Seenspire is a European firm that specializes in developing attention-grabbing, and high-impact digital signage content.  The company already offered some really good digital signage content but this new product takes them in a whole new direction.  The Seenspire Social Media wall fills in a gap that has been underserved in the marketplace.

For example, most CMS software vendors and paid content providers offer varying levels of support for social media content.  Some products will let you display social media content from specific sources but you can’t preview or curate the content.  This is why Seenspire created a new product that includes professionally designed layouts, a preview feature, and a sophisticated content curation system.  You can apply a range of filters to any social media feed, then curate the content yourself or let the Seenspire social media system filter the content based on your parameters.

You can filter social media posts based on hashtags, or pick from a range of options to ensure only approved content gets displayed on your screens.  This content plays well with most CMS products out there and the solution can even be used on its own, assuming your’re only publishing social media feeds on your screens.  It’s not a total replacement for a good CMS product, but it offers enough features you could use it on it’s own with a full screen browser.

It’s a great solution for retail stores, hospitality, social events and trade shows.  Social media is a hot trend right now so anyone looking for engaging and relevant content should check it out!

Seenspire Traditional Digital Signage Paid Content

HP has recently announced a new Xeon-powered mini-PC that may be attractive to folks deploying digital signage for multi-screen menu boards.  The company refers to the new PC as a mini workstation with Intel Xeon CPU and NVIDIA Quadro graphics card.

HP mini-workstation

The case measures only 2.3 inches tall, making it easily mountable behind a display.  The unit features a custom cooling system that is said to be 63 percent quieter than HP’s current business-class mini PCs.  These are interesting specs for anyone considering a solid digital signage PC.

You will be able to order one with a lower-class CPU, like an Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 and different RAM and SSD storage combinations depending on your needs.  Prices are said to start around $700 USD and ramp up depending on the configuration.

This small form factor PC may offer a really good alternative to many industrial PC brands that have been active in the digital signage market.  It’s hard not to ignore HP’s support and service infrastructure when you’re planning a national deployment.  It will be interesting to see if HP can make inroads into this market.

Click here for the full engadget review.

This Hour has 22 Minutes is a popular comedy show on the CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster.  The show likes to poke fun at politics, current events, and pretty well everything else.  In this clip, the show takes aim at Tim Horton’s digital menu boards.  The clip was posted originally on the program’s Facebook page (see below screen capture – couldn’t find a direct link to the file).

We’ve all seen menu boards that rotate their content too quickly for anyone to read anything.  I saw something similar recently in a Burger King that was swapping out their English and French menus so quickly that you couldn’t read everything.  It’s frustrating and illustrates some of the issues QSR operators face when deploying digital signage.

Well done guys!

This morning my inbox delivered news that Stratacache has acquired Scala.  This is certainly good news to many Scala users who saw the company struggle in the last few years.

This announcement isn’t a total surprise.  Scala’s declining trade show participation in recent years and the recent departure of key executives seemed to indicate something was coming.

Stratacache has been on a roll lately and this acquisition will help propel them even higher.  Stratacache gets access to Scala’s IP and distribution channels which will certainly help their bottom line. Will the Scala brand continue to exist as a subsidiary and left to do their own thing or will their products simply get rebranded and folded into Stratacache’s own product lines?

Scala has a fiercely loyal following so it will be interesting to see if Stratacache decides to maintain the brand or replace it entirely.  There are lots of folks who have built their business on Scala who would be really unhappy to see the product go away… (will Scala scripting become a “lost art”?)

It’s too early to speculate on how this will all play out but the Scala brand is still respected by many so it would be a shame to see it disappear.

Industry observers have been speculating for years about an impending digital signage market consolidation.  Who knows?  Maybe this is the beginning…

Before the internet, “bricks and mortar” stores used outdoor and indoor printed signs to connect with customers.

Eventually new technologies emerged like e-commerce, smartphones and tablets bringing with them new challenges.

