“I love it when a plan comes together.” 

—Hannibal Smith (fictional character from the ’80s TV show, The A-Team)

The U.S. Navy deploys aircraft carriers; the Weather Service deploys research balloons; NASA deploys communications satellites. And until recently, there have been few, if any, sign shops that referred to what they do as “deploy” signs.

But things have changed, and now the sign industry word of the day is deploy—at least it is when the discussion is electronic digital signage (EDS). The reason may have to do with the nature of the beast: electronic digital signage in even its simplest guise, is a system that only works when all of its components are in place, connected and functioning together—not unlike a military unit: ready for action and proceeding according to a plan.

The display at the Center for Community can also be segmented to display information about community and campus events while having the potential to generate advertising revenue. (Courtesy Digital Roads)

The case for the deployment of an EDS system has been made in countless ways, those generally being: why hospitals, universities, fast food restaurants, airports, train stations, convenience stores, department stores or anyone should invest in it; the potential benefits of increased sales or other objectives; the basic components of a system and how those components work together; why a sign company—or any company—should become involved in the business of providing electronic digital signage.

The wisdom to glean from all of this documentation, instruction and philosophy is that there is a growing demand for electronic digital signage and that while some companies have become very good at meeting the demand, it’s a morphing business that manifests in different ways, depending on who’s doing it and what it’s used for.

A video wall on the 19th floor entertainment center at the JW Marriott Marquis in downtown Miami is made up of 25 Cisco LCD screens. It is one element of the hotel’s extensive digital signage network, which is used for a number of entertainment and cross-marketing purposes. (Courtesy Cisco Systems)

Mike White, CEO and president, of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Multi-Media Solutions Inc., has witnessed much of this morphing in the 21 years he’s been in business. He says staying in business is a matter of being a “referenceable expert,” which means “you’re not guessing. You’ve done it and learned the painful lessons along the way,” says White. He believes there are tremendous business opportunities associated with the deployment of electronic digital signage, and he says that sign companies in particular should understand that, “because they are absolutely talking to the people who represent the electronic digital signage market.”

POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS

White, along with others—like Jim Huber, of Hebron, Ky.-based Nor-Com, a systems integration company in business since 1971, and Mary Hood of Wheat Ridge, Colo.-based Digital Roads Inc., an audio-visual integration company in business since 1998—is a member of USAV Group (www.usavgroup.net), an association of professional audio-visual integrators. The association and its members advocate forming partnerships with companies from different backgrounds—including traditional sign companies—in order to deliver the best EDS solution for a client.

That’s because end users are increasingly tech-savvy and really push their demands on the technology. More and more, a successful deployment of an EDS system has to draw from perse sources and disciplines including (but not limited to) audio-video (AV), information technology (IT), wireless connectivity technology, marketing, photography, web design and development, database integration, color management, electrical and electronic systems—not to mention traditional sign and graphics layout skills. 

Technology integration itself is morphing into a combination of those disciplines—a 21st century product-and-service, if you will, that is wide open to any and every deployment objective.

Today’s EDS industry is a composite of various communication and advertising mediums. There are some who even advocate using the term enterprise media delivery system, eliminating the term signage from the description of the product and its function. But signs are also a readily understood means of public communication, and in that very basic sense, these devices function—at least most of the time—as signage.

Okay, so much for euphemisms and nomenclature. If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck…

COMPONENTS to CONSIDER

The physical components involved in the deployment of an EDS system are fairly straightforward. At a basic level, a display screen and media player or computer, content and a way (software) to connect the three are required. But some EDS systems are intended for complex networked multiple screen applications and may require system routers, cloud computing services, multiple content ports, content and/or data management services and possibly more. 

Every system is unique, but for every EDS system the components need to work seamlessly together. 

“Smaller, simpler installations are not going to tax a system much,” says Huber. He says that each case has to be considered on its own, “but 90 percent won’t work as intended without being optimized with components that match the rest of the system. Usually it’s a software decision. Hardware can often be different and not make that big of an impact, unless the installation is in an extreme environment like the production floor of a steel mill.”

A video wall displays the history of Proctor & Gamble at the company’s corporate archives. (Courtesy Nor-Com)

Huber says it’s better to standardize the components in a system, “but in extreme conditions like the steel mill, where dust, heat, humidity and other environmental conditions create special needs, you’ve just eliminated a lot of component manufacturers. But also because of cost, you don’t need to spend that much money in a lot of places that are part of the system but not in such an extreme location.”

And, he says, sometimes the solution for perse operations within a complex entity such as a hospital may require different systems, depending on the critical nature of each department.

Electronic digital signage deployment models have changed considerably over the years as well. Early on, EDS systems would be found only in public spaces like convention centers and sports arenas, where a lot of advertising helped improve investment return. Today’s systems have come down in cost to the point where even some small businesses can justify it.

