Have you noticed some innovations over the last few years when you walk into businesses or corporate buildings? Take junk food outlets to Illustrate, most of the signs are digital and show off the most up-to-date value dinners or animations on why their meals are so tasty and the price is fantastic. Or enter a clothes retailer and you’ll see plasma Tvs showing the most up-to-date fashion statements. Even places like the airport or the DMV are utilizing digital technology to keep customers informed with interactive screens. Welcome to the field of digital signage.
In a nutshell, digital signage is an electronic digital display that shows various info, public interest messages, and advertising. These digital screens can be utilized on LCDs, plasma screens, or on digital boards that use low power LEDs.
So what is their intention and why use them? Well, before digital signage, retailers, establishments, and other parties only had a static solution, signs that couldn’t change without some measure of effort. For example, fast food restaurants used letter planks on their tall signs that would publicize their latest value dinner or big sale. To change the sign, someone would need to drag a ladder out, climb up and change the lettering for the following ad campaign by hand. If you go to any fast food restaurant now, you are likely to see digital signage. Digital signage saves a lot of time and funds for advertisers. For that same eating house that used to experience a static sign and the diligence that went with it, now changing digital signage for the most up-to-date ad campaign takes a fraction of the time with a few keystrokes or upload of the adverting content.
There are a variety of uses and applications where digital signage can be found. Advertising is a big market for digital signage in Los Angeles because its use is so simple. Also referred to as digital merchandising and captive audience networks, digital signage has the capability to be changed on the fly to be geared for the right group. Perhaps a restaurant will have digital signage that displays breakfast specials early in the day. That same eating house can then rapidly change its digital signage to display the day’s lunch specials as it gets closer to noon.
Digital signage also can be called screen media or digital out-of-home and can also be helpful for brand building and influencing customer behaviors. Grocery stores may make use of digital signage in food isles to display animations of kid’s favorite characters to influence the buying of a certain brand.
Besides advertisement and entertainment, digital signage can also be employed for passing along details. Digital signage can be seen around the city, displaying the local news, weather, or calendar of community occasions. Companies may make use of digital signage to display corporate messages, health and safety info, and other news. Even public places can use digital signage with interactivity screens to help people see directions or how to perform certain projects.
As technology continues to improve and more and greater numbers of people become aware of digital signage, its potential to enhance our lifetimes seems almost wide open.