Finding the right software could be one of the most important decisions companies make as they prepare to roll out a digital signage platform. However, there are many factors to consider when choosing the ideal software.
Initially, companies must decide how they want to use digital signage. What is their end-goal for deployment? That will help users select the best product and vendor to fit their needs. The best digital signage software should be able to juggle a lot of different functions, such as touch screens, internet of things, beacons, speech, and Web triggers, among others.
If the software can handle all of these elements, chances are it will have no problem handling a demanding workload. The software must not only deliver clear, concise content, but have the ability to deliver it in real time. It’s also important to choose a software package with analytics features. That way, users can measure the effectiveness of their digital signage deployment.
Below are some of the top digital signage software providers in the market…
Intuiface is a no-code platform dedicated to the creation, deployment, and analysis of interactive digital experiences that connect people to place. Over 1,300 agencies, integrators, and enterprises across 70-plus countries are engaging audiences in-venue, on the web, and on personal mobile devices using interactive options such as touch, gestures, sensors, voice, computer vision, the Internet of Things, and more. It is an ISO 27001 Certified platform that can be used by most industries — including retail, hospitality, real estate, tourism, education — and for any intent — from digital signs to self-service kiosks and assisted selling. What makes Intuiface unique is:
Use of no-code techniques
Traditional, digital signage platforms
Insight and innovation for human-machine interaction
Vertical Markets Served Any vertical where target audiences are engaged in-venue. Includes retail, tradeshows, QSRs, workplaces, hospitality, museums, education, and more.
Top Clients Deloitte, FirstImpression, Musco, Yves Rocher, Stanley Martin Homes
Visix, Inc. offers a suite of digital signage software, content designs and meeting room signs for organizations wanting to engage, excite, and inform their audiences. Visix’s products work separately or together, are competitively priced and scalable, and have interactivity and data integration features for a unified, enterprise signage solution. Visix’s service and support teams consistently rank high in customer satisfaction for fast, professional responses and solutions.
Vistar Media is an end-to-end programmatic ecosystem for digital out-of-home. Vistar Media’s demand-side platform and supply-side platform help buyers and sellers transact on DOOH inventory, while applying data insights to improve media performance. Vistar’s SaaS solutions (the ad server and Cortex for device and content management) deliver enterprise-grade solutions for monetizing and operating digital signage networks at any scale. Founded in 2012, Vistar Media is headquartered in New York City and has offices across the United States, Canada, EMEA and APAC. Vistar’s mission is to transform the OOH industry through programmatic technology, and enhance every transaction in the physical world with data-informed targeting, automation and measurement.
Vertical Markets Served Vistar serves a variety of vertical markets including large formats such as billboards and street level transit; place-based including malls, gyms, office buildings, gas stations, restaurants, bars, taxis; and point of purchase found in convenience stores, grocery stores and pharmacies.
Top Clients Volta, Coinstar, GSTV, Lamar, Clear Channel
Amidst the age of information revolution, a new medium has emerged — Digital Signage. In 2004, a group of passionate dreamers and engineers combined their faith and creativity to open more possibilities for the digital signage industry, and thus CAYIN Technology was born. Marked with an ambitious drive, CAYIN Technology dived into the world of precision marketing and multimedia information announcement. Looking to domestic and international technological advancements and combining the newest technology with multimedia players to develop comprehensive digital signage solutions, including diversified media players, content management servers, and advanced management software for monitoring and generating reports.
CAYIN Technology has 17 years of experience in developing digital signage solutions, supports clients in more than 90 countries and has connected more than 1,000 brands and institutions with digital signage.
Vertical Markets Served CAYIN Technology in the digital signage market has been seen across schoolyards, retail stores, large-scale meeting rooms, museums, etc.
