Digital Signage Spot Blog: Food and Drink

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Food and Drink

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 27, 2012

Ask a Scala Expert: June 27

This Week’s Focus: Quick Service Restaurants

How can quick service restaurants new to digital signage get started?

Start with the basics and do them well. Restaurants should talk to experienced specialists from the field before implementing a digital menu board solution. You should integrate your digital signage with a restaurant’s ambience to provide a seamless customer experience. In addition to selecting a stable and robust software platform that supports multiple screens, you should opt for durable hardware that can withstand high temperature conditions typical to quick service restaurant environment. Lastly, tailor your digital menu board content strategy to address different dayparts to connect your displays with customer buying patterns.

- Damon Crowhurst, Senior Director, Scala Inc.

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

Robyn Connelly, Manager of Internet and Database Marketing US, Scala

June 27, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Food and Drink , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 18, 2012

Ben & Jerry’s Japan Goes Cutting Edge with Digital Signage

We are excited to announce Scala software powers digital menu boards and a live Twitter Ticker at Ben & Jerry’s flagship store in Tokyo, Japan. This installation at Ben & Jerry’s not only adds a contemporary tech café feel to the brand’s trademark 1960s-era store design theme, but also helps them to better engage with today’s connected customers.

The digital signage, in both Japanese and English, presents a bold, vibrant way to inform customers on what’s available from their delicious menu options. The Twitter Ticker displays live tweets, driving positive social media engagement with customers for the brand.

To deploy this solution at Ben & Jerry’s, we worked closely with branding and design company Tesser and network consultant Solution Forge, LLC.

This digital signage network runs Scala 5 software, which drives content design, management and distribution. This is the first time Ben & Jerry’s has used digital signage in any of its worldwide locations.

Stacey Schwind, Marketing Manager US, Scala

June 18, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Food and Drink , Retail Digital Signage , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 28, 2012

System Reliability: Essential to QSR Digital Signage Success

Increasingly, quick service restaurants are making digital menu boards a key part of their business strategies.

QSRs have found digital menu boards remove the need to print and distribute static signs every time a menu changes to save on costly printing and distribution fees. Also, using motion graphics to attract attention and entice consumers to purchase specific menu items has been proven to increase sales.

An essential starting place for success is choosing a proven and reliable digital signage software provider. Too often, vendors make a lot of noise but have no positive track record.

Research software vendors by looking at established successes and speaking to their QSR customers. This research can help you be sure their systems are robust and scalable, and can reliably perform across your network.

The pitfalls of using an unreliable system can be highly visible to your customers – and negatively impact business. For example, DailyDOOH recently spotlighted how in the Chicago metro area, Burger King’s Digital Menu board system was down in a couple of restaurants.

Your digital menu board provides an opportunity to grab your customer's attention and give your business a competitive advantage. Look for a digital signage software provider which can give you the confidence that your system will deliver the promised reliability.

March 28, 2012 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

December 09, 2011

Weekly Spot - December 9

Here’s some recent news that caught our eyes and we thought you may be interested in reading.

Commentary: Three tips for maximizing your digital signage investment

Our retail expert Marcy Patzer provides insights on how Quick Service Restaurants can maximize their digital signage investments.

Mobile Marketing on the Rise

An infographic based on new survey data about expected rise in mobile marketing for 2012. Respondents plan expanded use of digital signage.

Scala and Telecine Present at Strategic Internal Communications Conference

Scala’s very own Jeff Porter and Telecine’s James Fine will lead a session on December 14 at the Strategic Internal Communications Conference.

Mobile e-Commerce Driving Holiday Spending

Business Insider highlights how mobile e-commerce continues to drive sales this holiday season.

December 9, 2011 in Digital Signage Industry , Digital Signage Tips , Food and Drink , Retail Digital Signage , Scala , Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 04, 2011

Weekly Spot - November 4

Here’s some recent news that caught our eyes and we thought you may be interested in reading.

Scala’s Change of the Guard

Gerard Bucas, our CEO of 9 years, officially handed over the reins to new CEO Tom Nix. A new era has begun.

