Lights, camera…

It is February, and in the world of media that means only one thing. The Oscars. Every year hundreds of actors, directors, and producers descend on Hollywood Boulevard to celebrate the best cinema the past twelve months had to offer, creating the biggest media storm of the calendar year. And amidst this year’s controversies and intrigues (will Leo finally win that Oscar?), the Academy Awards are still a testament to the enduring power of the big screen.

Indeed, ever since the first motion pictures appeared over a century ago, people have been captivated by the digital image. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a sequence of moving pictures is equivalent to an epic novel. This is not a concept lost on advertisers, and digital commercials and ads are top of many companies marketing wish lists
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And this is not restricted to the big (or small) screen. As well as film and television advertising, digital signage is a core part of many marketing campaigns, and represents a great opportunity for those sign-makers willing to roll out the red carpet for this potential new revenue stream.

Take one

Of course, as any producer will tell you, blockbusters are not made overnight: branching into digital signage will take time and investment, but the rewards could be well worth the effort. In fact, according to one industry insider, the first and toughest hurdle to overcome is simply being determined enough to take the first step.
 
Janice Fairfield, marketing director of Fairfield Displays, argues that the main challenge when it comes to breaking into digital signage is just making that initial decision to learn about what is on the market and how to compete.

She continues: “This may seem like a simple statement, but the best way to overcome this is to speak to a company who will literally take you through the selling process, and then keep you up to date with the latest developments.


 
“Fairfield Displays can provide full training and frequently run seminars on how to sell and use digital signage. It is just not practical to create your own digital screens in house. The large manufacturers like Samsung have created huge ranges of screens at different brightness levels and, from my experience, every customer wants something slightly different. It is the way that you package everything together is the important factor.”


The notion that one of the greatest challenges facing those interested in selling digital signage is actually one of confidence is supported by Richard Westhead, managing director of One Digital Solutions, a manufacturer of Elonex Android-powered digital signage displays.

He comments: “It is easy to lack confidence in understanding the products, as digital signage has a such vast range of solutions. Many also fear that it will change their business model and that they will be left behind, which simply isn’t true: lots of digital signage requires print so it’s more of a merger of the two— digital meets print.

Finding a good supplier is also undoubtedly a challenge, with so many foreign manufacturers trying to sell directly into the UK market with inferior products.”


Westhead does acknowledge that there will be a period of transition from print to digital, requiring investment and time to understand the market. Yet with 15 years’ experience in the digital signage industry, he suggests One Digital Solutions is perfectly placed to offer sign-makers a wealth of knowledge and guidance: “We are looking to engage with sign-makers and large-format printers to encourage them to buy and sell our products to their customers. There is a high demand for digital displays from their customers already so we see the opportunity to provide our products, and combine them with traditional print.”



Westhead continues: “All our products are simple and easy to set up, they come cloud network ready straight out of the box and can be configured within minutes just like a new tablet or phone. One Digital Solutions is an OEM Manufacture and has been now for over four years. The benefits of working directly with us is that we understand the end-user market place extremely well. We sell internationally with distributors in places like Australia, Germany and Dubai, so our specialist-projects team regularly develops bespoke products for large projects, many leading to mass production in our China factories. Much of our product range is far more advanced than the competition, and understanding both the European market and China gives us a distinct advantage.”

Westhead goes on to describe the firm’s product range, including a large range of digital signage and POS/display solutions: “Our product range is called ‘Elonex’ Digital Signage: Elonex is a long standing, 30-year-old electronics brand, so it’s well known in the market place and trusted. One Digital Solutions UK and One Digital Solutions B.V (our Netherlands office) will launch a new fourth generation product range officially at ISE Amsterdam.

“Digital Signage and display evolves all the time. One Digital Solutions and Elonex will always be two to three years ahead of the demand. So much of what you see today in our product range has taken three years to come to market: these were our visions back in 2013.”

…action!

One firm that overcame the barriers of the market and delved into digital is Assigns. Managing director Danny Chard explains that, while initially feeling a little daunted about the prospect of digital signage, the opportunity it presented became too great to resist.

