Whether working with an in-house art department or an outside agency, here’s a handy checklist to make sure your digital signage content achieves what you want.

Digital signage is going mainstream as a medium. Simply look around in retail stores, shopping malls, arenas, gas stations, hotel lobbies, restaurants, and just about any other place you can image, and you’re bound to see one or more digital signs.

However, even though digital signs are growing in popularity, they are likely to be a rather new medium for the majority of graphic artists and other media creators, like graphic designers and animators, which you may turn to to create compelling content to achieve your communications goals.

Perhaps, you will be working with in-house graphic artists whose expertise is the design of brochures, reports and other printed collateral. Or, you may find yourself working with a creative agency that specializes in television commercials. Both are creative, talented and have an abundance of knowledge and experience to bring to the table. Your challenge will be communicating the unique demands of digital signage content to them and directing them so they deliver the message you need.

Following some or all of the recommendations on this handy checklist should help you focus your creative team’s talent regardless of their prior experience, or lack of experience, in creating digital signage content.

• Clearly state what you wish to accomplish. Explain precisely how the signs are to be used. Will they be informational in nature? Do you want to sell a product or service with the signs?  Is the communication mission straightforward like that of a menu board or more nuanced?

• Define your target audience. Layout as much demographic information, i.e. age, sex, ethnic background, and psychographic information, including interests, attitudes and opinions, of your intended viewers as possible.

• Identify where the sign or signs will be located. Giving your creative team this information will inform decisions they make later about the appearance, placement and dwell time of content they will create.

• Explain desired quality. In today’s world, it is hard to imagine that the display or displays to be used won’t be HDTVs. But even if that’s the case, will they be 720p, 1080i or even 1080p displays? That information will be helpful when content is created and may reduce the need for up, down or cross conversion of video, graphics and animation content.

• Visual SPAM. Because digital signage is becoming more common, the level of “visual noise” is also increasing. This should be considered along with the sensibilities of the target demographic. Work with your designers in creating a pleasing visual environment that will be more readily received by a discerning audience. Avoid excessive in-your-face content that may wax against the shopping experience by overloading the senses. Too much eye candy is not a good thing –it can give eye pain.

• Define duration. On a macro level, your messaging will be used for a finite period before it must be updated or changed entirely. On a micro level, individual pieces of content will dwell on the screen before being updated by the next item in the list. Information about both will help your team in creating content that can accomplish its communications task in the allotted time on screen as well as give the team a way to begin building a workable content production schedule.

• Discuss the number of onscreen zones desired. Start out by giving your team an idea of how many discrete areas of onscreen real estate you envision to communicate your message and what you believe should be communicated in each. Don’t consider this the last word on the topic. Rather use your list as a point of departure to discuss and ultimately define how many zones actually will be used.

• Identify existing content resources. While you will want your content to be fresh, engaging and designed to meet your communications goals, there is no sense reinventing the wheel when existing resources can be used or repurposed. For example, if you intend to communicate to owners of high performance cars as they wait in a car dealer’s service area, an existing RSS feed of Formula One, Indy Car and NASCAR race results and news might be available already for an onscreen crawl.

Whether or not your designers are experienced with digital signage, they will appreciate the guidance you give by discussing the items in the checklist. More importantly, reviewing the points in the checklist will help ensure you receive the content you need to achieve your communications goals.

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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Like any other aspect of business, successfully deploying digital signs hinges on achieving an acceptable return on investment on both the technology and the content to be displayed.

The use of digital signage is varied and diverse, which means the background, knowledge and skill brought to creating content to be delivered via this powerful medium is just as diverse and varied.

Consider the stark differences between a four-star hotel chain that’s decided at the corporate level to use digital signs throughout its properties to welcome guests, offer wayfinding and promote various features and amenities. Now think about the local sports bar that’s added digital signs to promote featured drinks and menu items while patrons quench their thirst and watch the game.

