Digital Signage and the Traditional Signage Industry
17th February 2016 - 11:06
We were recently asked for comment by a trade journal:
Digital signage has not been the cash cow for the traditional sign industry that many thought it would be. Why is this and what opportunities are on offer to sign-makers in this sector?
In essence, I think it is comfort zones. The traditional signage industry has an awful lot of skills, such as colour control, and their technical or design skills are not under question but by being digital, digital signage is a much faster moving environment with very differing needs and expectations from its users.
If you look at a council, when they refurbish or open up new libraries and bus stations they will be full of traditional signage but they will also be utilising digital signage, not as a replacement for traditional signage, but to add to the customer experience. If the council ask me about having traditional signage on the walls, I would not know where to begin, because we just do not play that game. On the digital signage side, when we are handling all the scheduling and real-time data coming in from the transport systems and combining it with their day-to-day messaging needs, that is where our comfort zone is.
The differences between traditional and digital signage highlight why digital signage is has not been a cash cow for the traditional signage industry. The product and business processes are very different, with each side lacking strong skills in required areas.
The overlap between the businesses an opportunity where we can partner with these organisations and share resources is on the architectural side of things, as well as marketing, sales, design, and physical installation.
We have developed a software platform that addresses the many faces of digital signage. For example, a rapidly expanding area handles things like delegate management and dynamic wayfinding. With a hotel or conference centre, we can give them the edge that when they start booking in customers, the digital signage can detect and react to their expected arrival prior to the person setting foot in the building. At concierge, dynamic wayfinding can then welcome them and direct them all the way to their room.
Digital signage is a young industry that is still rapidly developing to meet more customer needs, a big part of being successful is being able to rapidly meet and exceed those needs.
We have been in AV and multimedia since it started, we have good customers and are not out there as an aggressive sales company. We are technically astute and like to keep ahead of the curve. One of our strengths is that we recognise our weaknesses and I think we hit above our weight.
Dsign will be able to assist you in working out which solutions will be best for you. Whether you want flexibility with your themes or you want to be able to control the messages being put on your screens, call us to have a discussion about your requirements.
We have provided digital signage solutions to many different companies for their events in the past, and will be willing to use our expertise to help you get the best out of your conference.