He comments: “Established in the year 2000, Assigns has been a key supplier in the poster display industry for the past 15 years, with our extensive range of high quality pavement and forecourt signs, poster frames, chalkboard products, and lightboxes. As a company, we had always steered away from offering digital displays due to their complexity and technical requirements. However, as the digital display market developed we realised that there might be a section of our client base who would really like the ‘moving images’ nature of digital displays, but did not necessarily have the financial means or technical know-how to implement them in their stores.
 
“That’s what makes our HD LCD Digital Advertising Displays such a good fit; their simplicity and build quality makes them an obvious extension to our core product range and absolutely perfect for displaying posters, albeit digital versions…think of them as simply lightboxes that can display lots of different images and information throughout the day, rather than just the one poster all day long.”



Indeed, ‘ease-of-use’ seems to be Assigns’ mantra when it comes to the digital signage it supplies. Chard continues: “The digital signage market is full of companies who will sell you a series of screens, but then charge ongoing costs for software licences, maintenance, and network support—and that doesn’t even take into account the initial investment of setting the system up.

“Our HD LCD Digital Advertising Displays have simple plug-and-play functionality and can be updated by simply connecting a USB pen drive. The built in media player does the rest, wiping the previous playlist and automatically uploading the new one. And all of this can be put together and scheduled using the free editing software on any desktop or laptop PC, meaning it is simple to create and update playlists without the need for IT specialists, programmers, tech support or any other ongoing costs.”



Since Assigns took that leap into the world of digital it has not looked back. Chard states that the firm has seen strong trading over the past few years, adding: “Our products have outstanding life expectancies, making them great long term investments. We are constantly working to improve them and streamline our manufacturing processes to enable us to continue to offer the best possible quality products at the most competitive prices. We also have a strong research and development focus and have several exciting new products in development. We believe that digital display screens will continue to prove popular for us, and will continue to be a key section of our ever-expanding product range.”

O Factoid: In digital cinema, resolutions are represented by the horizontal pixel count, usually 2K (2048 × 1080 or 2.2 megapixels) or 4K (4096 × 2160 or 8.8 megapixels) O

Another firm more than willing to declare its faith in digital signage is Digital Media Systems. Avtar Singh, managing director, tells us that the uptake for outdoor weather and vandal proof Square View products is proving particularly strong, especially in the retail and city centre ‘info point’ arena.

Singh continues: “All our outdoor products are hand made to order within Europe to the exact requirements of the customer. The Square View software used to drive our digital signage networks is also designed in the UK and written in Europe too. This allows us to have control of the quality and deliver exactly what is expected by the customer.”

Singh goes on to say that understanding accurately what the customer requires, now and in the future, and ensuring that the project reflects the expectations is the core challenge of providing digital signage. The firm has certainly had some high-profile customers to impress. One such client was Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Digital Media Systems were charged with the removal of existing monolith poster signs, and the installation and commission of two new 65" Double Sided Digital Outdoor Totems, to make it quick and easy to update content.



David Bonney, building conservation and engineering manager at Wales Millennium Centre, comments on the project, explaining just how valuable well managed product and service delivery in this area can be: “It was absolutely precise, in terms of cost, timing, and hassle-free installation. The finished signs are far more impressive than any brochure photographs. The advice given was also honest and unbiased. We found Digital Media Systems very easy to deal with and they were very professional throughout the whole of the project lifecycle. We would certainly use their services again in the future and they are now an approved supplier to Wales Millennium Centre and we are proud to be associated with their business.”




Roll the credits

So what is the future of the digital signage sector, and is it still worth investing the time and money to get a slice of the market? Unsurprisingly, the answer from these contributors is a resounding ‘yes’.
 
Fairfield suggests sunlight readable screens will be one of the biggest growth areas during 2016, linked perhaps with touchscreen technology. In the future she also believes screens are going to involve a great deal of customer interaction, they will not just be something that is hung on the wall.
 
Digital Media Systems also insists its digital signage is already ‘futuristic’, targeted, with proximity-based marketing and messages based on the demographics of the consumer.

So, with that in mind there is no doubt that technology is always improving, and as the options become wider and the solutions smarter, clients are going to be looking for evermore eye-catching and innovative ways to market their products. Digital signage is of course going to be a crucial element in this arena, as we venture onwards into the increasingly high-tech future.


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