direct contact with the signage via touch screens. These are all ways to promote brand engagement with the screens and with brands. How do we do that when everyone is distracted? Think about how often you see people with their heads down these days. And we're not all staring at the floor; we're staring at our phones. This means that a consumer's line of sight is often obscured, which translates to missed opportunities. So, how do brands get consumers to look up? One strategy is to tie in social media. By simply allowing for a live stream of tweets, a BETH OSBORNE is a consultant with many years' experience working with end users, providers, and stakeholders in dynamic and large-format signage. She resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. 20 consumer could tweet the brand and instantly be featured on the larger, live screen. This is a win for the brand and for the social-media maven. The same could be true for Instagram posts or pins on Pinterest. There's even a new video streaming feature from Twitter: Periscope. Of course, with live streaming, there's always an opportunity for something inadvertent to occur, but this new platform is raising the standard for social media with its instant interactivity. In addition, you can engage consumers by posting text promos, QR codes, or survey URLs. These interactions are all call-to-action driven. The consumer has to know what's in it for her. If she's taking a survey or downloading some kind of media, what's her reward? It could be a discount, free merchandise, or a chance to win a bigger prize. You can also encourage interaction directly with the screen by utilizing touchscreens and kiosks. With this come added requirements for hardware and technological knowhow, but there could be real payoffs. The question is: What type of interaction is best, and how does it impact the customer experience and create revenue or brand equity? The displays I've observed for this type of application seem to fall into two categories: games/activities or information. Games and activities have an objective of amusing the audience and may be found in high-traffic areas with long wait times to

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - August 2015

Big Picture - August 2015
Contents
Insight
Wide Angle
Upfront
Inside Output
Dynamic Signage
Air Superiority
Rock ‘n’ Roll Media
R+D
Explorer

Big Picture - August 2015