A response to recent blog postings

I would like to respond to some postings recently published on a well-known digital signage industry blog.  The first article focused on recent staff changes at our North American office while another article covered the site’s annual “Top 10” list of digital signage software vendors.  We also received a letter from the blog’s publisher questioning us on our decision not to attend some of the upcoming digital signage trade shows.

I was very  surprised and disappointed when I read these articles because they are misleading.  I understand some journalists may feel the need to create controversies when there are none if only to increase readership, but when you brand yourself as an impartial industry resource you could at least try to get your facts straight.  

I want to take this opportunity to reaffirm our total commitment to the North American market which so far has performed beyond our expectations. In fact, we are glad to welcome anyone to our new Montreal office which will be opening in early January 2012.

Since 2009, we have grown our North American operations substantially. We currently have a team of 10 people operating in sales, engineering and support and there are very few digital signage software publishers that have physical presence in both continents like we have.

In regards to trade show participation, we made the decision not to attend the Amsterdam and Las Vegas shows in 2012. Instead we set up showrooms in our Lausanne and Montreal offices and plan to meet with our major customers and distributors in a more private setting.

This brings me to the site’s “top 10 list” where the author ranks together major software publishers and integrators.  Frankly, I don’t understand the logic behind this list.  If this is meant as a ranking of top software publishers, why include integrators who have nothing to do with the design, coding and publishing of digital software applications?  Also, it would be nice to know where they get their data  and what criteria is being used because we have never been asked to produce anything for them.  Not one phone call or email.

It’s interesting to note that Navori is currently in the top 10 tier of global digital signage software publishers based on the number of licenses sold and profitability, yet we are never listed in the rankings on that blog.  

We would gladly participate but no one’s asked so you can make your own conclusions.

Advanced ad targeting – delivering your message in two seconds or less

In the beginning, most digital signage operators would display a repeating loop of full-screen media. They would often follow the traditional TV ad format rather than exploit the technology’s full capabilities. As far as the viewers were concerned, it was a bit like having an insurance salesman knock on your door at dinner time. Viewers began to perceive digital signage as nothing more than background noise so they simply “tuned it out”.

As is often the case, innovation first came from 24 hour TV news channels. Back in 2000, several news channels began to experiment with new ways of packaging and delivering information.  At first, they started to deliver multiple streams of information in shorter segments. This soon evolved to include a mix of video content, high-end graphics and real-time news tickers. This made for a much more stimulating experience and audiences noticed.

There are many commonalities between TV news channels and digital signage programming.

For example:

1. Viewer exposure is very short (a few seconds to a few minutes at best).
2. The audience absorbs the information on the fly.
3. Programming is based on repetition (looping).
4. A viewer who isn't hooked very quickly will move on to another channel.

TV news relies on 3 devices to keep their viewers hooked:

The news ticker often seen at the bottom of the screen, the video news report that occupies the main area of the screen and the programming that is non-linear to stimulate viewers interest.

We believed this approach, which is quite popular in North America, would represent the future of the digital signage market.

However, we soon discovered that technical constraints made this model virtually impossible to implement.  Many of the software applications still on the market today were designed more than 10 years ago.  Back then, it was inconceivable for digital signage to achieve the same look and feel as broadcast TV news.

Navori QL and other second generation digital signage applications have been completely redesigned to take advantage of many new technologies.  They enable users who may lack extensive technical or graphical expertise to easily achieve the same visual impact as broadcast TV using inexpensive PC equipment (priced around $350).

I predict this level of innovation will help grow the digital signage market, even in the current economic environment.