Top Clients McDonald’s, FamilyMart, DFS Galleria, SOGO, acer
Omnivex connects people and data. The Omnivex digital signage software enables users to collect, process, and deliver targeted information across your entire organization on any screen. It connects people with real-time visual information where and when they need it. Omnivex helps you achieve real business goals — increase and accelerate revenues, reduce delivery costs, improve customer loyalty, build brand equity and enhance employee engagement and productivity. Omnivex digital signage software enables you to:
Deliver real-time messaging to improve efficiency and ensure accuracy
Scale networks as business requirements change
Deliver targeted, intelligent content
Encourage interaction and improve customer experience
Adapt to accommodate new applications and departmental needs
Coates Group is an innovative technologies producer. Coates delivers end-to-end merchandising solutions through its extensive product range, covering everything from its powerful CMS software, Switchboard, to its digital hardware and signage. Switchboard content management system is a web-based, data-driven, scalable platform built for medium to large QSR brands and retail environments. It’s a key component in Coates’ digital merchandising solution designed to create, distribute, and display digital media to generate customer engagement. Switchboard uses real time data and analytics to orchestrate a customer journey by showing the right product, to the right customer, at the right time, while increasing revenue.
Vertical Markets Served Quick service restaurant, fast casual, retail, entertainment
SpinetiX inspires businesses to unlock the potential of their story. The SpinetiX team believes in the power of digital signage as a dynamic new storytelling platform to engage with people. For more than 15 years, they have been innovating to deliver cutting-edge technology that helps customers shine. SpinetiX delivers the most flexible and end-to-end signage solution on the market that answers to any deployment scenario: cloud-based, on-premise, or hybrid. SpinetiX ARYA is the cloud digital signage application designed as a one-stop content creation and distribution platform for end-customers or integrators. Elementi, on the other hand, is a simple, yet powerful signage software for rich data-driven content, easily integrated with 3rd party technology, that answers the needs of on-premise scenarios. In a hybrid scenario, both Elementi and SpinetiX ARYA can be used together for a best-of-both-worlds experience.
Vertical Markets Served The SpinetiX digital signage solution is used by the widest array of industries and easily integrates with third-party technologies: from big retail brands, corporate businesses, educational, public and healthcare institutions, hospitality, transportation to small businesses.
Top Clients Moss Adams, Mercury Systems, Columbia Distributing, Equifax, Lowe’s
Xibo is a reliable, cost effective digital signage solution that adapts to your business needs. Transform your digital signage designs simply and quickly to provide an engaging experience. Xibo powers digital signage networks worldwide through their open-source, web-based content management system, available with a choice of Android, Windows, webOS, Tizen and Linux players. With Xibo’s in the Cloud hosting solution, they manage everything needed to get your CMS running so that you can focus on content. You get the same great Xibo solution, with full support from the people who made the software.
Vertical Markets Served Hospitality, Retail, Education, Healthcare, Corporate, Transport, Out of Home
Userful’s software platform delivers IT teams unparalleled end-to-end control over corporate signage deployments. Unlike competitors, Userful provides infrastructure management without requiring proprietary hardware. Userful servers can be run in either a public cloud, or a private cloud configuration, while end-points (uClients) are software defined apps, available for LG WebOS displays, or any display with certified off-the-shelf uClient adapters. It offers unique workflow flexibility to display any content, from local network streams, HDMI inputs to 8k video files for large video walls, or use applications like Emerald Signage, a fully integrated Content Management System (CMS), and other 3rd party CMS integrations. Furthermore as a software-defined AV-over-IP platform, Userful can also be used in other application areas such as control rooms and meeting rooms, enabling Enterprise IT to standardize and do more with a single platform.
Vertical Markets Served Enterprise, Goverment, Education
Top Clients Texas Department of Transporation (working with AT&T), Comcast, Red Bull, Riachuelo, Visa
What WordPress is for websites, eyefactive’s app platform is for interactive software on professional touchscreens: Create engaging interactive signage software solutions on any large-scale multitouch display, table, kiosk terminal or videowall. Combine and customize ready-to-use multitouch apps easily and integrate your own content, layouts and designs, with a minimum of time and cost, without any programming involved. Provide amazing interactive experiences for point of sale, information and entertainment – as well as collaborative teamwork and innovative communication in corporate environments. Compared to simple html point and click applications, all apps are based on eyefactive’s multiple awarded software technology to provide true multi-touch and multi-user experiences, with a smooth and ultra-fast performance on any touchscreen system.