For example, retailers soon discovered shoppers were using their smartphones for “showrooming”.  This is when customers compare local store prices with a physical or online competitor using their smartphones.  Showrooming has had a big impact on sales and it’s helped large online retailers grow at the expense of physical stores.  This lead retailers to develop point of purchase (POP) strategies that use digital signage displays, QR Codes and beacons to deliver information, promotions and coupons.   Since these strategies rely on multiple communications channels we ended up with the term “omnichannel” which is now commonly used in the industry.

A well developed omnichannel strategy leverages technology and data to retain and grow sales in highly competitive retail environments.  Physical store assortments are expanded online through the retailer’s own e-commerce site. This way they can compete with online retailers through instant price matching, special offers, better stocking levels and enhanced customer experiences.

Large retailers have had excellent results using this approach and many have seen significant sales increases as a direct result of their omnichannel campaigns.

As with everything else, technology costs keep coming down making omnichannel strategies available to small local retail chains and today, even single store operators can take advantage of omnichannel marketing.

Where does digital signage fit in?

Digital signage displays are a crucial component of any omnichannel strategy.  With digital signage, retailers can change their message according to the time of day, day of the week or any other criteria.  They bring ads to shoppers according to their profiles and shopping habits.

Advertising campaigns can be programmed months in advance and delivered at exactly the right time.  Ads that expire are automatically removed so there are less risks of markdowns due to pricing errors.

Many digital signage solutions can be linked with Point of Sale (POS) systems to ensure prices and product descriptions are always accurate.  This aspect of digital signage has been extremely useful for national retail chains who operate in multiple jurisdictions and face complex competitive environment.  Digital signage can vary the content according to price zones, local language, currency and many other criteria simplifying campaign management and ensuring better results.

Digital signage software and media players can be interfaced with beacons to connect with smartphone users and deliver coupons and special offers.  Smaller retail operators can achieve similar results by displaying QR Codes on their digital signage displays.  Shoppers who scan the codes with their phones are delivered an online coupon, barcode or other content that can be redeemed at the register.

Wayfinding is emerging as another aspect of omnichannel marketing.  Touchscreens and interactive kiosks strategically located within larger stores become another advertising and marketing support platform.  Touchscreens can deliver advertising when not used for wayfinding and the underlying technology can act as another communication point for beacons.

The future of omnichannel

Smartphones are set to play an ever greater role in retail.  They are poised to replace cash and credit cards as the preferred method of payment at many retail locations.  Think of Apple Pay and Android Pay which are expanding globally with eventual competition from well established online payment giants (PayPal).

Smartphone data speeds are set to increase significantly with the announcement of 5G data in the US this week.  Faster speeds mean that more content will be consumed by smartphones.  Not just more video but more images and web pages.

When this happens, look for digital signage technologies to start targeting smartphones as another point of display.  Digital signage will deliver retailer generated content directly to customers who sign in through a loyalty plan or other subscription method.  It’s a logical evolution.  The digital signage CMS is already used to manage and create original content for connected screens.  Smartphones simply offer a new screen on which to deliver all this media.

Unless some other form of personal communication platform emerges, you can bet omnichannel marketing will become more reliant on digital signage going forward.

I’ve been doing a lot of digital menu board work lately and I wanted to pass along a few tips and suggestions that will help take your menus to the next level.  Note that most of the information in this article will apply to most types of digital signage CMS products unless indicated.

1. If you plan to reuse any existing creative elements (photoshop / illustrator files for example), remember to re-size your graphics to fit the screen resolution.  Most print files are created at larger sizes and at higher resolutions than what your typical flat-screen can display.  Your media player hardware may be able to resize the content on the fly but this puts more stress on your hardware and may cause some reliability issues.  There is no reason to push huge files if your media player hardware and displays only support 720p.  Also, smaller resolutions means your content files will be smaller so you will use less storage space and your uploads and downloads will be quicker.

   

2. Speaking of content, make sure your product photography is of adequate quality.  You don’t have to hire a professional photographer but don’t use shots taken with your smartphone either.   If you don’t currently have good images from your print material, consider purchasing some royalty-free images from one of the many online sources like Shutterstock, Istockphoto or Adobe Stock.  These are some of the best sources of quality images and videos for commercial use.

