Introduction

When thinking about the wide assortment of communication technologies, digital signage probably didn’t make your top-10 list. But consider that digital signage is becoming ubiquitous, although many of us go through the day without ever really noticing it. When you hear the term digital signage perhaps the huge outdoor signs that line the Las Vegas Strip or Times Square in New York City come to mind. Digital signage is actually deployed in most fast food restaurants, airports, and on highways. Increasingly it can be found in schools, hospitals, and even vending machines.

The major markets for digital signage are retail, entertainment, transportation, education, hospitality, corporate, and health care. Digital signage is usually used to lower costs, increase sales, get information or way-finding, merchandising, and to enhance the customer experience (Intel, 2016). Throughout this chapter, examples of these markets and uses will be provided.

The Digital Screenmedia Association defines digital signage as “the use of electronic displays or screens (such as LCD, LED, OLED, plasma or projection, discussed in Chapter 6) to deliver entertainment, information and/or advertisement in public or private spaces, outside of home” (Digital Screenmedia, n.d.). Digital signage is frequently referred to as DOOH or digital outside of the home.

The Digital Signage Federation expands the definition a little to include the way digital signage is networked and defines digital signage as “a network of digital displays that is centrally managed and addressable for targeted information, entertainment, merchandising and advertising” (Digital Signage Federation, n.d.). Either way, the key components to a digital signage system include the display/screen, the content for the display, and some kind of content management system.

The displays or screens for digital signage can take many forms. LCD including those that use LED technology is the most common type of screen, but you will also see plasma, OLED and projection systems. Screens can be flat or curved, rigid or flexible, and can include touch and gesture interactivity and cameras. Screens can range in size from a tiny digital price tag to a huge stadium scoreboard.

Content for digital signage can also take many forms. Similar to a traditional paper sign, digital signs can contain text and images. This is where the similarity ends, though. Digital signage content can also include video (live and stored, standard, 3D, high definition, 4K, and 8K), animation, augmented reality (AR), RSS feeds, social networking, and interactive features.

Unlike a traditional sign, digital signage content can be changed quickly. If the hours at a university library were changed for spring break, a new traditional sign would have to be created and posted while the old sign was taken down. With a digital sign, the hours can be updated almost instantly.

Another advantage of digital signage is that content can also be delivered in multiple ways besides a static image. The sign can be interactive with a touch screen or gesture control. The interaction can be with a simple touch or multi-touch where the users can swipe, and pinch. For example, restaurants can have digital signage with the menu outside. Users can then scroll through the menu on the large screen just like they would on a smartphone. Digital signs can also include facial recognition technologies that allow the system to recognize the viewer’s age and sex, then deliver a custom message based upon who is looking at the sign.

All of these technologies allow digital signage to deliver more targeted messages in a more efficient way, as well as collect data for the entity that deploys the sign. For example, a traditional sign must be reprinted when the message changes, and it can only deliver one message at a time. Digital signage can deliver multiple messages over time, and those messages can be tailored to the audience using techniques such as dayparting.

Dayparting is the practice of dividing the day into segments so a targeted message can be delivered to a target audience at the right time (Dell, 2013). For example, a digital billboard may deliver advertising for coffee during the morning rush hour and messages about prime-time television shows in the evening. Those ads could be longer because drivers are more likely to be stopped or slowed because of traffic. An advertisement for a mobile phone during mid-day could be very short because traffic will be flowing.

Digital signage also allows viewers to interact with signs in new ways such as the touch and gesture examples above and through mobile devices. In some cases, viewers can move content from a sign to their mobile device using near field communication (NFC) technology or Wi-Fi. For example, visitors to a large hospital could interact with a digital wayfinding sign that can send directions via NFC to their phones.

Another advantage with digital signage is social networking integration. For example, retailers can deploy a social media wall within a store that shows feeds from services like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

New communication technologies are bringing change to digital signage. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies might enable a virtual hotel concierge who can answer questions and provide local information. Gamification helps engage customers with brands and IoT (Internet of Things) technology, especially sensors, can be incorporated into digital signage.