These are two entirely different types of businesses, with dramatically different resources to spend on digital signage content, varied levels of experience with using media to reach the public and quite diverse ideas about what they would like to accomplish with digital signs.

Regardless of these differences, however, the hotel chain and single sports bar –along with all other digital signage users- should share one common characteristic when it comes to digital signage: They need to determine their return on investment –not simply on the hardware and software needed but also on the digital content to be used.

Determining ROI on digital signage hardware and software is pretty straightforward. Simply divide the expense of both by their anticipated useful life in months or years. (For this example, I’ll use months.) Then subtract this monthly expense from the revenue generated by the digital signs and divide this difference by the monthly expense.

For example, the ROI of a simple, single-sign system costing $6000 for hardware, software and display would look like this. Assuming a useful life of five years, or 60 months, $100 of expense should be assigned to each month of the system’s useful life. If the sign generates an additional $150 in business per month, then the ROI in this example is 50 percent [that is $150 (revenue) - $100 (monthly expense of signage) = $50/$100 (monthly expense of signage) = .5].

The same sort of ROI equation can be applied to digital signage content; however, there are a few wrinkles to consider that make doing so a little trickier. First, consider that the useful life of content will be far shorter than that of the hardware and software. To be effective, that is to consistently attract the attention of patrons, content must be fresh and relevant. Thus, in a retail setting, the useful life of content will likely be measured in weeks, and possibly even days during certain times of the year.

Second, the expense side of the equation is a little more complex when it comes to digital signage content. For instance, will content be created in-house or by an outside agency? If in-house, will a new employee be required, or will an existing graphic artist take on the responsibility. Will elements of content created once be repurposed again and again in successive campaigns, thus requiring apportionment of content expenses across multiple uses? Will “free” content, such as an RSS feed, be leveraged in some campaigns and not others, thus impacting digital content expenses differently? Will the digital content be used across in multiple locations so a portion of the expense can be assigned to each location?

Third, digital signage content frequently has nothing to do with commerce. When revenue generation is not the goal of the sign, determining the ROI on content gets a little squishy. Considerations such as goodwill created among the public are much harder to quantify than dollars and cents.

Even though determining the return on investment of creating digital signage content can be difficult, it is essential. After all, doing so is the logical first step in assessing the value of any given digital signage content campaign.

About the author:

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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There’s no need to fear the cost of developing effective digital signage content if you rely on a few simple strategies.

Often companies adding digital signage –particularly smaller companies with limited media experience- don’t give adequate consideration to feeding the insatiable appetite for content that’s part of using digital signage to communicate with the public.

Many are surprised to learn just how much content may be needed on a monthly basis to keep their communications fresh and appealing, as well as the effort required to maintain consistency with their company’s larger branding goals.

In fact, some may actually be scared off from adding digital signage not because of the capital expense of the technology but because of anxiety over adding personnel to create the content to deliver their desired messaging.

Whatever the case, however, there are strategies that can be used to develop well-conceived communications without hiring a full-time graphic artist or designer. Here are a few ideas about how to accomplish just that.

The first thing to do is to plan ahead. Both time and money can be saved when a solid marketing or promotional strategy is developed with clear goals and objectives. In other words, before there is ever the need for content, understand precisely what is trying to be achieved with the communications. That way, any creative person needed to create content has a clear direction to guide his work.

Next, be willing to use and maximize all available resources. One great foundation is investing in digital signage software to manage content effectively and efficiently. Another is to take an inventory of existing content resources, such as logos, photography, video, animations, and other media resources that the company has already paid for and can excerpted, repurposed, or at the very least, guide the creative efforts of a designer tasked with developing creative for digital signage display. And don’t forget that there are royalty-free resources, such as photos, video and clipart libraries online that can be an economical way to supplement the effort.

