Digital Signage Experts | Saturn

Use the words digital signage and architecture in the same sentence and the assumption is you’re referring to the technical wizardry that powers the on‑screen content. Actually, in this instance I’m talking about architecture in the visual sense and it’s a subject that I’m pleased to say is getting more and more airtime in areas that would have once upon a time never have put the two together.

If you’re thinking of investing in a digital signage network, how do you minimise the TCO of your system? Put simply, the only way to achieve complete cost control is to be clear on all potential budget implications from the outset.

Firstly, whether you decide to deploy a digital signage solution on your own network or, instead, let your system live on the ‘cloud’, really depends on two key factors:

Content-on-demand is of the moment. A generation of smartphone users intuitively expects interaction at the touch of a screen. The world’s gone ‘app’ crazy and Android technology is taking the customer journey to a whole new realm.

Indeed, we’re living in customer centric times and the diversity that interactive displays deliver puts the punter in the driving seat while allowing companies to capitalise on the alternate content opportunities that these platforms present.

Historically, digital signage has focused almost exclusively on large screens and looping display content, but with the ever growing emergence of convergent media channels – mobile, social, interact and augmented reality – what impact will this have on “traditional” digital signage?

To be frank, I’m getting a bit tired of seeing the phrase ‘Content is King’. I can’t read a best- practice article on digital signage these days without gritting my teeth waiting for the hackneyed phrase to pop up before I’ve got to the final paragraph. But I can’t help admitting that the reason it’s so over-used is because it’s true.  Maybe its frequency is a sign that our industry collectively feels it’s banging its head against a brick wall in despair at the number of poorly-designed systems still out there.

It might seem like a strange question for the CEO of a company that lives and breathes all things digital signage to ask, but have you ever stopped to think whether you need digital signage? Because - believe it or not - that’s always our starting position. Yes, sales is the name of the game but it’s also about making sure the medium doesn’t fall flat on its face, which it will inevitably do if a) it’s not actually going to deliver your desired objectives or b) it’s implemented without careful thought and planning.