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[Wednesday at NAB]
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Digital Signage Catches Eyes, Dollars
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by David E. Williams,
~ April 16, 2008
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DV MAGAZINE
It’s no surprise that the burgeoning business of digital signage has captured the attention of the NAB Show, which is conducting a Super Session on the subject, today, 10:30 a.m.–noon.
During “Digital Signage and Broadcasters: A New Business Model,” moderator Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman and chief science officer of The Carmel Group, and his panelists will examine the new opportunities digital signage offers at a time when traditional advertising models — including TV, radio and outdoor marketing — are having to evolve to meet the challenges posed by new media and rapidly evolving consumer habits.
Utilizing full-motion video and graphics that are presented on LCD or plasma panels, video walls, projection screens or electronic billboards, digital signage is an expensive medium that has a yet-to-be-proven business model and lacks conclusive data on long-term effectiveness.
Due to this, its potential return on investment is difficult to assess, although there has been a substantial investment already in the technologies. With an estimated 500,000 flat-screen monitors installed in the United States as of year-end 2007 for use in content and advertising delivery, there was an estimated $1 billion in revenue generated, a number predicted to more than double by 2010.
Schaeffler’s company, The Carmel Group, is a telecom, media and computer concern with substantial activities in publishing, conference organization and consulting. His specialty is the multichannel marketplace. Schaeffler is often quoted and his analyses sought by the nation’s leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek and Business Week, as well as many trade journals.
“Flat-screen monitors — small, large and everything in between — are being deployed in retail malls, on freeways, in medical offices and in corporate facilities around the world,” Schaeffler recently noted on his Multichannel News blog in a post about digital signage.
“Times Square in NYC, The Strip in Las Vegas and dozens of arenas and stadiums are but a few of the prime examples of how Americans are taking to this new form of communication and message delivery. At recent trade shows, one developer has even created a digital sign screen that is displayed on the front or back (or both) of a T-shirt.”
Schaeffler’s digital signage discussion will explore a variety of issues surrounding this nascent, yet rapidly expanding, business. Is it the right solution for every broadcaster and local content operator? Where and what types of hardware, software and operational examples are being presented? What are the forecasts? Who are the types of stakeholders that are beginning to play on this new information and entertainment turf?
Answering these questions and more will be a collection of experts in the field, including Joseph Amor of Microspace Communications Corp., Lyle Bunn of The Bunn Co., Virginia Cargill of CBS Outernet, Michael Hudes of Digital Media Clear Channel Outdoor and Michael Tippetts of Helius/HughesNet.
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