Visitors to Times Square in New York City are constantly amazed, amused, and informed by the drive-in-theatre-sized television screens prominent, indeed unmistakable, throughout this epicenter of cosmopolitan sophistication. From the ubiquitous stock ticker and news scrolls, to the full-color, high-definition images projected in twenty-foot-high, digitally-enhanced actions of sports, stage, and screen stars pitching wares and services, advertising and marketing is rolling onward into the 21st century using the current new wave of marketing technology, digital signage. The effect is jaw-dropping.
Presently, China is the world leader in digital signage usage, having in excess of some 100,000 units installed, and hundreds more coming on-line every day. These numbers represent over $10 billion dollars invested in the technology, to date, significant proof that China understands the value of this infant marketing technology.
A direct result of LED technology, common in the middle part of the 20th Century, not to mention television, PC, Internet, and cellular communications systems, digital signage is the emerging marketing technology of the very near future. Utilizing the latest in Flash, high definition (HD), and cellular technology, digital signage presents information, entertainment, and, above all, advertising to consumers in venues as large as downtown Bejing, Manhattan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris, London, or Tokyo, to the checkout counter at the local pharmacy, or grocery store, to the small LED display on the gas pump next to the family automobile.
Further examples of digital signage include the flight information monitors located in airport, bus, and train terminals, promotional programming in restaurant lounges, and informational images in hospital waiting areas. In many cases this localized digital signage is used in direct marketing, in others, strictly informational. A growing number of corporations use digital signs to present real-time seminars, conferences, and training videos to employees.
Digital signage, in addition to presenting informational, marketing, and training materials in a more engaging, indeed, in an often inter-active manner, is also useful in other, less-directed ways. One instance would be an enhanced consumer experience, where a customer might enjoy the digital signage in, for example, a restaurant, when entertained, and enlightened by product tutorials on food preparation, or recipe suggestions. Another distinct advantage of digital signage might be a decoratively imaginative improvement in the ambiance of the establishment itself. As well, there are the brand-building aspects if the digital signage revolution, whereby a storyline is constructed with the intent of episodically promoting the particular brand. An example of this brand-building is found in any Niketown store, where the over-sized monitors are actually integrated into the store dcor to create an ambiance of pure Nike.
As a tool in influencing customer behavior, digital signage is becoming influential in increasing customer “dwell-time”, the time a customer actually remains in a store or establishment. Obviously, the longer a customer lingers in a particular outlet, the more money that customer is likely to spend. Digital signage promoting different aspects, or areas of the establishment, and the advantages to the customer in experiencing or visiting these different aspects or areas, leads to obvious increase in sales, as well as a satisfied customer, eager to return to the establishment.