All this interactivity brings great benefits to those using digital signs. Audience metrics can be captured such as dwell time (how long a person looks at the sign), where the person looks on the screen (eye tracking), age and sex of the user, what messages were used interactively, and more.

Considering all the advantages of digital signage, why are people still using traditional signs? Although digital signage has many advantages such as being able to deliver multiple forms of content; allowing interactivity, multiple messages, and dayparting; easily changeable content; and viewer metrics; the big disadvantage is cost. Upfront costs for digital signage are much higher than for traditional signs. Over time, the ROI (return on investment) is generally high for digital signage, but for many businesses and organizations this upfront cost is prohibitive. See Table 9.1 for a comparison of traditional and digital signs.

Cost is often a factor in choosing a digital signage system. There are two basic types of systems: premise based and Software as a Service (SaaS). A premise-based system means that the entire digital signage system is in-house. Content creation, delivery, and management are hosted on location. Advantages of premise-based systems include control, customization, and security. In addition, there isn’t an ongoing cost for service. Although a doctor’s office with one digital sign with a flash drive providing content is an inexpensive option, multiple screen deployments with a premise-based system are generally expensive and are increasingly less popular.

SaaS systems use the Internet to manage and deliver content. Customers subscribe to the service, and the service usually provides a content management system that can be accessed over the Internet. Templates provide customers an easy interface to create sign content, or customers can upload their own content in the many forms described earlier. Users then pay the SaaS provider a regular fee to continue using the service. Both Premises and SaaS systems have advantages and disadvantages and many organizations deploy a mix of both types.

So, to review the technology that makes digital signage work, first there needs to be a screen or display. Next, there should be some kind of media player which connects to the screen. Content can be added to the media player using devices such as flash drives and DVDs, but more commonly the media player resides on a server and content is created, managed, and delivered using a server-on-site or accessed over the Internet.

Digital signage, then, is a growing force in out-of-home signage. Kelsen (2010) describes three major types of digital signage: point of sale, point of wait, and point of transit. These categories are not mutually exclusive or exhaustive but they do provide a good framework for understanding general categories of digital signage use.

Point of Sale digital signage is just what it sounds like—digital signage that sells. The menu board at McDonald’s is an example of a point of sale digital sign. A digital sign at a See’s Candy store in San Francisco International Airport, shows product images until someone stands in front of it. Then users can interact with the sign to get more information about products and an interactive history of the business (Mottl, 2016). Micro-digital-signage (MDS) allows what is called “Intelligent Shelving.” These small digital signs are placed on shelves in retail stores to give price, promotion, and product information using eye catching features such as HDTV (Retail Solution, 2016).

Point of Wait digital signage is placed where people are waiting and there is dwell time, such as a bank, elevator, or doctor’s office. One example is the digital signage deployed inside taxis. Point of Wait signage can convey information such a weather, news, or advertising.

Point of Transit digital signs target people on the move. This includes digital signs in transit hubs such as airports and train stations, signage that captures the attention of drivers, like digital billboards, and walkers, such as street facing retail digital signs. For example, Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City used a digital sign that turned people walking by into candy (Weiss. 2017). Figure 9.1 gives examples of where you might find the three different types of digital signage.

Source: J. Meadows

Source: J. Meadows

Arguably there is a fourth category that I’ll call Point of Mind. This is digital signage employed to create an environment or state of mind. Another term often used is techorating. Hotel lobbies, restaurants, and offices use digital signage to create an environment for guest/clients. For example, the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas uses digital signage for environmental design throughout the property. The lobby features digital signage depicting different elevator scenarios moving up and down columns. See Figure 9.2.

Background

The obvious place to begin tracing the development of digital signage is traditional signage. The first illuminated signs used gas, and the P.T. Barnum Museum was the first to use illuminated signs in 1840 (National Park Service, n.d.). The development of electricity and the light bulb allowed signs to be more easily illuminated, and then neon signs emerged in the 1920’s (A Brief History, 1976). Electronic scoreboards such as the Houston Astros scoreboard in the new Astrodome in 1965 used 50,000 lights to create large messages and scores (Brannon, 2009).

