SignageWire

Audience Measurement Is The Industry's Missing Link, Will Transcend Digital Signage

Author: WireSpring on 2008-09-30 11:29:09

According to some guy from Stratacache over at Retail Solutions Online:

The need for metrics has been a hot topic within the digital signage industry. Trade show and conference panels have addressed everything from why a system needs to be in place to what emerging technology is on the horizon. The excitement and change the digital media and out-of-home (OOH) video marketplace has seen recently can leave newcomers in a tailspin. Providers are showcasing more and more forthcoming solutions that allow businesses to cater ads based on age, gender, ethnicity, and proximity.

Although digital signage has been increasingly adopted across all industries and has proven to be very influential and effective, the lack of real time audience measurement has curtailed the industry's ability to realize full potential. There are two layers of audience measurement working in synchrony. At the provider level, metrics are needed to show that a particular solution is effective and meeting the clients' goals and objectives. On a broader level, the industry needs to demonstrate that the medium is not only powerful, but clearly surpasses the effectiveness of other less targeted and less customizable mediums.

Our take:

We hear this argument a lot, though most often it's from relative neophytes in the industry who are trying to relate our business to more traditional advertising models that they're familiar with. While metrics might make one particular kind of business model more profitable, it's likely that when looking at the "digital signage industry" as a whole it will have less of an impact than many predict.

WireSpring's position is that it's project complexity -- not metrics -- that are the primary hindrance.  Complexity influences decision making, team size and makeup, and, of course, costs, all of which give management teams pause when considering whether to even pilot a digital signage project.  Industry players would do better to address these things.

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