Then think outside your box. In other words, think about getting estimates from freelance designers for work they can do in the future as budgets allow. Consider the power of hiring a part-time freelancer to create digital signage content templates that can be used over and over again. By shopping around for estimates, you will get a feel for the average costs of custom content creation and templates. Remember it is possible that a large percent -80 percent or more- may be able to be handled by populating such templates.

Don’t forget when getting estimates from freelance designers to ask about the cost of entering into a monthly content agreement or contract. You might be surprised at the discount you can negotiate with a designer in exchange for offering a steady amount of work on continuing basis.

Finally, try tapping into creative co-workers, friends and family members around you. As one designer suggested, “Who knows? The best creative solution may be sitting right behind you.”

The bottom line is companies that can benefit from digital signage shouldn’t be intimidated by the cost of adding a full time designer to create the content that will be necessary. With a bit of resourcefulness there are a variety of ways to hold costs in check and still develop effective digital signage communications.

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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Here are five simple tips you should considered before ever building digital signage content.

Content makes or breaks digital signage. Without it, a digital sign is a blank slate. With well-conceived content, digital signage is transformed from mere displays, computers and cables into a dynamic communications medium with an ability to inspire, inform and motivate that is unsurpassed.

Given the importance of digital signage content to succeed, I sought out some advice from an expert in content to find out if it was possible to develop a short list of tips to help guide content development, regardless of the specific message to be delivered. I turned to Brian Bibler, director of creative services for Keywest Technology, for help.

Brian, who has years of experience prior to joining us with helping clients to build successful creative for all types of marketing campaigns, provided me with these five tips on how to make digital signage content that’s successful. They include:

• Lead any and all content considerations with the brand. Follow that goals, initiatives, and objectives. Only then can an effective creative content strategy to deliver the brand promise be developed within any content campaign.

• Think outside of the box. Technology has redefined the way we communicate, and signage is no different. Each campaign literally begins with a blank digital canvas, and the methods used to execute the vision for the campaign is only limited by what the imagination can conceive.

• Know your audience. Getting “lost in translation” is a very real pitfall and can derail a well-executed campaign.

• Remember, less is more. A good campaign delivers a targeted message through an innovative, clean and easy-to-read approach. Strategically guiding the audience through the campaign/promotion will guarantee the brand message will be received and retained. Images should be captivating, text should be concise and dwell times should give audiences enough time to absorb without losing interest.

• Do your homework. It’s no secret we’ve become an instant gratification society. Take the time to research styles, designs and trends. Find out what is currently getting attention and the methods that are being used to do it. For digital signage, a great place to start is Times Square in New York City.

Digital signage technology can be highly effective in communicating a message, but without properly conceived and executed content not only will it fail to reach its full potential, but it will actually diminish the public’s perception of the business, organization or institution using the technology. Brian’s first tip --leading all content considerations with brand—speaks to this.

Without making all content decisions guided by the brand, digital signage messaging will likely be confusing to consumers and counterproductive in achieving the underlying goal of the communications effort, namely, delivering on the promise of the brand. Leading all decisions about digital signage content with the brand will avoid those pitfalls.

Similarly, keeping all five of Brian’s tips in mind before developing content for digital signage will go a long way to ensuring that the messaging delivered communicates what is intended in a way that’s fresh and engaging as well as consistent with the larger promise of the brand.

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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All of the hardware and software technology in the world won’t make digital signage successful without the most important ingredient: effective content.

“Content is king!” How often have you heard that phrase? Perhaps, too often. You might be thinking to yourself that phrase is trite, hackneyed or just a cliché? (Download digital signage content guide to learn more.)

While I wouldn’t argue the point that it’s well worn, I would take issue with the notion that it has lost its meaning from overuse. When it comes to digital signage, content is king –or more accurately, the single most important ingredient to making sure your use of digital signage is successful.

Without the right content, properly presented and thoughtfully executed, digital signage software, players and monitors might as well not even be taken out of the box. That’s a pretty bold statement for someone whose livelihood depends on the sale of the digital signage technology, but it’s the truth.

