Digital Signage Spot Blog: Digital Signage Tips

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Digital Signage Tips

August 10, 2012

Weekly Spot - August 10

This week’s media stories include Retail TouchPoints’ takeaways from their recently concluded webinar on mobile POS and TechDecisions’ tips on setting up digital signage teams. Hope you enjoy reading these stories along with a great visual on some digital displays surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Mobile POS Tipping Point

Retail TouchPoints discusses key points reviewed in their recent webinar on leveraging mobile POS.

Putting the Digital Signage Team Together

Setting up a team for digital signage initiatives can be difficult. This article examines the key players every digital signage team should have.

Lightning Bolt Strikes Ocean Screens

This post shows some dynamic digital signage surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Have a great weekend!

Stacey Schwind, Marketing Manager US, Scala

August 10, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 03, 2012

Weekly Spot - August 3

This week’s Scala media stories include tips for retailers by our expert Marcy Patzer on getting started with digital signage and a profile on an LED digital signage installation at Naples airport. Hope you enjoy reading these stories along with an article on mobile checkouts.

Five Tips for Introducing Digital Signage to Your Retail Business

Scala’s retail expert Marcy Patzer provides five tips to retailers for effectively integrating digital signage.

Scala Runs LED Video Walls for 5.7m People at Naples Airport

This article discusses the Scala-powered LED digital signage installed at Naples, Italy airport.

Mobile Checkouts Will Be Game-Changer for Retailers

Mobile Marketer discusses how mobile checkouts in retail stores can make the shopping experience for consumers seamless and a lot simpler.

August 3, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 24, 2012

Three Quick Questions with Craig Miller of Hammond Communications Group

Hammond Communications Group is a high-definition video production and web design company based in Lexington, Kentucky and a certified Scala partner. We recently spoke with their vice president of interactive media Craig Miller about the company’s approach to digital signage.

RC: Hammond Communications has a broad background in delivering multi-media communication solutions. How does this expertise help you in addressing customers’ digital signage needs?

CM: Our multimedia production capabilities have definitely had a major impact on our ability to deliver comprehensive, cost-effective, customized digital signage solutions. We’ve been creating and delivering content for more than 33 years and our unique experience and skill sets were ideal for launching and building our digital signage department—as many of the services necessary to offer comprehensive, turnkey digital signage solutions are the same as we have been providing for other mediums.

RC: Your company services a range of markets, including equine, sports, corporate, health and government. Can you discuss for our readers how Scala software enables you to address such diverse industries?

CM: Out of the box, Scala’s platform is remarkably flexible. It has everything you need to operate a simple network, yet it is also ideal for larger, far more sophisticated networks. It also offers advanced customization, meaning we can easily integrate third party data into our solutions, such as POS integration into menu boards for restaurants, AS400 / financial data into interactive touchscreen solutions for horse sales companies, or parsing and formatting XML data from a hospital’s existing schedule of events system. The fact that Scala is so flexible, and that we can now also utilize Scala’s web services for additional integration with the Scala platform, there really isn’t anything you can’t do with the Scala platform.

RC: Let’s look a little deeper at your healthcare presence. Can you share the ways healthcare providers are using digital signage?

CM: We’ve partnered with savvy healthcare facilities, such as Cincinnati Children’s, Christina Care and Holzer Clinic, to utilize digital signage as a means of improving their communications with all audiences on their campuses. Their marketing departments are utilizing digital signage in lobbies, waiting areas, and outpatient satellite locations. Food and Nutrition Services are promoting wellness, highlighting healthy menu choices and providing nutritional information on items offered within their cafeterias. Internal Communication Departments are providing hospital staff with time-sensitive, important information, and patient education is now vastly improved via interactive touchscreens within patient rooms where patients, nurses and doctors have access to assets (e.g., video) that are germane to each individual patient. Basically it’s all about the right message, at the right time, to the right audience.

Robyn Connelly, Manager of Internet and Database Marketing, Scala Inc.

July 24, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 20, 2012

Weekly Spot - July 20

This week’s media stories include commentary by our retail expert Marcy Patzer and our marketing expert Dave Palermo. Hope you enjoy reading these articles along with our blog post on Digital Signage Japan!

Five Ways Retailers Can Get More From Digital Signage

Our retail expert Marcy Patzer discusses five tips for retailers to help them make the most out of their digital signage investment.

Three Ways Digital Signage Can Boost Marketing

Our VP of Global Marketing Dave Palermo discusses ways digital signage can boost marketing.

Scala Has Strong Presence at Digital Signage Japan

Read all about how Scala made its presence felt at the recently concluded Digital Signage Japan 2012.

Stacey Schwind, Marketing Manager US, Scala Inc.

July 20, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

July 02, 2012

Three Ways Digital Menu Boards Can Boost QSR Business

In an effort to better inform and engage with customers, many quick service restaurants (QSR) are replacing their printed menu boards with high-resolution digital menu boards. In the typical QSR, customers are in a hurry – but still want a high-quality experience. Using digital menu boards can help restaurants satisfy customer desires and also boost business.