Billboards have been used in the United States since the early 1800s. Lighting was later added to allow the signs to be visible at night. In the 1900s billboard structure and sizes were standardized to the sizes and types we see today (History of OOH, n.d.).

The move from illuminated signs to digital signs developed along the same path as the important technologies that make up digital signage discussed earlier: screen, content, and networks/content management. The development of the VCR in the 1970’s contributed to digital signage as the technology provided a means to deliver a custom flow of content to television screens. These would usually be found indoors because of weather concerns.

A traditional CRT television screen was limited by size and weight. The development of projection and flat screen displays advanced digital signage. James Fergason developed LCD display technology in the early 1970’s that led to the first LCD watch screen (Bellis, n.d.).

Plasma display monitors were developed in the mid 1960’s but, like the LCD, were also limited in size, resolution, and color. It wasn’t until the mid-1990’s that high definition flat screen monitors were developed and used in digital signage. Image quality and resolution are particularly important for viewers to be able to read text, which is an important capability for most signage.

As screen technologies developed, so did the content delivery systems. DVDs replaced VCRs, eventually followed by media servers and flash memory devices. Compressed digital content forms such as jpeg, gif, flv, mov, and MP3 allowed signage to be quickly updated over a network.

Interactivity with screens became popular on ATM machines in the 1980’s. Touch screen technology was developed in the 1960’s but wasn’t developed into widely used products until the 1990’s when the technology was incorporated in personal digital assistant devices (PDAs) like the Palm Pilot.

Digital billboards first appeared in 2005 and immediately made an impact, but not necessarily a good one. Billboards have always been somewhat contentious. Federal legislation, beginning with the Bonus Act in 1958 and the Highway Beautification Act in 1965, tie Federal highway funding to the placement and regulation of billboards (Federal Highway Administration, n.d.). States also have their own regulations regarding outdoor advertising including billboards.

The development of digital billboards that provide multiple messages and moving images provoked attention because the billboards could be driver distractors. Although Federal Transportation Agency rules state billboards that have flashing, intermittent or moving light or lights are prohibited, the agency determined that digital billboards didn’t violate that rule as long as the images are on for at least 4 seconds and are not too bright (Richtel, 2010).

States and municipalities also have their own regulations. For example, a law passed in Michigan in early 2014 limits the number of digital billboards and their brightness, how often the messages can change, and how far apart they can be erected. Companies can erect a digital billboard if they give up three traditional billboards or billboard permits (Eggert, 2014).

While distraction is an issue with billboards, privacy is an overall concern with digital signage, especially as new technologies allow digital signs to collect data from viewers. The Digital Signage Federation adopted its Digital Signage Privacy Standards in 2011. These voluntary standards were developed to “help preserve public trust in digital signage and set the stage for a new era of consumer-friendly interactive marketing” (Digital Signage Federation, 2011).

The standards cover both directly identifiable data such as name, address, date of birth, and images of individuals, as well as pseudonymous data. This type of data refers to that which can be reasonably associated with a particular person or his or her property. Examples include IP addresses, Internet usernames, social networking friend lists, and posts in discussion forums. The standards also state that data should not be knowingly collected on minors under 13.

The standards also recommend that digital sign-age companies use other standards for complementary technologies, such as the Mobile Marketing Association’s Global Code of Conduct and the Code of Conduct from the Point of Purchase Association International.

Other aspects of the standard include fair information practices such as transparency and consent. Companies should have privacy policies and should give viewers notice.

Audience measurement is divided into three levels:

The standards recommend that Level I and II measurement should have opt-out consent while Level III should have opt-in consent (Digital Signage Federation, 2011).

As the use of digital signage has grown, so too has the number of companies offering digital signage services and technologies. Some of the long-standing companies in digital signage include Scala, BrightSign, Dynamax, Broadsign, and Four Winds Interactive. Other more traditional computer and networking companies including IBM, AT&T, Intel, and Cisco have also begun to offer full service digital signage solutions.

