I get to spend a lot of time with customers around the world and must express their needs to the developers who write our software to power various digital signage networks. So some of the challenges that we face will also resonate across the industry. Case in point: I was at the KioskCom Show in New York a couple of weeks ago and shared a stage with Stephen Ghigliotty for one of their Tech Talks. Stephen has extensive experience in ad based networks and has worked with many digital signage platforms. He recently re-launched his company, Screen Vox (www.screenvox.com), to help advertisers develop content and content strategies for digital signage networks. When Stephen was at Artisan Live, he produced a very successful digital campaign for Interac through a network aggregator. In order to ensure a successful campaign, Stephen wanted to optimize his content for the location and network. He asked for specifications such as screen resolution and location for each of the networks to make sure that the content he generated would not be stretched or distorted and to ensure it would be relevant to the location. To his surprise, no one had ever asked for this kind of detail about the networks running their content.
This really makes me wonder if the people placing ads on these networks are paying much attention to them. How much more effective would these networks be if the content creators designed their content around each screen? If all networks are not equal, how does an aggregator manage customer expectations and how credible are proof of play logs? Call me crazy but I don’t think a poor presentation of your message should count the same as a good one. So your ad purchase is only as good as the weakest link in the network and there are lots of operators who focus on the initial cost of the network ignoring ongoing operating cost or the quality of the product. This has got to change, but will only happen when the purchasers of the service set performance standards on the networks they operate on.
There are people trying to establish standards for digital signage software right now and although well intentioned, that doesn’t solve the problem. The installed base of screens are in multiple resolutions, various qualities of screens and rarely are they location specific. A 16:9 ceiling mounted display will not appear the same as a 4:3 checkout display. Content developed for a 1280x768 screen (or lower) might look pixilated on a 1080i display, which reflects poorly on the advertiser’s brand. Right now it’s a case of buyer beware, but few buyers are as educated as Stephen.
As President of Omnivex Corporation, Jeff Collard (collard@omnivex.com) leads Omnivex’s sales and marketing activities as well as relationships with its business partners. Jeff holds a degree in Engineering, has authored numerous articles on digital signage and travels extensively throughout the world speaking at industry seminars.