Vertical Markets Served Interactive signage touchscreen solutions for smart retail at the Point of Sale, infotainment and corporate communication.
The 2020 Digital Signage Future Trends Report looks at the trends and attitudes affecting the digital signage industry and is a must-read for deployers and providers to understand where the digital signage industry is and where it is headed into the new decade.
We are in the new decade, and staying on top of the digital signage market is more important than ever. By purchasing this report, you are gaining a key advantage in the never-ending quest to see what’s on the horizon for technology.
The 35-page downloadable report contains the full results of our exclusive survey of over 300 deployers and hardware/software/service providers in the dynamic digital signage industry.
ABOUT THE SPONSOR
DigitalSignageToday.com is the #1 site for news and information about digital signage technology. Our audience includes retailers, restaurants, financial institutions and more.Visit Company Showcase »
A picture is worth a thousand words. Displays with 8K resolution, which means not only more but better and faster pixels, provide immersive experiences and genuine visual impact in the industry, engaging the audience with real-time broadcasting.
The 2022 Kiosk Marketplace Census Report is your exclusive look at statistics on the self-serve kiosk industry’s size, operating metrics and outlook from both users and suppliers.
Download this white paper to discover six areas of focus for creating a sustainable and scalable in-store digital experience that will carry you far beyond day one.
In this webinar you will learn from creative solutions providers and experts with decades of experience, how to find solutions to your supply chain woes and what the future may hold.
With its venue’s modern architecture, unique setting, and high-tech offer, Barcelona International Convention Center is known for offering first-class services that can fulfil the requirements of any kind of event. Digital signage is no exception. See how the SpinetiX Digital Signage Solution forms a key element of the Center’s service offer.
Self-service technician marketplaces allow businesses to directly match their technology rollouts with a network of localized technicians, giving the business total control over the project management of their investment.
Clear Cobalt is the new generation of display products from Absen, using several innovative technologies to provide outstanding visual performance versus traditional LED products.
Unique Digital Signage Installation of Massive dvLED Video Wall by Ford AV Includes 192 Absen Acclaim dvLED Panels and Peerless-AV® SEAMLESS Bespoke Mounting System
AI-powered Virtual Assistant can play an important role in branch banking transformation. It can be the first touchpoint in the customer journey, and handling of the standard and non-differentiated banking transactions and provides an opportunity for the bank to optimize its branch operation and network.
8 tips to consider when selecting OOH target markets
Selecting target and test markets can be a challenge and becomes especially tricky when planning out-of-home advertising campaigns in regions you’re not familiar with. Fortunately, thanks to OOH advertising buying tools, marketers can zero in on specific markets nationwide and have broad OOH knowledge and data available.
Selecting target and test markets can be a challenge and becomes especially tricky when planning out-of-home advertising campaigns in regions you’re not familiar with. Fortunately, thanks to OOH advertising buying tools, marketers can zero in on specific markets nationwide and have broad OOH knowledge and data available at their fingertips.
O’Connor
This data is instrumental to identifying target and test markets. Before planning out your next OOH campaign, here are eight things to consider where markets nationwide are concerned.
1. Test markets
Before you make a big investment in your target markets, consider launching a campaign in a test or exploratory market first. Here you’ll gain valuable insights into how a campaign will fare in other markets. Test your campaign’s messaging, creative, performance, and effectiveness in affordable, less-crowded markets such as Nashville, Philadelphia, or Columbus, Ohio before expanding into markets across the country. In doing so, you can fine tune your campaign, save money, and ensure that your campaign delivers when you launch into additional markets.