Five Tips to Get the Most Out of Interactive Digital Signage in Retail

Our partners at HP have some great insights to share on how retailers can get most out of their digital signage systems.

3 Quick Questions with Michael Shuman of 4food

We caught up with Michael Shuman of 4food, a NYC based restaurant and talked about how they used digital signage to grow their business.

November 4, 2011 in Digital Signage Industry , Food and Drink , Retail Digital Signage | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 31, 2011

3 Quick Questions with Michael Shuman of 4food

Digital Signage Spot caught up with Michael Shuman founder of 4food, a midtown Manhattan based restaurant that offers not only healthy food fast, but a unique customer experience.

DSS: Being located in buzzing New York City, how does digital signage help distinguish 4food from your competitors?

MS: The digital signs in the store give life to our creative ideas and provide a unique experience. The interesting thing about digital signage is that it is such a visual medium; very eye-catching. We are located in midtown Manhattan, which has the highest density workday population and digital signage is very effective in grabbing attention of pedestrian traffic. Whether it’s the menu board or the media wall, digital displays draw attention from far away. They effectively build curiosity among people who stop in their tracks and come inside to learn and experience more.

Our competitive advantage comes from the way we employ digital signage in our restaurant. We use it in a very interactive, informative and customizable way. It drives content which is user generated. Our customers are encouraged to build their own burger; they brand it, they market it and share it with their friends. And if the creation becomes popular among others, the creator gets royalties. Customers love to see their “branded” work on the big screen. It helps build tremendous amounts of brand loyalty and brand partnership. The burger builds also crowdsource and drive R&D for our menus.

DSS: Social media is central to how you delight your customers – how have you integrated social media and digital signage? And how has this combination enhanced your customer’s experience?

MS: We want to give power to the consumer. They build their burger, share it with their friends and if the burger gets popular, the creator gets royalty. It has been interesting to see how customers trust another customer’s creation. Seven of our ten best-selling builds are user generated.

We have integrated Twitter streams to display any tweets directed at the 4food handle and Foursquare streams to track check-ins. We also have a 240 square foot LED display which we call the “media wall.” The media wall showcases user-generated content such as YouTube videos promoting a customer’s burger build. This process enhances customer service since we get comments in real time that we can quickly address.

The menu board is a series of tiled LCD screens that show the ala carte menu along with burger builds. The interactivity of the menu board is really sort of a living organism, so if we run out of something it just removes that item. We are constantly introducing new things and it’s critical that we have a very dynamic system which allows us to make those changes in real time.

We don’t spend any money on traditional marketing. So the use of digital signage with social media really allows us to work in a very affordable and efficient way. And it’s important when you compete with a lot of larger established chains.

DSS: Based on your experience, what advice would you give to other restaurants on how digital signage can help them grow their business?

MS: Knowing that we don’t spend on traditional advertising, using digital signage has generated very quick ROIs for us. We are not just stopping people who are passing by and attracting them to the restaurant, but digital signage can be used very strategically as an informative point of contact. And sometimes this information can be difficult to get across in a written brochure. With a trained staff, you can communicate a lot of important information through digital signage in a way I think is much more effective and efficient.

Michael Shuman, founder of 4food in Manhattan, is using Scala to power his interactive displays and menu boards. These fun and interactive displays allow customers to build their own burger and share it with friends via social media! To read more about 4food check out their mention in InformationWeek.

October 31, 2011 in Digital Signage Tips , Food and Drink , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 28, 2011

Weekly Spot - October 28

Here’s some recent news that caught our eyes and we thought you may be interested in reading.

Leading Retail Expert Joins Scala

We were excited to announce that an industry-recognized retail expert – Marcy Patzer – has joined our company.

Malicious QR Code Campaigns Threaten Legitimate Marketers

Use of the popular QR codes could be at stake after the recent malicious use.

22 Million Digital Signs by 2015

Insights into the enormous growth of digital signage and what the future holds for this technology.

Fast Food 2.0: The Burger Goes Social

Michael Shuman of 4food was interviewed by InformationWeek on their innovative integration of social media, digital signage and iPads in their NYC restaurant.

October 28, 2011 in Current Affairs , Digital Signage Industry , Food and Drink , Scala | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)