There is nothing stopping you

Thinking about diversity is often low on the list of business priorities for signage companies, especially where an already healthy business base for traditional products and services keeps them busy. Yet it is key to achieving sustainable business growth in today’s competitive and fast-changing marketplace.

That at least is the opinion of Danny Adamson, group managing director of Stocksigns Group, which is one of the very few suppliers to the UK sign industry that also offers a range of digital signage products and services to our sector.




“Embracing diversity implies a cultural as well as strategic shift: it’s about the way we think, act and innovate,” emphasises Adamson, who adds: “Adopting a broader view will increase your agility, helping not only in weathering change but in proactively adapting to it to evolve your business in the long term.

“Diversifying also offers a way to unlock the potential within existing markets by recognising and responding to emerging customer needs. Moving into digital signage offers a logical next step, with technology advances and lower costs bringing the digital displays within reach for the first time for many traditional signage applications.”

Indeed, digital signage has become one of the fastest growing areas in the signage industry, as the attraction of high resolution displays with full colour graphics that can easily be updated results in new uses. Yet digital technology is not always the first choice on the list of diversity options, despite offering a natural partnership for traditional signage. Often suppliers keen to move forward and struggling to gain a foothold can often be put off by operating out of their comfort zone. Others may struggle to convert opportunities among their existing customers.

Mutual benefit
 
Adamson continues: “Digital signage is still very much an active and growing market and a natural partner for traditional signage, often not so much an ‘either/or’ choice, but a combination of both approaches in providing a solution.

“For those lacking the internal resources and expertise in digital solutions, sourcing LED signs on a third-party basis through a specialist like Messagemaker offers a safe way to fast-track your diversification plans, without the need for additional investment.”

Looking at the firm’s technology, signage suppliers unfamiliar with it can take comfort from the ‘all-in-one’ design of its digital signage products that are destined for everyday applications. Digital LED signs, such as those provided by Messagemaker, are designed to be highly reliable and are supplied with integral software that is easy to programme and intuitive to use. In addition, advice and support is available to suppliers to assist with specification queries and installation queries.

Indeed, resourcing digital solutions through an already established digital signage supplier offers the added benefit of being able to access their in-depth knowledge of potential applications. Helping to identify new opportunities, networking in this way also provides the assurance of technical backup and a consultative approach to product selection and precise installation for larger, more complex bespoke projects.




Adamson concludes: “Equally, where traditional signage is only part of the requirement, being able to offer a total solution enables suppliers to deliver maximum impact cost-effectively through a more holistic approach to customer requirements.

“Helping traditional sign-makers break through the barriers, this route to market offers offer customers more choice, while responding to their changing communications needs in an age where visual expression and interactivity are increasingly the norm.”


These comments from Adamson are very important, as they are part of a wider trend that is seeing digital signage component manufacturers around the world sit up and take notice of the core sign industry as an important part of their horizontal market. Bright Sign is one such firm, and its state-of-the-art digital signage technology can be found around the world.

The firm has built its reputation over the years on the reliability of its products and a robust operating system. Importantly, it offers scalable solutions that can adapt the specifics of each customer’s budget and requirements. Indeed, its chief executive officer Jeff Hastings is clear about just how much of an opportunity there now is for even small sign firms to start offering digital signage as part of their day-to-day offering.

“As the name really implies, digital signage, it really is in some ways no different than the ‘fabricated’ or ‘printed’ signage that they do today,” says Hastings, who adds: “Most ‘traditional’ signage companies certainly have the talent to enter the digital signage arena. They are used to making creative content that goes directly onto a ‘sign’, or they work very closely with agencies creating it. That is all the basic skill set needed to diversify into digital signage. The part that most of them don’t have and are incredibly fearful of is the audio visual (AV) side of it.

“Now, on this element things have improved vastly. It used to be really hard to engage with and understand, and so the key to our success, and why we have built up a good market share in the signage sector, is that we make it incredibly simple.”

What Hastings goes on to explain is that ten years ago, it was almost impossible for those outside the AV industry to specify, install, and set up digital signage. There was so much complex choice and so little integration and standardisation that it was only the bravest who ventured into its murky depths.

Hastings concludes: “Fast-forward to today and you can pretty much buy any of our devices, plug it in to any screen out there and you can drag and drop the content that you were using before for printed or fabricated output, and use it for a digital screen instead. A sign-maker today can literally watch just two or three of our 20-minute tutorial videos and then be able to get a digital sign up and running within an hour.”

Wow factor

So, the digital signage sector has clearly come a long way from its roots in the AV industry, and now clever suppliers are offering ‘in a box’ solutions that can be bought for one and sold for two. So, what about the very top end of the sector?

Holo-Gauze is a revolutionary technology developed by Stuart Warren-Hill for his Holotronica 3D shows, but is now being used worldwide for large scale 2D and 3D AV Hologram effects. Just imagine if you will a full-HD hologram that looks so real that 3D objects appear to float in mid-air or surround a performer. Well that is what world-renowned VJ, audio-visual artist and composer Warren-Hill does.




Based in Bristol, Warren-Hill has its feet firmly planted on the earth however, and regularly works with event organisers, creative agencies, designers, and contractors for live events. What he can offer those engaged in the events and entertainment sector is a real ‘wow’ factor for a creative brief to a client.

“Hologauze uses a unique scrim material, the only one in the world that works with polarised 3D projection systems, and it allows for the creation of visual effects that have not been achievable before,” explains Warren-Hill.