2. Inventory availability
The OOH media landscape is fragmented. With well over 1,000 vendors across the U.S. alone, no single vendor can provide coverage, or data, on inventory in every market. In the past, you’d have to reach out to vendors individually to get an accurate picture of a market’s available inventory. It was time-consuming work. With the use of OOH buying platforms, you can shed the inefficiencies of cold calling OOH vendors. Such platforms compile all the nation’s available OOH inventory in one accessible place and make them filterable by market, format, and cost.
3. Unit pricing
OOH pricing varies significantly across markets. For example, the median cost per thousand impressions for a billboard in New York City is $7.61 while only $3.21 in Nashville. Get a better understanding of OOH media costs in various markets with the help of an OOH buying platform. You can access real-time pricing data by designated market area, city, or zip code and search historical pricing data to ensure you are getting a fair price on OOH ad units.
4. Advertising regulations
Outdoor advertising comes with its own set of rules and regulations like any other advertising format. Regulations vary across state, county, and city lines, but can include political advertising bans on transit shelters, and fast-food, sweets, toys, cigarettes, cannabis, and alcohol ad limitations near schools. Moreover, outdoor ads must conform to standards and regulations set by federal agencies and adhere to media vendor rules. Marketers can avoid setbacks and surprises by partnering with an OOH buying platform that tracks such rules and regulations.
5. Population demographics
Across the U.S. people in neighborhoods, cities, counties, and states differ in terms of characteristics like age, income, whether a household has children, preferred language, and educational attainment. In seeking out geographic markets or zip codes, marketers should look for those with characteristics that align with their target audiences. Researching the demographic data within a specific market can help you narrow down your target markets. If your target audience includes college students, you may want to target areas where college students make up a large share of the population, like Los Angeles, Boston, or Ithaca, New York.
6. Purchase behavior
Some leading OOH buying platforms have established integrations with shopper intelligence providers like Catalina, which enable OOH advertisers to uncover the precise locations –– and even the specific ad units –– that are most likely to reach consumers based on their previous purchases. Tap into consumer purchase-based data, i.e., buying habits, shopping preferences, and brand affinities to better understand which markets are most likely to drive increased sales.
7. Competitor activity
Competition in any OOH advertising can be fierce. Knowing what your competitors are doing in the markets you’re exploring can give your OOH campaign a huge advantage. Leverage free OOH planning tools to see what the top 100 advertisers and your competitors in your vertical are spending on OOH campaigns in various markets and how your campaign spend stacks up.
8. Lookalike markets
OOH advertisers often focus campaigns in large, expensive markets. While their reach is wide, this isn’t the most impactful, or efficient, way to approach campaigns. With the help of free OOH planning tools, you can uncover “deal markets” –– i.e., those with lower average CPMs –– that look like your target, best performing, or ideal large markets. Picking a lookalike market, you can save money, scale your buy without sacrificing effectiveness, and boost campaign performance.
The task of identifying the right target and test markets for your brand shouldn’t be time consuming or overwhelming. With a plethora of market-centric data readily available through OOH buying platforms, you can easily identify the specific markets most likely to perform.
Matthew O’Connor is the CEO and cofounder of AdQuick.com, the first platform to allow brands, agencies and individuals to complete the entire process of planning, buying, executing and measuring out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaigns anywhere in the U.S. and around the globe.
Organizácia Marianum – Pohrebníctvo mesta Bratislavy spustila pilotný projekt elektronizácie a informatizácie poskytovaných služieb. Na dvoch najväčších cintorínoch Vrakuňa a Slávičie údolie pribudli informačné dotykové panely na vyhľadávanie hrobového či urnového miesta či informácií o zaplatení nájomného. Bratislava má takúto technológiu v teréne skôr než susedná Viedeň…
“Návštevníci oboch spomínaných cintorínov si môžu vyhľadať hrobové alebo urnové miesto pochovaných na ktoromkoľvek cintoríne v správe organizácie Marianum podľa mena a priezviska zosnulého. Môžu si tiež na mape cintorína zobraziť hrobové miesto, v ktorom je zosnulý pochovaný. Okrem toho môžu získať informácie o termíne, dokedy je zaplatené nájomné príslušného hrobového miesta a či je k danému miestu riadne uzatvorená nájomná zmluva. Údaje budú denne aktualizované,” povedal o novej, modernej technológii riaditeľ mestskej organizácie Marianum Ing. Boris Šramko.