At its fundamental level, digital signage is a communications medium –just like television, newspapers, radio and magazines. For it to fulfill its reason for being, it needs to communicate something –news, information, marketing messages, ads, directions, greetings or whatever else you can imagine. If it doesn’t, it is a failure. The same thing is true for the other media mentioned. How long could a publisher of a newspaper or magazine or the owner of a radio or television station afford to stay in business if their given medium failed to communicate? Who would buy their product or tune in? The answer is obvious.

In the next several articles, I will dive into some useful specifics about digital signage content, such as: how to go about creating effective digital signage content; developing a communications strategy for your digital signage messaging; ideas to measure the effectiveness of that strategy and when to make tweaks to meet your goals; key design concepts for static and interactive digital signage content; and how to develop winning digital signage content without breaking the bank.

However, before I launch into those specifics, I’d like to share a simple story about something that happened to me to illustrate how important content is to communications when it comes to signage.

After concluding business in New York City a few years ago, I arrived at Newark Airport for my return flight to the Midwest. Being a veteran traveler, I know the drill well. Arrive two hours early to allow sufficient time for check-in and to clear security. I actually got to the airport more than three hours early.

I arrived at my gate long before my flight was schedule to depart. Unfortunately, I was greeted with a message on the sign behind the gate agent that said “Delayed.” It took a few minutes, but when I finally got my turn in line to talk to the agent about the situation, I learned that the plane due in for my flight hadn’t even left where it was coming from and wasn’t expected to do so for some time. I was told, however, to check back and look at the sign for the new departure time, which would be posted just as soon as more information was available.

Deciding to find a restaurant to pass the time, I did the quick scan of the location and found one near the gate, but not within sight of the gate. Not long after, the sign at the game displayed a new departure time of 9:30 p.m., so I headed out to the restaurant.

At 9 p.m., I left the restaurant and leisurely walked over to my gate, only to find that there was no longer any mention of my flight on the sign and the seats around the gate were strangely empty. When I approached the gate agent and inquired about my flight, I learned that somehow the delayed plane made up time in the air, arrived, passengers deplaned, my fellow travelers boarded and the plane took off for home –without me. I was out of luck, had to spend the night in a hotel and return the next morning.

The moral of the story for me is simple: Don’t wait for a flight anywhere outside of a clear view of the gate. The moral of the story for anyone interested in communicating with signage: Be clear and accurate with your messages. They are important and can impact the lives of those who are viewing them.

I wish whoever was responsible for posting that information on the sign would have realized that content is king. Unfortunately for me that evening, the king seemed to have abdicated his throne.

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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Schools and universities are flocking to digital signage to fulfill a variety of communications task.

As the summer rapidly comes to a close, young children, adolescents and young adults prepare to return to school to resume their education.

While that annual ritual continues much in same way it has my entire life, many other aspects of the school experience are different. For instance, why should a student learn the Dewey Decimal System when there’s Google and the Internet? Remember that distinct smell and soggy feel of newly mimeographed tests? A relic of a bygone era. How about recesses filled with competitive games of soccer, kickball or basketball? Is it even OK to have winners and losers anymore?

Here’s another you’re sure to remember: The disembodied voice of the principal emanating from a small speaker on the wall filling the classroom with various announcements. That, pardon the pun, is old school. It’s gone –or at least augmented by technologies like student-run TV production and digital signage.

While it’s not surprising that digital signage is replacing outmoded methods of communications around schools, what some might find shocking is the scope of digital signage deployments on campuses. According to an article published in ecampusnews.com in July, some 1,500 campuses added digital signage last year, and an additional 2,200 campuses are forecasted to do the same in 2011.

Digital signs at elementary schools, high schools and on the campuses of colleges and universities are used for a variety of applications, including –but not limited to:

• Informational: Where bulletin boards, lockers and even telephone poles on campus were once covered with fliers recruiting students for activities, advertising a new band on tour or conveying some other piece of important news, digital signs are offering a more attractive way to get the message out more quickly and easily.