Many digital signage solutions include ways for signs to deliver customized content using short wave wireless technologies such as NFC (near field communication), RFID, and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) beacons.

For example, using NFC, a shopper could use their phone to tap a sign to get more information on a product. With RFID, chips placed in objects can then communicate with digital signs. For example, Scala’s connected wall allows users to pick up an object such as a shoe with embedded RFID and then see information about that shoe on a digital sign.

BLE Beacon technology works a little differently. Small low power beacons are placed within a space such as a store. Then shoppers can receive customized messages from the beacons. Users will have to have an app for the store for the beacons to work. So, if a user has an app for a restaurant, as they are walking by the restaurant, the beacon can send a pop-up message with specials or a coupon to entice the user to enter the restaurant.

Mobile payment through NFC and digital signage continues to develop. Vending machines that use NFC technology to allow consumers to pay for items are becoming more personalized. For example, Costa Coffee has the Costa Express CEM-200 vending machine. This isn’t the old stale coffee in a small paper cup machine of the past. This machine recognizes users’ demographics and offers drinks targeted for that group. It also has a touch screen and cashless payment (Getting Started, 2016). You can see the machine in action here: atomhawk.com/case-study/costa-coffee-cem-200.

Panasonic’s LinkRay visibile light communication technology is now being used in some digital signage displays. The technology allows users to communicate with the digital signs using their smartphone camera via a LinkRay app. The Peterson Automotive Museum in Orlando Florida is using this technology to engage with visitors (Panasonic LinkRay, 2017).

Recent Developments

Innovations in digital signage continue to emerge at a fast pace making it a must-have technology rather than a nice-to-have technology. Some of the major developments in digital signage are increased integration with augmented reality, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and E-Ink.

One fun trend in digital signage is augmented reality. “Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data” (Augmented Reality, n.d.). So, imagine a store where you can virtually try on any item—even ones not in stock at the time.

AR and digital signage has been used previously in some creative ways. In one innovative application Pepsi used AR technology to create all kinds of unusual surprises on a street in London. People in a bus shelter could look through a seemingly transparent window at the street, and then monsters, wild animals, and aliens would appear, interacting with people and objects on the street. The transparent sign was actually a live video feed of the street (Pepsi Max Excites, 2014). A video of the deployment can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go9rf9GmYpM. There was a similar deployment of the technology in Vienna for the Premiere of The Walking Dead. Zombies surprised unsuspecting people. See it here www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7FzWUhgqck.

While those AR installations were pretty specialized, nowadays, AR can be found in retail stores across the country. One of the most common ways that AR is being used is with beauty products. Instead of having to try out makeup with samples that everyone else has touched, AR technology allows customers to “try on” different makeup with an AR mirror. Expect AR applications to increase for retail to allow users to try on clothes, makeup, glasses and even hair colors. Both VR and AR are discussed in more depth in Chapter 15.

Social networking continues to be a popular addition to digital signage. It’s fairly common to find digital signage with Twitter feeds, especially with Point of Wait digital signage. News organizations, in particular, use Twitter to keep their digital signage updated with their news feed. Facebook and Instagram posts can also be part of digital signage. For example, corporate digital signage could feature company Instagram posts. In addition, companies can use their own followers’ posts and images. Imagine walking into a clothing or makeup store and seeing Instagram posts of customers wearing the clothing for sale or demonstrating how to apply makeup. Universities and schools use social networking and digital signage to connect students to the institution and to recruit new students. It’s also important for educational institutions and retailers to use the technologies that their students and customers are using.

“Alexa, what’s on sale?” Virtual assistants like the Amazon Echo and Google Home are now popular home technologies, and this technology is now going beyond just home devices to be included in everything from cars to digital signage. For example, MangoSigns has an Alexa app that lets users search for information using voice (MangoSigns, n.d.)

Alexa isn’t the only technology; digital signs can now respond to users ‘voices or other factors using AI technology including sensors. For example, Apotek Hjartat created an anti-smoking digital billboard. When someone was smoking near the billboard, sensors reacted and played a video of a person coughing and looking disgusted. Bannister (2017) discusses how this billboard could have been even more effective using AI to determine if the person put out the cigarette or where the smoke was coming from.

