Welcome to the future



Brendan Perring talks to 

Mark Pigou, event

director of Screenmedia

Expo, about the

evolution of digital signage and whether those sign-makers not

involved in the sector are missing a trick


Having been there at ground level, so to speak, how have you seen digital signage technology evolve?

The technology has evolved in parallel with the business models and communications strategies of digital signage users. The basic technology of getting a video signal onto a screen at a predetermined time is not all that complicated of course, but where we have seen a lot of development over the last years is in the other capabilities that make digital signage more than just a moving sign. These include audience metrics, facial recognition of viewers—to match the message to its recipient— integration with other business systems, such as databases or point-of-sale systems, and most recently the explosion of interest in connecting digital signage with mobile handsets and social media.

What are the most important trends to have come out of this evolution for the UK sign industry?

The single most important consideration from the sign industry’s point of view must be that digital is no longer marginal or experimental—organisations of every size are using digital signage now and the public no longer sees it as something remarkable or futuristic. It’s here to stay. This means that companies in the sign industry can now be confident that an investment in digital signage —not just financial, but in terms of the learning curve too—is going to deliver a pay-off. The static sign isn’t going to disappear for a very long time but the ability to supply both static and digital, integrated to complement one another and maximise the effectiveness of both, will be a significant competitive edge for any sign-maker.

What is in it for those visiting next year's Screenmedia Expo?

The event offers different benefits for businesses at different stages in their involvement with digital signage. For those just exploring the idea, it’s a chance to actually see a lot of different digital signage systems up and running— always more informative than just reading about them or watching a video, and a great time-saver too. You could see dozens of applications in half a day at Screenmedia Expo, something that would take you several days and a great deal of travel otherwise.

Then, for those ready to make an investment in digital signage, the Expo is of course the place to talk directly to suppliers. Again, it’s a highly efficient way of investigating the options on offer, with all the major suppliers gathered together in one place.

Finally, both for novices and for the more knowledgeable, the free learning programme offers a chance to gain insight from other users and specialists in the sector who’ve already been where you’re hoping to go.

Do you think some sign-makers are missing a trick by not investigating digital signage?

There’s certainly a lot of scope for the sign-making community to become more involved, especially at the lower end of the market where installations tend to be, literally, ‘digital signs’ rather than private TV channels. So far the technology side of the digital signage sector has been led largely by the AV people and, more recently, by firms with an advertising or marketing perspective. But the sign-making industry has an extensive client base to be developed—and, let’s not forget, the ability to offer digital as part of a mixed digital or static solution where that’s appropriate.

Do you think the development of software solutions for digital signage has reached a ceiling?

Absolutely not. The basics may be pretty well covered but there is still much space for innovation. A great deal of attention here has been given to the three-way integration of digital signage with smartphones and with social media, and I have no doubt we’ll see more and more clever approaches to that.

The challenge isn’t so much technical, as exploiting the combination of communications channels to deliver something that benefits both the consumer and the business—not always as easy as it sounds. But there’s also much more that can be done in connecting digital signage to other business systems. Some of the ideas here are very creative, for example, a digital signage system that gives the public directions around a large building such as an airport or a shopping centre can be tied into facility management systems so that it ‘knows’ about maintenance work on elevators and escalators, cleaning schedules and can redirect people to avoid areas that are temporarily closed. That’s where digital signage really scores over static signage—intelligence.