• Wayfinding: Frequently visitors to a college campus or even a massive high school don’t know how to get where they want to go. Digital signs not only can greet visitors, but also make it easy to find a gymnasium, theater or even an auditorium where voting in a local or national election is being conducted.

• Menu boards: With digital signage, controlling the display of what’s for lunch at the school cafeteria becomes consistent and less labor intensive, if deployed across an entire school district. Think of the manual steps that must be taken to use the old plastic lettering –repeated over and over again across the district. Then there is simplifying the steps to coordinate this huge dance.

• Create ambience: Some school districts and universities use digital signage to create a desired environment. For example, one Midwestern high school honors program focused on business education relies on a digital sign outside each classroom to showcase the work of students and to give them a place to make special presentations. The digital signs, thus, are both functional and instrumental in creating the desired look and feel the school district desires.

• Emergency alerts: Displays on a digital signage network makes informing faculty, staff and students of potential severe weather and other emergency situations quick and easy.

So, here’s the scoop: These digital signage applications are transforming how many different communications tasks are being fulfilled in educational settings. Digital signs are replacing outmoded approaches while at the same time making it easier to communicate an effective message. It’s no wonder thousands of campuses and school districts nationwide are turning to digital signage.

Download digital signage case study for education.

About the author:

David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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In early July, the Digital Place-based Advertising Association released results from a survey showing just how important digital-out-of-home media is becoming to professional media planners.

Digital placed-based media, long in its ascendency as a legitimate advertising medium, appear poised to enter an entirely new realm of acceptance among professional media planners, according to a survey released in early July from the Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA).

According to the survey, 86.3 percent of media planning respondents said they intend to use digital place-based media as part of their media plans in 2012, a jump from 75.5 percent who said their 2011 media plans include digital place-based media and 65.3 percent from 2010.

To be sure, the percentages revealed by the survey show digital placed-based media has come into its own as a legitimate advertising vehicle. But what is even more stunning is that the survey found 44 percent of media planners plan to shift dollars once allocated to the granddaddy of electronic media, namely television, to fund their digital place-based media buys.

TV ranked second among existing media that media planners intended to tap for funding their digital place-based media plans. Topping the list was outdoor advertising from which 54 percent said they would shift funds. Digital/online ranked third with nearly 23 percent identifying it as the source of funds. Fewer than 20 percent said they would not shift dollars to fund their plans for digital place-based media.

According to a press release announcing the results of the survey, DPAA president Susan Danaher sees that 20 percent figure as particularly significant because it indicates media planners view digital place-based media as being included from the outset as part of their of media plans, not an afterthought to be funded by simply reallocating dollars.

I see these survey findings as the latest in a line of data points indicating that digital-out-of-home advertising is coming into its own as an advertising medium. Others include progress in audience measurement technologies and techniques and the collection of audience metrics by The Nielsen Company.

These DPAA findings confirm that digital-out-of-home advertising has long ago transitioned from a quirky concept that a handful of avant-garde media planners would experiment with to the mainstream of media alternatives.

The findings also raise in my mind a question about the 14 percent of media buyers who don’t plan to use digital place-based media. It would be easy to assume that they simply will be latecomers to the party when they ultimately recognize the value digital place-based media bring their clients.

But I suspect at least a portion of the holdouts may work on accounts for whom digital place-based media just doesn’t make sense –i.e. an online insurance company with no field agents, a credit monitoring service company or some other business with no physical presence in the proximity of its customers.

The survey was taken online May6-June 6 by the association among about 1000 strategic media planners nationwide. One can only wonder if media buyers with clients who have no face-to-face customer interaction were removed from the sample what tiny percentage of would have no plans for digital place-based media next year.

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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A new report from IMS Research forecasts dramatic growth in digital signage over the next few years thanks to growing acceptance of the medium as a valuable ad delivery mechanism.