   

3. If you are planning to install more than one screen for your menu board, consider PCs equipped with video cards that support multiple screens and a CMS solution that lets you push individual content on each screen.  This can mean a higher initial hardware cost but most multi-screen capable CMS solutions will let you use a single player licence per player device (not per screen).  Of course, you could also use SoC (or “system on a chip”) equipped commercial displays or purchase small Android / Chromebox based media players.  This would be cheaper than a multi-screen PC you may increase your software cost significantly since each media player will require its own software licence.  As a rule, multi-screen PCs are really more cost effective for menu board applications over time.

   

4. If you usually perform annual or bi-annual price / product changes, you can get away with using menus entirely produced in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel Draw or any other graphics software of your choice.  The upshot is that most graphics designers are familiar with these products so it’s easy to re-purpose existing assets and optimize the content for digital signage delivery so your content development costs will be minimal.  However, anyone who updates content periodically should consider CMS products that support external data sources.  These are software applications that can bring in data from point-of-sale systems or databases instead of embedding the information in your graphics.  In fact, all the graphical elements can be rendered on the background layer while item description and pricing are overlaid on top.  This way updates can be made at any time without the need to edit any graphics.  This can also be very useful if you have a multi outlet chain where pricing may change between locations due to competitive pressures.

   

5. Many restaurants rotate menus based on the time of day.  Often daily specials are introduced at various times of the day so it’s important to find a CMS that lets you easily set start and end times for each menu.  This way you can show the breakfast menu until 11:30 and then switch to the lunch menu automatically.

   Some stores like to rotate menus constantly and when this happens, it’s important to leave each menu on screen for a sufficiently long time so customers can make their choices.  Nothing is more frustrating than a menu that “flips” every few seconds.

   

6. You can be more creative with digital signage than with print so think outside the box.  If you install a row of screens, you can treat them all as one big canvas with content flowing from one screen into the others.  Experiment with motion graphics and video backgrounds.  Split some screens up into smaller zones to present content in new and innovative ways.  If you go through the trouble of purchasing and installing a digital signage system, you might as well exploit all of its capabilities.

   

7. Don’t overload your screens with too much text and graphics.  Use proven design rules as you would for any other signage.  Make sure your text is legible and that fonts are set at a point size that is readable from the viewer’s vantage point.  Use contrasting colors.  Don’t overwhelm viewers.

   

8. If you plan to use video in your menu boards, ensure your media player hardware and software will be able to play the content reliably and smoothly.  Properly encode your videos so you don’t have any problems.  This way you won’t see any stuttering or artifacts while the content is playing.  Purchase good quality royalty-free video content or hire an experienced video expert who can produce quality content at the proper bit rate.

   

9. You may be interested in using consumer grade “smart TVs” if you have a small budget but this is often the wrong choice because using consumer grade equipment is fraught with problems.  The TV manufacturer’s software may not have the features you need or may not support the content that you have.  Pick a CMS solution and hardware components that will be adequate for the job. Remember that commercial applications require commercial grade hardware and software designed for these requirements: reliable 24/7 playback, remote management, wide content support, scheduling and programming capabilities, device remote control and a commercial warranty with on-site support.  You simply won’t find these features with consumer grade equipment.

If I go by the traffic that we saw at the Navori booth, this year’s digital signage expo was another big success.  I noticed there were more hardware integrators and LED billboard operators than I have ever seen in past shows.  Lots of smart questions too.  It’s a sign the industry is maturing and folks are better informed than ever before.

Navori was showing off it’s newest Android player and we talked about the next version of the QL Manager software which will be delivered in HTML5 later this May.  QL is a mature software platform so I’m expecting to see the same, easy to use user interface as we currently have now.  The big advantage will be not having to rely on Microsoft Silverlight which is now only supported by Internet Explorer and Firefox.  Switching to HTML5 will mean we can now use any browser on any platform.

