Digital signage is about to make our lives suck! Here’s why

My Three Cents:

So you’re telling me Technology is about to make our lives worse? Not better? Pretty big call to make but I’m gonna go ahead and say it. Why? Easy - Because I’m 100% right 50% of the time. Let me explain by telling you a lil story.

Last year I got invited to a digital signage convention (as you do), and I decided to go and check it out. Why? Because I had a single pressing issue in my mind and I wanted to see if that issue would be addressed at the conference which would be filled with the brightest minds in the industry. Plus I always love getting clued up and examining the state of play in different lanes. Truthful Translation : 'I’m just Nosey'.

It was a sunny day in Auckland and the smell of curved 3D displays and AR was in the air. I arrived at the convention center 20 minutes early so I could ‘people watch’ and within 10 minutes I was engulfed from all angles by a sea of ageing suits. Not that I was judging the suits but I thought that the target demographic of a digital signage tech convention would have been a lil different. Truthful Translation : 'Younger'. I obviously presumed wrong. Scanning the scene I could tell that about 90% of those at the convention probably didn’t even know what Tinder was. Not that I use Tinder or anything. Just saying. You could feel those in attendance weren’t the trendsetters or thought leaders in the space of next level tech. It actually looked like it could have been a convention for lawn bowls or cable ties and no one would have known the difference. The vibe was weird. Real weird. Or maybe I just have no idea what a corporate convention should be like. Yeah - probably that.

What's Tinder? If you're technically savvy enough to
find this article you obviously already know.

Anyways, unfortunately for me, being a 6’ 2” balding 100kg maori w/ glasses, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Why? Not because of my lacking physical features but I obviously missed the dress code memo. Let’s just say rocking up on a bright Fixey with a pair of fresh Air Jordan’s, XXL Burton hoody and Raiders Mitchell&Ness cap probably didn’t blend in with the countless 2 and 3 piece business attire. So naturally I took my spot at the back of the bus and watched the proceedings with my weathered Moleskin ready to grab some pearls of wisdom that would set my heart afire with the promise of inspiring digital signage future. Unfortunately this was not to be the case. After the copy-paste welcome and 5 min blah yarn from Mr. Council then the same hoo-ha from Mr. Government dude the day got cracking with the line of speakers. We took a break, the remaining speakers did there thing and the day finished off.

At the end of the convention when it was time to ‘NETWORK’ Truthful Translation : 'Beers where strangers force conversations to figure out who they could milk something from'. I was mulling around the back solo (probably looking like I was trying to snake the 80inch display panel) when out of nowhere I got approached by an elderly gentlemen. Dressed up in a dapper dark blue suit that would make Harvey Spector proud while he sipped away at his glass of Sav. This 60 year old boss really had a rad bit of swag. “So what’d you think?” asked the aged business warrior. I looked at him and quickly whipped “Honestly?”. “Of course” he replied. Then I per rip. “All today taught me was two things. 1. In 10 years everywhere you look, instead of posters and billboards we will see digital signage screens. Screens everywhere. Bathrooms, buses, trains, buildings, lobbies, on the street, in windows - EVERYWHERE. We already knew this. 2. More importantly, Not a SINGLE person alllllllllllll day even mentioned WHAT will go ON the screens”. Old mate looked at me with a blank stare that easily translated into one of two things. A) - I was an idiot, or B) - I had just blown his mind. The blankness in his face was almost like he was theorising colliding black holes or something. haha.

Old mate - Working Style suave

You see - this is why life is gonna suck with digital signage in the next decade. Because all these people are thinking about the platform of screens and not how they will actually fill that network of new technology with content. The issue, and answer is CONTENT. I’ve said it about 47 times now and it’s still more true than when I made it up last month after a few balcony beers - ‘CONTENT IS THE NEW CURRENCY’. With not many thinking about this we run the risk of a bunch of ageing suits investing millions into rolling out thousands of screens all over the country with no plan or strategy around content. Screens will be forcibly placed into every nook and cranny of our lives and if they don’t have a clue at what really is going to go on, it’s going to be horrible - really horrible for all of us.

At FRONTSIDE when various crews come in and we talk shop about this issue I ask a simple question, “If you were a TV channel - what would I be watching?”. Because digital signage or content strategy in general isn’t like a magazine where your agency can smack out a full page ad 3 times a year and your done. Digital Signage is a full-time thing, always on and always cranking. Can you imagine how crap it would be watching a digital signage screen rotating the same three static jpeg adverts alllllllll day everyday for months at a time. It’s gonna be disgusting. It’d be like getting forced to watch a crappy Freeview channel which features talkshow repeats from the 80’s. That is why digital signage is gonna make our lives crap! Because if what we see on those screens sucks it will get us so angry we’ll probably want to smash the screens with baseball bats before we would want to buy the products that show up on them. Actually, if the ad pisses you off enough you’ll probably end up hating the brand which is advertising on the screen, which will do more harm to the advertiser than anything. And that whole scenario doesn’t seem like a win-win for anyone.

All I’m saying is that I can see this wave of screens coming and I’m getting a lil nervous. I’m nervous because if the dude buying them doesn’t even know what Tinder is, or have some clued on cats around him to have some strategy around content then I am sure he’ll have no idea what to put on the screens and it will be a shitshow. And that is the issue I see coming down the line…. Pretty much to sum up. Screens will be just like Herpes - they won't be going away anytime soon! Haha.

My simple answer to solve all of this can be described in one single sentence :

“Create Constant Cool Content to Consistently Convert your Community into Customers”

Alliteration overload. BOOM! That day of the convention was a huge day for me personally. Why? Because when I peddled away on my fluro Fixey feeling more out of place than a 6ft maori wearing a hoody at a digital signage convention I knew that our business was set for good. Why? Because we create content - and creators will always have value…… ALWAYS!

Your Three Cents :
Am I tripping in seeing this as a big problem of the future of digital signage? Or am I just seeing it this way because I’m in the content lane and can see the biggest problem/opportunity? What do you think future holds with Digital Signage? Thoughts?

- Robett Hollis