Indeed, imagine you are pitching for the interior and exterior rebrand of a car dealership chain, and as part of your pitch you can offer 3D holograms that showcase the interior working elements of the vehicle floating in the entrance way. Now, if they have the budget, then there is no doubt that they are going to be wowed that you can offer them this as a creative solution for their branding requirements.

Warren-Hill continues: “There is a lot being done to use video projection at the moment, both for large scale events, or for small bespoke projects. Really it is another tool to have an invisible projection surface, and then combining that with our know-how to create some really impressive effects. It’s not just for bands or DJs, it can be used for museums, art installations, retail promotions, and so on. It is very versatile, light-weight, portable, and re-usable—all very important factors when it comes to ease of use and set-up.”



Screen to go faster

So, from projections that can make your wildest fantasy a reality to a more down to earth digital signage solution. One of the key obstacles in any digital signage scheme is choosing the right screen, and it is with that issue in mind that Iiyama has been directing the global sign-making sector to raise awareness of its products and their capabilities. Starting in 1973, Iiyama Electric Co was founded to produce components for colour TV’s, and came a long way by 2002 when it truly broke into the digital signage world with the production of the an 18.1” LCD panel with the slimmest 12mm bezel in the world.

“From day one, the emphasis was not along standard lines of mass production, but rather to apply the human element at all stages of the manufacturing process. This philosophy is still central to everything that Iiyama creates and our research and development is based on the concept of creating user-friendly products,” explains Lewis Clifford, Iiyama UK senior account manager.

O Factoid: In 1994, Iiyama established its sales base in France and opened a new factory in China iiyama (UK), achieving a ten percent market share with its 17” Vision Master product—becoming the first display manufacturer to offer three years on-site standard warranty. O

He adds: “There was a time at every exhibition where you were seeing the very optimum technological advances for retailers to think about. So, at this time about ten years ago the technology was still immature and in development, and so those who were interested in early adoption of digital signage may well have been put off as the technology was glitchy, clunky, or not bang on the point where it needed to be.

“There is still a lot of fear about digital signage, which is unnecessary. All the more so in the face of high-demand from the likes of dental or doctor surgeries, estate agents, office buildings, and so on that want entry-way digital signage to inform or advertise their full services. And it is absolutely achievable, you can run our screens from media players and create the content yourself.




“For those businesses that are just thinking about getting into this sector, then there are even simpler options we offer, like systems that offer USB media playback on an LCD screen. But then you can go up to that next level with us and we can assist customers to really walk them through what they are going to need, and what application will fit the needs of their customer best.”

Clifford concludes: “The route for your average sign-maker to offering digital signage to their customers is now clear and direct. A key piece of advice though is that it needs to be seen to be understood, and so we encourage sign-makers to create simple demo-suites of the technology they think will be relevant to what their customers want so they can walk them through it.”

Brave new world

So, the final piece of this jigsaw puzzle now that we have covered options for media players, holographic projection, and screens is of course interactive technology. A recently launched player in this field, that builds on a strong legacy in capacitive touch technology, is Seloy Live, which offers digital signage that makes use of glass surfaces to distribute its content.

The firm is a spin-off of sister company, Seloy Oy, which is one of the largest manufacturers of glass elements in Finland and a pioneer in manufacturing insulating glass units with decades of know-how in glass, windows, and their derivative products. What is really clever about Seloy’s products is that they work to create a real ‘wow’ factor, and yet also provide the concrete task of displaying creative content, advertising, wayfinding information, or just as a brand awareness tool.

“Our patented pending technology uses two panes of glass, within which is embedded projection foils. Its key strength is that provides a real differentiator for businesses such as retail outlets, because it stops consumers in their tracks and attracts them to engage and interact with what initially just look like glass panels,” explains Kai
Kunnasmaa, chief executive officer of Seyloy Live.




He continues: “Traditionally I see companies like Clear Channel and JCDecaux using static digital posters, very few of which offer interactivity. This is because the model doesn’t yet suit a consumer standing in front of a display blocking the view to it from passers-by. But I see that changing, as more and more they are perceiving interactivity as of real interest to improve the return-on-investment of their customers.”
 
Kunnasmaa adds: “As proven by the new generation of consumers that expect interactivity from digital devices, it is no longer good enough to offer static digital posters that are not reactive to the consumer’s specific needs. In terms of its relevance to the sign-making industry, our products have not come through a traditional AV route to market. Rather, it is simply a solution to creating a ‘wow effect’ for interior branding and signage projects that require something high-impact, creative, and unique. We believe our products will give industries such as yours the ability to win contracts, because it allows them to offer something their clients will not be expecting—yet could make a real difference to their business.”

Currently, Seloy’s products are broken down into Sense, a customised and transparent ‘wow-enabling’ glass surface with projection and interactivity. Scene offers only projection without interactivity, for instance having a portion of the mirrors in a hairdressers’ turning into video screens. Shade offers a transparent adaptive glass surface especially for meeting room walls with projection and interactivity as an option. And finally, Shine is a customised half-mirrored glass surface with interactivity as an option.



So, with all that information and advice now spinning around your head, my last most important point is this: moving into digital signage will help you avoid ‘Blockbuster’ syndrome. In short, once a mighty king of the video rental industry, what Blockbuster forgot was that their product was not a film in a box and some upsold chocolate peanuts, but actually a relaxed and entertaining night at home in front of the TV. By focusing on the means of delivery, rather than product, they collapsed in spectacular fashion in the face of internet film streaming.

Today sign-makers need to make the same transition of realising their ‘product’ is not just a built-up letter, flex face sign, printed banner, or wayfinding totem, but translating a customer’s objectives into physical communication with their target market. Digital signage is one of the solutions, and an important one, that can help you achieve this.

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