the-123

Dave Haynes of the Preset Group has a great article on his blog sixteen-nine.net about the NFC event mashup project we participated in. We really enjoyed being selected to participate.

Wanted to say here, thanks especially to the guys at BlueBite and Nanolumens for their ongoing assistance getting everything working.

1. Instinct has no place in Marketing and Content Strategy
2. Conversions is all that matters, not impressions
3. Use a simple Call to Action with simple ways for the audience to participate

Insteo started as an ad and marketing firm. We still do that for clients, daily. We purchase national media for print, TV and online. We run search and digital marketing campaigns. We know media buying is an art and media buyers are smart. They rely on real analytics, not conjecture. They’re investing their client’s money, and demand a return.

With recent marketing technology advances, Instinct Marketing is becoming the most dangerous approach ever. And yet it seems to be what the DOOH industry is built on.

[...]

1. Touch your viewers on an emotional level.
2. The DOOH industry is ready for a revolution, but it can’t happen without true ROI.
3. Digital Signage can inspire customers in ways other mediums can’t, to drive customer behavior change.

Content needs to be Relevant, Engaging, and Interactive. And with those three you’re ready to go further, and inspire.

Inspiring content gets the audience to sit forward, by combining relevancy with engagement.  It’s timely, purposeful messages, going one more step to turn me from a viewer to a buyer. From a fan to a follower.

People engage and interact with screens out of curiosity, and this may be a one time reaction. Inspiring your audience means getting them beyond the curious phase, leaving them wanting more. [...]

1. With DOOH, interactivity should be everywhere.
2. Adding interactivity isn’t that difficult, with text, email and social.
3. Don’t make the audience perform acrobatics – make sure it’s easy to interact.

–

Your audience is bombarded with content of all types, everything from interruptive ads to favorite TV shows. And it’s all passive, not encouraging me to do anything except watch.  It’s time to go interactive everywhere.

There are places where the situation demands interactivity – mall directories, museum displays, etc. But I’m talking about adding interactivity where you don’t expect to find it. On screens in a bar or nightclub, on a menu board, or the stadium LED ring. [...]

1. Engaging content connects with the viewer on an emotional level.
2. Be sincere – fake it and the audience will lose touch.
3. Borrow best practices from static out-of-home and other mediums.

Engaging content is sincere and inviting – creating an emotional conversation with the audience. It takes relevancy to a new level.

Of course, showing content about teeth cleaning procedures in a dentist’s office is relevant, but it often fails to engage the audience. No one’s paying attention because it’s dry, boring, and doesn’t make them want what you’re showing. With out-of-home content, you have less than 5 seconds to capture and keep your audience’s attention. A video loop and a news crawl just won’t cut it.

[...]

Insteo recently completed an “Event Activation” project for Long Beach Race Week – a sailing regatta which draws thousands of sailors and spectators. As a proof of concept, Insteo provided live HD video streaming, race results, photos, video, social media and text messaging via the Insteo Display system.

1. More and More fans expect interactivity, social feeds, and streaming video from live events
2. Activating an event brings more viewers and increased sponsor dollars
3. It doesn’t take an army of AV techs to deliver, and increased revenues cover the extra expense

[...]

the 123 of this article:

1. Checking in on Foursquare is an impulsive action
2. Promote Foursquare Specials and contests at the Point of Sale
3. Don’t force customers to remember offline media for an online promotion

I’m surprised by the current stealth mode on the 7-Eleven “Check-into-Space” Foursquare campaign for the upcoming movie Super 8 – http://www.7-eleven.com/checkintospace. [...]

1. The best Digital Signs have relevant and location specific content with Social Media and other user generated messages
2. Machine Moderation is more than just filtering profanity – it has to look for quality messages
3. When the Moderation system has two messages at the same time, it must be smart enough to pick the best quality message for the screen, to keep things interesting

The best Digital Signage networks have the power to deliver unique location specific content to each individual screen.  But, creating interesting content per screen is very difficult. This means, location specific content has to be at least partly user generated, coming from Social Media, text messages, review sites, user submitted photos, blogs, etc.  But user generated content is filthy, mean and boring!

[...]