Whether your operation is a mom-and-pop store or a highfalutin retailer, take note. Digital signage is expected to see some remarkable growth over the next few years, and much of that growth will come from retail.

A newly released report from IMS Research concludes that after a couple of sluggish years, the worldwide digital signage market will see growth in excess of 40 percent in 2013 to reach a total of $7 billion. And an important component of that market will be in the retail sector.

According to the research firm, which laid out its forecast in "The World Market for Digital Signage, 2011 Edition," an important reason for the growth is that digital signage is now entering the mainstream of media, which are regularly considered and evaluated by ad agencies and marketers for their advertising purchases.

"There is increasing recognition that it is a valuable tool for directly interacting with audiences, and providing a compelling additional dimension to augment overall advertising placements across media," a press release announcing the findings quotes Shane Walker, director of the Consumer Electronics Group at IMS Research, as saying. With that growing recognition of the value of digital signage as an advertising medium, it's not too surprising that IMS Research found strong growth in the retail sector.

The new study shows that of all the vertical markets for digital signage, retail continues to be the largest, accounting for just under 25 percent of all digital signage hardware and software sales. By the end of 2015, IMS Research forecasts retail will remain the dominant sector of the digital signage market, reaching nearly $2 billion.

Long recognized as a fundamental strength of digital signage in retail, the ability to reach shoppers at the point of sale with a message aimed at influencing their final buying decision is likely to benefit from a trend that is in its infancy at home, but soon is likely to become commonplace: TV Everywhere.

Cable, Telco and satellite television providers have been promoting the concept of TV Everywhere for the past year or so. Perhaps you are familiar with the commercials. A TV viewer witnesses a raging battle between two robotic-looking creatures in his kitchen. As one appears to get the upper hand and slams his opponent through the wall, the viewer pauses the action with his remote control and walks into an adjacent room, where he hits the play button and the fight resumes.

Commercials like these are building awareness among television viewers that they are no longer chained to one TV set to watch a show. Rather they now for the ability to not only resume programming they are watching from set to set as they walk through their homes, but also access and resume a program on their laptop computers, smartphones or media tablets that they started to watch on their TVs.

Now extend this "TV Everywhere" concept to the realm of commercial messages and take that every-access notion to the retail store aisle with a digital signage end cap. Imagine how brand awareness campaigns in the home could morph into a product-specific offer at the point of purchase.

As Walker of IMS Research put it in the press release: "The tools are available today to create a consistent campaign that can reach an audience multiple times while in transit through billboards, street furniture, metro displays, video walls and in-store kiosks, all the while becoming more targeted through mobile device interaction. This experience will culminate in the customer reaching a touch-enabled screen at the point-of-sale where inventory can be checked and an order placed."

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
-Digital Signage Blog
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A new study finding many people are worried about businesses checking their identity online might shed light on how the public perceives digital signs that interact with their cell phones.

A new study from the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California finds that 48 percent of Internet users 16 years old and older are worried about businesses checking their identity on the Internet.

By way of comparison, the research -the "Digital Future Study"- reveals that only 38 percent are concerned about the government checking up on them online. What's going on and why is this relevant to digital signage, you may be asking.

On the surface, the concept is quite appealing. Digital out-of-home signs enabled with the right wireless technology could give smartphone-toting shoppers a way to interact with what is displayed and even deliver special promotional messages to their handsets.

Where things get a little dicey for this technology is with the correct notion that wireless cellphone communications is two-way. Some are likely to worry that the wireless link is somehow enabling the sign to retrieve personal information. Others, probably more accurately, won't give it a second thought. Still others may view it as a positive because the interaction via cellphone lets those responsible for the interactive digital signage content to collect information about search requests and modify what's presented to better serve consumers.

The "Digital Future Study" seems to suggest that a large percentage - nearly half - of shoppers may look suspiciously at digital signs linked wirelessly to their smartphones. A press release announcing the release of the study June 3 quotes Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism as saying many people "are worried that the Big Brother in our lives is actually Big Business."

