More than 50 pages longer than the previous edition, Sign Gallery 6 presents recent Signs of the Times competition winners, honorable mentions, and others in this expanded edition of electric ...
Retail developers partner with outdoor-advertising companies to offset costs and significantly increase sales.
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In the early 1990s, a hot buzz phrase of the advertising community was “place-based media.” I loved it, latched onto it and still use it.
Though many media share the generalized term, I find “place-based” perfectly defines the use of a digital sign, which is targeted toward a specific audience. I think it clearly defines the appropriate usage of a programmable, digital, advertising display.
As digital-display technology matures, the greater advertising community is finally embracing digital displays as legitimate media. I keep waiting for a re-emergence of the old phrase, but, at least in my world, I seem to be the term’s only remaining proponent.
Instead, the ad industry calls it “digital.” I hear a continual buzz around the concept – digital outdoor, digital signs, digital display, digital media, etc. In any event, I’m thankful for the attention and the opportunity to share in an explosive new direction in advertising.
A few weeks ago, I met with a significant advertising group in NYC that was brainstorming new concepts regarding “digital.” The managing director, who declined to be quoted for this piece, effusively praised the medium’s power. A digital display incorporated in an architectural feature, or as a component of an overall design theme in a retail environment, places advertising in an environment where it is “intrusive” to an audience advertisers want to reach, he gushed. Sounds like a “place-based” medium to me.
The concept of high-resolution, programmable digital signs for retail environments is, indeed, a rapidly emerging industry. Inside and outside malls and individual stores, digital displays are emerging as a critical method for advertisers to reach an audience never before contemplated.
Retail environments increasingly deploy digital-display (mostly plasma and LCD) networks that feature advertising mixed with general, entertainment information. This medium serves as a perfect, point-of-sale opportunity for individual products or as an enticement cleverly placed where potential buyers congregate. Some stores utilize hundreds of these displays. Some retail chains, such as Wal-Mart, have developed extensive networks with highly creative content streams.
Retail-space developers have noted the billboard industry’s conversion of traditional billboard space to programmable digital signs. I know several, savvy retail developers have forged partnerships with outdoor-advertising companies to create specific, place-based media, on the property of the retail development. The concept is a win-win for both the developer and the outdoor-advertising company.
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