Another application of AI in digital signage is on the backend. Digital signage can use AI technologies to deliver the strongest personalized message to users. Using factors such as facial analysis and other metrics and big data, AI can determine with most potentially successful advertisement to deliver (Henkel, 2016).

Facial recognition technologies embedded in digital signage are increasing with good customer feedback. For example, Lancôme used a “smart mirror” with Ulta Beauty. Customers would use the mirror to try on makeup and the mirror would collect useful data such as make up and style preferences, social media handles and contact information. Unilever used smile recognition technology and a digital kiosk to dispense ice cream treats to users who smiled, all the while collecting user data (Facial recognition, n.d.)

One major part of a digital sign that hasn’t been discussed yet is the actual screen and media players. Advances in OLED, 4K, Ultra HD, and 8K screens (discussed in Chapter 6) and displays have made digital signs clearer even at very large sizes.

OLED screens are almost as thin as the old paper posters. LG is the top manufacturer for OLED screens in the world. At the Consumer Electronics Show in 2018 LG unveiled a 65-inch rollable LED screen as well as “wallpaper” screens (Katzmaier, 2018). At this point the super thin screens aren’t used much in digital signage because of cost and fragility but expect their deployment to rise, especially for interior installations. The sturdy LCD remains king of outdoor digital signage.

Most digital signs are LCD and use traditional LCD display technologies. E-Ink has often been seen to be limited to smaller e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle. Easy to read in sunlight and using less energy, E-Ink has its advantages and now it is available for digital signage in the form of e-paper. E-paper is often used with solar energy sources because power is only needed when the display changes. Look for more e-paper display installations in the future (E-Ink, 2018).

Current Status

The digital signage industry is growing steadily. MarketsandMarkets reported that the digital signage market is expected by grow to $32.8 billion by 2023 (Rohan, 2017). Grant View Research reports a market size of $31.7 billion by 2025. Using either report, the digital signage market is expected to growth by almost 8% from 2016 to 2025. The global digital signage market is expected to grow by 5.2% over the same time. (Digital Signage Market Size, 2017).

The top markets in the U.S. for digital signage are retail, corporate, banking, healthcare, education, and transportation. Retail is the largest segment followed by transportation and banking (Digital Signage Market Analysis, 2017).

Digital billboards, despite their relative unpopularity with some states and municipalities continue to grow. According to Statista (2017), in 2017 there were 7000 digital billboards across the USA; that’s up from 6400 in 2016.

According to the Nielsen OOH Compilation Report, 95% of U.S. residents over 16 noticed out-of-home advertising, and 83% of billboard views look at the advertising, message all or most of the time. The same study found that one in four OOH viewers have interacted with an advertisement with an NFC sensor or QR code (Williams, 2017).

Factors to Watch

The digital signage industry continues to mature and develop. Trends worth noting include increased data collection, use of data, and attempts to regulate that data. Short-range wireless such as BLE beacons and NFC will continue to increase. Digital signage will grow as implementation costs drop dramatically. In addition, the market is mature enough and adoption has spread enough that companies waiting to adopt are moving forward with deployment.

The use of augmented reality and artificial intelligence will continue to grow. Expect digital signage to deliver more customized and personalized messages.

Costs for screens, even 4K and higher resolution will continue to drop and LCD will see a challenge from OLED displays, especially for indoor applications.

Getting a Job

Digital signage is a large and growing industry that few people seem to notice, which makes it a market full of career opportunities. Whether you are studying computer science, graphic design, advertising, marketing, or business information systems, digital signage involves a wide range of industries from displays to networking and interactive graphics. As mentioned above, many more organizations, institutions, and businesses are adopting digital signage and need people who can design and manage these important systems. The Digital Signage Experts Group has published standards for digital signage education and offers digital signage expert certification (Digital Signage Experts Group, n.d.). You can find this at www.dseg.org/certification-programs/.