"Internet users have major concerns about corporate intrusion - and who can blame them?" the press release quotes Cole as saying. "Considering the recent revelations about covert surveillance of personal behavior through GPS tracking and other related issues, we believe that user concerns about the involvement - some would say encroachment - of companies into the lives of Internet users represent a significant issue."

Indeed, it was recent revelations that Apple and Google Android smartphones were surreptitiously tracking the movements of customers that originally prompted my questioning whether or not wireless connections between digital signs and smartphones might do more harm than good.

With the public being bombarded by commercial messages pitching services to protect against identity theft, news that cellphones are keeping tabs on peoples' movements and being asked by cashiers for their phone numbers simply to make a purchase at a grocery or hardware store, it's not too surprising that so many people are vary of Big Business knowing their identity. Nor would it be very surprising if many members of the public look askance at the signage-cellphone link.

No one can be certain if that will be the case. But I think findings like those of the "Digital Future Study" suggest marketers and other communicators responsible for deploying digital signage should think long and hard about the risks and the benefits of adding the ability to link with wireless smartphones before moving forward.

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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Whether it's Sunday night or some other period of time when staffing is at a minimum, digital signage networks should be ready to respond to emergencies with timely warnings.

Twice within the past four months, I have been out of town on business when my general locale came under a Tornado Warning -not a watch, but a warning- issued by the National Weather Service.

For those who don't live in parts of the country where tornados generally occur, the distinction between a watch and warning is the former indicates conditions are favorable to producing a tornado, while the latter means a tornado has been spotted on the ground.

The thing about a Tornado Warning in metro areas is that although sirens will wail to announce the danger, they don't dispense information about where the tornado is located, the track that it is following and other threats that often accompanying tornados, such as the presence of damaging hail. In other words, you know there is danger, but you don't know if you're in the bull's eye or some outer ring on the tornado's target.

Radio and television broadcasters typically fill in the details by telling or showing the public timely information to help them respond appropriately. However, both recent occasions when I encountered a Tornado Warning happened on a Sunday night, a time when many radio stations are playing nationally syndicated programs or automated music playlists and many TV stations are working with a skeleton crew. On both occasions, all stations, save one, were slow to respond with their typically excellent presentation of weather warnings.

Having experienced firsthand a dearth of information in an emergency situation made me think of all the digital signage networks in use that may suffer from their own "Sunday night syndrome."

Please understand, I am using "Sunday night" as a metaphor for whatever day or stretch of time your organization is typically off-duty or understaffed. The day of the week or specific time isn't important, just the fact that your organization is at rest.

Are plans in place to communicate critical emergency information via your digital signage network in a timely fashion during those periods? Sure, most buildings on a college campus may be closed after midnight, but what about the anatomy lab or design studio where students have gathered at the only time they can to study? What about workers on the graveyard shift at the factory? Or for that matter, the drivers on the Interstate like me who see "Click it or Ticket" roadside digital signage messages from the state, but not "Tornado spotted five miles ahead"?

A few helpful questions for managers of digital signage networks to ask include:

* During what periods is our organization at its weakest?

* Do contingency plans exist for emergency communications at off times?

* Have personnel been assigned responsibilities for emergency communications during down times?

* Does the digital signage network allow for control from an off-site Web browser or other remote access to generate and distribute emergency messaging even when no one is present at the operations center?

* Are security methods sufficient to prevent unauthorized remote access to the digital signage network?

While the primary purpose of digital signage networks varies depending on the application, each should share a common role during emergencies: distributing warnings and information that can save lives and minimize the risk of injury. Whether it's Sunday night or some other down time, digital signage network managers should be prepared to do just that.

About the author:
David Little is a charter member of the Digital Screenmedia Association with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. For many more helpful digital signage tips, examples and solutions, keep in touch with Keywest Technology:
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