Zdroj: Marianum
Pri hlavnom vchode do cintorína v Slávičom údolí už nový informačný panel funguje – vyzerá ako veľký mobilný telefón…
“Ďalšie rozširovanie ponuky bude v budúcnosti zahŕňať napríklad vyhľadávanie významných osobností podľa rôznych kritérií či zaslaním ‘navigácie’ priamo do telefónu k vyhľadávanému hrobovému miestu,” priblížil Šramko.
Zdroj: Marianum
Vyhľadať hrobové miesto na cintoríne či zistiť informácie o pochovaných osobnostiach budú vedieť aj deti…
Informačné dotykové panely a predmetnú službu plánuje mestská organizácia Marianum ponúknuť aj do ďalších veľkých cintorínov v Bratislave. “Vyhľadať si tak budete môcť už čoskoro aj významné rodiny či významné osobnosti kultúrneho a spoločenského života aj na historickom Ondrejskom cintoríne či na Martinskom cintoríne. S touto novinkou sme predbehli aj Viedeň, ktorá elektronické panely na svojich cintorínoch nemá,” doplnil šéf bratislavského pohrebníctva.
Following pandemic-induced industry challenges, restaurants are busier than ever with even fewer resources. To stay competitive, businesses need the ability to effectively inform and engage both customers and staff without draining valuable resources. Digital signage provides an opportunity to share important updates, promote special offers or events, and attract new hires — all using your existing TV screens.
Watch Atmosphere’s Lucas Burns, Enterprise Account Executive, to learn how bars and restaurants can leverage digital signage to drive sales and develop deeper relationships with customers. He discusses why now is the time for businesses to leave expensive and wasteful print materials behind, share tips on what makes eye-catching creative, and provide insight on how elevating your space with custom digital signage can boost your bottom line.
If you’re driving down 21st and Oliver in northeast Wichita, you may notice something different – new signage at Wichita State.
The university installed new signage that reads “Wichita State” in letters that range from 6 to 8 feet tall. The letters are made from open-channel aluminum, powder-coated letters, which will be individually illuminated by LED lighting. The exterior faces of the letters will be painted black, the interior face will be yellow, and the outside will be white.
“The Innovation Campus has undergone remarkable transformation over the past seven years, growing from a golf course into a home for more than 25 business and industry leaders,” said Dr. Rick Muma, president of Wichita State. “The upgraded look and increased visibility will showcase that metamorphosis and create a destination landmark for Wichita and our Shocker Neighborhood community.”
Kristin Beal, placemaking coordinator for Wichita State, said that the new look on the northeast edge of campus is an opportunity for engagement for Shockers.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees and left many industries scrambling, including digital signage. So, what will the digital landscape look like post-COVID? Loren Miller from the Westfield Media & Experiential Team provides insights into how marketers can get the most out of DOOH and reach audiences in the best locations.
While there have been many ups and downs the past two years, exciting times are on the horizon for the DOOH industry. Photo: i-Stock
March 11, 2022 | by Kevin Damask — Editor, Digital Signage Today
It’s been a full two years since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees and left many industries scrambling, including digital signage.
Since the spring of 2020, the digital signage industry has had to make some difficult choices and learned to adapt to stay relevant. In particular, the digital-out-of-home industry was forced to pivot and think of new ways to reach consumers at a time when many consumers were staying home. Somewhat surprisingly, the DOOH industry has rebounded nicely in the past year. Industry leaders found that as more people ventured out in the public after months of isolation, they were more apt to notice DOOH. Especially if the promotions are unique and attention-grabbing.