But “come down in cost” doesn’t mean “no cost.” Even a very simple EDS system represents a significant enough investment and warrants a program that both protects the components from damage and also maximizes the return on investment.

One way to ensure that happens is to have a plan.

WHAT IS IT SUPPOSED TO DO?

Huber says the first step in deploying digital signage is to define the client’s objective. Sounds basic enough, but he also adds that there are plenty of digital signs out there that for one reason or other are not meeting their objective. Why? He says it’s either because the objective is unclear or the system and its components are not well understood or matched to meet the objective.

“They have to identify the system and what it’s supposed to do,” Huber says. “Then we provide an action plan to make their objective work out.”

Woody’s uses its digital signs for marketing and to promote specials. (Photo by Eddie Wieber)

So what components are involved? For starters, Huber was given the following list and to rate each in order of priority for a successful electronic digital signage deployment:

• Internet Connection

• Computer

• Monitor

• Audio system

• Software 

• Connectivity systems

• Enclosures and other mounting hardware

• Location

• RSS feeds

• Content creation

• Content management

• Interactivity

His reply was, “These make a nice list, for a start. But you could add 20 more items to the list.” And more importantly, he pointed out, the order of priorities depends on the client and how they use the system. “Using the floor of a steel mill as an extreme example, brackets and mounting hardware and enclosures move up in importance; but at Macy’s, those go toward the bottom of the list. And regarding content, the steel mill may be pulling data off of an Oracle list and RSS has no significance.”

For larger corporate clients, those priorities may change within the same system, where in-the-shop monitors display production data, while the front office displays marketing messages.

Whether such persity of function is implemented in the same system or multiple systems depends on how robust the components are and whether they can be optimized to perform as needed and within budget constraints. 

So what is important? 

“It depends on the function,” Huber says. “Pulling metrics off a SQL database is different from playing a video loop. You need to look at different component manufacturers that meet those needs.”

TELEVISION SET or SIGN?

Woody’s Wood-Fired Pizza and Watering Hole, located in downtown Golden, Colo., has always been a favorite hangout for locals, college students and tourists. Even in slow times, it has maintained its busy pace, which can be attributed to a number of factors: great food, great management, great service, great location. And, it has a high energy level. At least some of that may have to do with what’s taking place on a football or baseball field or ski slope somewhere and showing on one of the multiple TV screens strategically placed throughout the restaurant.

In a “coup” that illustrates the morphing of how today’s EDS devices function, lately four of the screens at Woody’s have been “cross-wired” to double as electronic digital signs.

The screens at Woody’s are integrated through Muzak’s web-based content service (offered in partnership with BrightSign and Scala).

At Woody’s, Jon Bortles, the restaurant’s marketing and IT manager, recognized a potential pitfall early on. “I had seen other businesses use similar marketing techniques around the Denver-metro area,” says Bortles. “However, the format and content seemed stale and not consistent with the style of Woody’s. After pushing the idea aside for many months, a Muzak rep came in and we decided to discuss their music services. Before I knew it, he had a great signage program available that was customizable for our needs.”

Customizing content involves in-house generated Power-Point slides that advertise specials and upcoming events. Other “fun” content—trivia, jokes, snow reports, etc., is linked via RSS, so the content is always fresh. Bortles says the restaurant expects to use the system for marketing and entertainment for guests. “We have about 250,000 customers each year,” he says. “By marketing while they are in our restaurant we have a targeted customer segment who is most likely to be a source of repeat business if we can catch their eye on the screen. This beats the heck out of traditional advertising/marketing  dollar-for-dollar.

“Moreover, once we get the repeat business, we need to keep them entertained. Only a few true sporting events are worth watching on our HDTVs throughout the day. By providing RSS updated content, our customers are entertained on a whole new level.”

The results at Woody’s so far have been positive. “We have gotten a lot of ‘I didn’t know Woody’s did take-and-bake pizza!’ Without the digital signage we would have struggled to inform these particular customers,” Bortles says.

FEEDING THE BEAST

“Planning is important,” says Hood. “You don’t want to spend a lot of money on a digital sign system and then have an unqualified person do the content. The technology lends itself to getting ahead of you. You have a beast to feed and you need to know what it takes to feed it.”

Huber agrees. “How to develop and place content in this arena is important; it makes it a success or a failure. The content needs to have a champion.”

In a nutshell, successful deployment of digital signage is all about understanding the technology. 

“It’s a different medium,” says Hood. “You just need to know what the limits are. And, what is appropriate in a doctor’s office is different from what is appropriate on the highway.”

Most agree it’s what you don’t know about it that comes back to haunt you. 

“The skill set needed to implement a full digital signage system is not something you can pick up on a weekend,” says White. “Its not that you can’t do it; but you’ll need support and help. We can highlight a few landmines and point to good sources.”