I had the chance to do a couple of quick video interviews with the folks at RAVE (not looking to quit my day job anytime soon…):

https://youtu.be/Y-61RGxZQxg

https://youtu.be/8Bt6dZKH15I

I didn’t have a lot of time to check out the rest of the show but what I saw looked pretty similar to last year.  A few of the big software companies were missing from the floor (talking about you, Google) but I’m told they had booked meeting rooms instead.  I guess it beats having to pay for a booth and everything that goes with it.

Next year, DSE moves to a different hall and the show will take place later in March (29-30).

DSE is a “must see” if you’re new to the business or just thinking of deploying a digital signage network.  It’s one of the few opportunities you will have to meet all the major software and hardware folks in one location.  Vegas is the perfect venue for this show with its huge LED billboards on the strip, casino wayfinding kiosks and airport video walls.  You won’t find a better showcase for digital signage technologies.

I’m already looking forward to next year!

Navori Labs just announced a new partnership with NanoLumens.  These types of partnerships make a lot of sense as the scale and complexity of digital signage and DOOH projects increases.

NanoLumens is a well known brand in the digital signage industry.  The company has delivered several breakthroughs in LED display technologies, such as flexible LED displays that can be used in curved installations.

Navori Labs’ strength lies in reliable and high performance digital signage software that can support a wide range of screen layouts and resolutions.  Marrying both product ranges will make for a strong contender in the DOOH marketplace.

The goal is to improve on the entire software/hardware purchasing and delivery process.

Click this link to jump to the official press release.

Would anyone want to be subjected to this eyesore?

It seems like our industry is constantly looking at new places where we can stick a digital sign or billboard.  While I welcome screens in elevators, restaurants and public spaces I get a bit annoyed when someone tries to circumvent local regulations to stick a large LED billboard or sign where it doesn’t belong.

Case in point, this week’s CBC report of someone parading a 12-meter LED billboard along the Vancouver waterfront.  Seems the vessel on which the billboard is attached to has since been impounded by Transport Canada pending an investigation to ensure it meets all required marine regulations.  This means Vancouverites may yet be subjected to the floating billboard once the vessel gets cleared by the authorities.

It’s stunts like these that give the digital signage and DOOH industries a bad name.  Vancouver has strict signage laws in place, not unlike many other large cities around the globe.  If we’re not careful, law makers will use these extreme examples to restrict some of the more mainstream and useful digital signage installations.

While many cities have very restrictive regulations, others are much more permissive (I’m talking about you, Las Vegas!).  But Vancouver isn’t Las Vegas so it’s important to keep in mind all local regulations before launching your next “big idea”.

I just shake my head when I hear stories of someone putting LED signs on boats, on top of luxury cars or other crazy stunt.  I can’t help but wonder how this will impact our industry.  It’s one thing to be creative but there has to be a point where common sense kicks in.

The Seneca HD Media Player can be ordered with Navori QL software re-installed and ready to go.

Navori Labs has recently announced a partnership with Seneca to bundle the company’s QL Player software with Seneca’s industrial grade media players.  This agreement will see Seneca deliver a turnkey experience for ease of installation and simplified maintenance.  Navori Labs customers will be able to choose which version of the Navori QL software to pre-load (QL Express and QL Professional are both supported).

This is great news for AV integrators and corporate customers who can all benefit from Navori certified hardware for their deployments.

The Seneca HD Media Player offers significant improvements over similar products such as:

• 100% solid state, fanless design
• Internal power supply (no external power bricks!)
• Triple display support out of the box
• Locking Mini DisplayPort outputs
• 5th Generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processors with Intel HD Graphics 5500 video
• Supports 4K display resolutions

The QL Player software activation only takes a few seconds which really helps speed up installations.

This is an ideal product for digital menus, information boards and other multi-screen commercial applications.  The fanless design is especially useful for installation in harsh environments since there are no moving parts to gum up and jam.  The internal power supply is also a nice touch as it’s one less component hanging outside the case.  This just makes for tidier installations and increases overall reliability.

Looking forward to seeing the Seneca players in action at DSE Las Vegas.