As a result of the pandemic, consumer behavior continues to evolve, pushing businesses to work harder and smarter to engage customers. Retailers, especially, have shifted to technology that tracks how consumers respond to promotions and how it affects their buying habits.
So, what will the digital landscape look like post-COVID?
Miller
The Westfield Media & Experiential Team has a beat on the future of the industry. Loren Miller, SVP of U.S. Media and Strategic Partnerships, provides key insights into how marketers can get the most out of DOOH and reach audiences in the best locations. Miller shared her expertise in a email interview with Digital Signage Today.
Q: Can you give some background on Westfield Media & Experiential and what your role is with the company?
A: Over the course of my nine years (here), I’ve held several senior sales management positions within the organization. Currently, as senior vice president of U.S. media and strategic partnerships, I am privileged to lead an integrated sales division focused on curating 360-degree brand solutions and innovating the technology on The Westfield Network. Our go-to-market strategies are simple: Help brands effectively leverage our robust offering of assets and services and to collectively curate and deliver results-oriented, omnichannel campaigns and long-term, key partnerships that unlock exclusive access to Westfield’s consumers and retailers.
Q: Since COVID arrived two years ago, it’s impacted many industries, including digital signage. What has been the biggest impact on the industry?
A: Real-time data has become a necessity in our space to compete more effectively with digital and mobile. We recognized this early on (six years ago, to be exact), and we made the investment in real-time analytics technology. Today, the industry is playing catch-up, moving toward a “near real time” data-driven strategy, which still relies on pinging mobile devices. Our preliminary investment set us up for the moment the industry really needed it: During COVID, this transparency was called upon by brands and we were able to offer our partners the confidence and accountability they were seeking.
Q: What has the digital signage industry done to counter the effects of the pandemic?
A: One of the biggest DOOH trends we saw emerge during the pandemic was the integration of QR codes into creative, which is a trend we’re still seeing in advertising. These codes drive deeper consumer engagement between DOOH and mobile screens. Another trend that is gaining traction is the creation of hybrid experiences, integrating DOOH into physical experiences. We’ve had several partners capitalize on Westfield’s physical assets while utilizing our digital channels, including Netflix’s Army of the Dead “Viva Las Vengeance” VR experience, our Afterpay “Holiday Helpers” AR experience and our global concert with Lady Gaga to support her album release, “Love for Sale.”
Q: It seems like some aspects of the industry, like DOOH, have actually flourished through the pandemic. Why do you think this is? Have other segments of the industry done well despite the challenges?
A: We’ve seen increased demand for DOOH advertising as we are the last-mile engagement before product purchase. That has created renewed business from a wider range of luxury and retail partners, as well as from entertainment and streaming clients. Additionally, our ability to offer live data and full campaign transparency on The Westfield Network, along with consumer impact, has prompted heightened interest.
Q: Do you think COVID-19 has forever changed the digital signage market? If so, in what ways?
A: Quantifying success in DOOH, transparently, is more important than ever. Given the amount of change the retail industry has endured over the past year, it is important now more than ever that brands receive transparency and security when it comes to buying media and measuring advertising campaigns.
Q: As we continue to rebound from a rough two years, what do you think the future holds for digital signage?
A: In a time where marketers need to work harder to connect with and engage consumers, accountability can be critical to a campaign’s effectiveness and success. And with unique capabilities for targeting and tracking, the future of digital OOH is limitless. There is also an increased desire for consumers to be out in physical environments, which allows Westfield to create unique digital/physical activations to engage customers. Now is a key time for brands and retailers to rediscover ways to meet consumers beyond the home through innovative media, transparent campaign metrics and meaningful activations.
iStock photo
While there have been many ups and downs the past two years, exciting times are on the horizon for the DOOH industry. Photo: i-Stock
Duchon Signs 