Here are three ways digital menu boards can help QSRs:

Better Informed Decisions: Printed menus are static and can be dull, and hinder a customer’s decision making. Digital menu boards provide a richer experience with vibrant, animated displays that are more eye-catching. Digital menu boards are like unlimited canvases which allow the customer to see all menu items and make a more informed purchase decision, enhancing their experience at the restaurant.

Enhance Customer Experience: More customers today are place an emphasis on knowing the nutritional information of the food they order. With unlimited screen “real estate,” digital menu boards provide nutritional information to help customers with their purchase decisions. These digital menu boards also enable the restaurants to look cutting edge to their customers, enhancing the overall encounter.

Singular Brand Experience: Consistent content across mobile, kiosk and digital menu board platforms can provide the customer with a singular brand experience. User interfaces across all these platforms can be made to look the same so the customers feel a familiarity on any medium. This integration enables uniform messaging across several customer touch-points and the brand more easily keeps current with menu and other content changes.

A great example of delivering a singular experience is Scala customer 4food, a New York City-based restaurant, which has a very creative way of integrating social media feeds and streaming video into their digital signage.

Damon Crowhurst, Senior Director, Scala Inc.

July 2, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Food and Drink , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 25, 2012

Three Quick Questions with Kari Mettälä of Panphonics

We had the opportunity to sit down with Kari Mettälä, CEO of Scala partner Panphonics. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Finland, Panphonics is a global leader in directional audio solutions.

RC: How would you describe the value of the sound in digital signage networks?

KM: Audio has been proven to be a very powerful tool in digital signage. A report on a large digital signage project states that audio contributes to increased sales in retail environments more effectively than digital signage without audio. Also, media sellers are able to double the price of ads when audio is involved in digital signage.

RC: How important is the network management and connection for audio in digital signage systems?

KM: Panphonics works closely with a number of digital signage vendors, both hardware and software. There are a multitude of software and hardware suppliers out there. What we have learned is that the flexibility of the player and software are crucial components for a successful installation. It is hard to plan everything beforehand in a project, and there are always surprises in the roll-out or special requirements come up. In these cases, the customization and scripting possibilities of the management system are essential. Scala is exemplary for having the software flexibility to integrate audio in digital signage installations and the knowledge to really make it happen.

RC: What are the latest developments with Panphonics technology?

KM: Panphonics, the world's leading supplier of directional audio speaker, has been actively coming up with new innovations this year. To name a few, we are introducing two new speaker models - Sound Shower Compact and Sound Shower Outdoor models. Our new amplifier, which was introduced during ISE 2012 in January, is now equipped with an IP-control function as well.

Robyn Connelly, Manager of Internet and Database Marketing, Scala

June 25, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 22, 2012

Weekly Spot - June 22

This week included media stories on Scala-powered digital signage networks in Tokyo, Japan and Manchester City, England. Hope you enjoy reading these articles along with a blog post on improving digital signage player designs!

Scala Powers Digital Menus at Ben & Jerry's Japan Flagship

Ben & Jerry’s flagship store in Japan installed digital menu boards and a Twitter ticker powered by our software.

Ocean Outdoor Launches Four New Sites in Manchester

Manchester City gets four new digital signage installations all powered by our stable software.

Improving the Digital Signage Player

A Digital Draw post refers to Scala Sr. Technical Architect John Schilling’s article in Electronic Design and discusses designing strategies for digital signage media players.

Have a great weekend!

Stacey Schwind, Marketing Manager US, Scala

June 22, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 08, 2012

Weekly Spot - June 8

This week, two Scala experts provided interesting insights into the world of digital menu boards and digital signage hardware designs. We hope you enjoy reading these stories!

How QSRs Can Gain Maximum Benefit from Digital Menu Boards

Scala senior director Damon Crowhurst discusses how quick service restaurants can make the most out of their digital menu boards investment. This story was also published on Digital Signage Today.

Ten Tips for Designers Creating Digital Signage Hardware

Scala senior technical architect John Schilling provides tips for designers to keep in mind while they create digital signage hardware.

Shopper Sentiment: How Consumers Feel About Shopping In-Store, Online, and via Mobile

A recent study by Nielsen on US consumer preference of shopping in-store, online or mobile revealed some interesting insights.

Have a great weekend!

Robyn Connelly, Manager of Internet and Database Marketing, Scala

June 8, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Retail Digital Signage , Scala , Thoughts from Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 01, 2012

Ask a Scala Expert: May 1

This Week’s Focus: Retail Digital Signage

What are key considerations in selecting display locations in a retail environment?

Location is a key consideration in making a retail digital media strategy pay off. You want to catch consumers’ attention, even for just a split second, so you can influence their behavior. But possibly even more important is how, from a visual merchandising and store design standpoint, has a retailer chosen to integrate the signage. Retailers that harness the power of collaboration between store design, operations, visual merchandising and technology have been found to be the most successful. While each area has a unique discipline, they all have one common goal – to engage the customer. In addition, marketing then receives a beautifully packaged instrument in which they can layer their messaging and interact with the customer throughout their path to purchase.

- Marcy Patzer, Senior Director of Retail Strategy at Scala

To have your digital signage questions addressed by a Scala expert, please send them to questions@scala.com.