Saturday, January 22, 2011
Close Encounter with Best Buy On, an example of a multi-channel approach that includes "in-store digital media" and an on-line magazine
Over the next 9 months or so, I'll be in the market for a computer, an iPad or something similar, a Kinect, and maybe a mid-size Internet-enabled HDTV. As a consequence, I turned in to a Best Buy on my way home from work Friday to see what I could find. I didn't want to spend much time at the store, since I'm the type of shopper who goes in, finds the desired item(s), and leaves.
During this trip to Best Buy, my shopping habits were broken, at least temporarily. I found myself wandering around, looking at the numerous displays of all sizes located about the store. The displays distracted me from my intended mission.
I spend more time in the store than I'd planned, and I left the store empty-handed. But that is OK, since I think that this strategy, in the long run, will have the power to entice me back to the store and leave knowing that I've made an informed purchase.
According to Gail Chiasson in her Daily DOOH post,"Best Buy's New In-Store Network", Best Buy established an internal advertising and editorial team in 2009, and officially launched a multichannel network called Best Buy On, which extends the in-store network of displays, to the online magazine, also called Best Buy On . Best Buy On focuses on different theme each month. This month's theme featured all of the cool things that were unveiled at the recent Consumer Electronics Show.
The bottom line is that customers are provided with with enhanced information about various products in each department, and can access additional information on-line. In turn, this might lead to better sales and happier repeat customers in the long run.
There is room for improvement. It would be nice if the in-store network of displays was less disjointed. I was puzzled by the somewhat inconvenient placement of some of the displays. The content running on the screens also could be better focused on the needs of the customers in specific departments, including the needs of customers from all age groups. For example, my 80-year-old mother needs a new laptop and would also like to find an eReader that is suitable for someone her age. I'm not sure what she'd make of the displays that run animated comments about products from Facebook fans!
Although there is room for improvement, the Best Buy On approach is a start. I would like to see more touch-enabled displays as part the in-store network, given the fact that Best Buy sells touch-screen gadgets, tablets, and all-in-one PCs. They also need to get the Kinect demo up and running!
RELATED
Below is a slideshow of the pictures I snapped as I wandered about Best Buy:
FAR OUT 1/9/11 (Best Buy On video about products at CES)
What is Best Buy On? (Description of on-line magazine)
Best Buy Addresses High-Tech Obsolescence
Shirley Brady, Brand Channel, 1/18/11
Buy Back Program from Best Buy Helps "Future-Proof" Today's CE Purchases
Jeremy Baier, Best Buy, 1/10/11
"Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn describes the consumer electronics retailer's just-launched Buy Back program as "a game-changer." The goal: to help customers embrace new technology with greater confidence."
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
From a post-WIMP Perspective: What Happens When Post-Mass Market Goes to Market? Bob Garfield's insightful video, and more...
I realize that working for the public good has prevented me from developing a thirst for marketing competitiveness. I don't have a greedy bone in my body. The only reason that I've developed a slight interest in advertising and marketing over the past few years is my interest in technology and how our society has been transformed by recent changes. Everyone has a cell phone, everyone wants an iPhone, everyone expects that technology will help us to meet our social, political, financial, health, education, environmental, and humanitarian needs, right?
What is happening to our "mainstream" cornerstones?
By mainstream, I mean traditional newspapers, magazines, network television, cable, and brochure-like websites. All of a sudden, reporters are running to take graduate classes in multi-media journalism, a domain previously "owned" by network TV 10-15 years ago. Newspapers and magazines are now web-based, your favorite radio and television program have their own websites, and just about every one is on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.
The Web is easily accessed, ubiquitous, running on SmartPhones and iPhones, netbooks, and now, e-readers, right from your pocket, purse, or bag.
Ten years ago, if you had a job coding for a tech company, there wasn't an expectation that you'd have to hone your writing skills to maintain a blog, and learn how to produce short video clips to promote your work and the work of your company. If you preferred NOT to be open and social, it was fine! Now, you are probably just holding on. Maybe.
What inspired this post is a video of a presentation by Bob Garfield, an ad critic and essayist for Advertising Age. a magazine I interact with online. He is the co-host of NPR's On the Media program, and has a lot of insight regarding advertising trends and so forth. He is also hilarious. If you are viewing this in a family setting, know that Mr. Garfield uses a few "bad" words and quite a number of data and financial statistics to make his point. No traditional media institution is untouched.
An eye opener. Worth every 34+ minute!
The Chaos Scenario from Greg Stielstra on Vimeo.
"Bob Garfield...forcasts the disintegration of mass advertising structures that have worked in perfect symbiosis for 400 years and prescribes "listenomics" as the way for brands to thrive in the digital, post-advertising age. He warns that all formerly top-down institutions cannot dictate to consumers with advertising through mass media as before, but must use digital tools to forge relationships with them--no longer seeing people as piggy banks, or eyeballs, or votes, but as genuine stakeholders in their enterprise. Amid the ruins of mass media,the choice for business is stark: listen or perish. Learn more at thechaosscenario.net."
(For those of you following the postWIMP discussion, you might be interested in looking at the post on the chaos scenario.net blog: The Problem with Acronyms. What a coincidence!)
Bob Garfield's insights were forshadowed by the "Prosumer" video from a couple of years ago:
Google and Yahoo are getting it, and demonstrate foresight by providing free wi-fi service in urban environments. Below is a short video clip of Dana Spiegel, the NYCwireless Executive Director, about Yahoo's sponsorship of free Wi-Fi in Times Square in New York City:
And here is a spin from Microsoft:
Windows Mobile 7 User Interface
Thursday, December 24, 2009
What is DOOH and Why Should We Care?
What is DOOH and Why Should We Care?
"Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is a dynamic, fragmented, and rapidly evolving space. It's one of the fastest growing media channels, with year-over-year growth pegged in the double digits through at least 2011....as with many emerging media channels, DOOH is a bit of a gray area in terms of what type of agency should own strategy, planning, and buying. A traditional agency because TV spots can be repurposed? The OOH shop because it's just a digital version of a billboard? The interactive shop, because it's digital, often interactive, and highly measurable? Or will a new class of DOOH specialty shops emerge to deliver services explicitly for the channel? This lack of clarity creates uncertainty and hesitation in advertisers.
-Jeremy Lockhorn, ClickZ 7/13/09 Digital Out-of-Home Landscape Brief (pdf)
This is an industry that is beginning to take off, just as internet-based advertising and web-design/user experience did during the 1990's. The number of players, and potential players, is growing.
At the same time, the web and video content is migrating to mobile devices, such as smartphones and net-books, that have broad-band wireless access. Everyone will want a bigger share of our eyeballs, and attention!
- No one has complete ownership of this space.
- Converging industries and disciplines come to the space from very different vantage points.
- People are interested in the DOOH space because they see the potential for $$$$.
- Digital Out-Of-Home experiences have the potential of becoming something that we DON'T WANT:
- Internet pop-ups and banner ads, but not on your PC screen
- No option to "opt-out", like the irritating 15-second "pre-trailers" that we are forced to view
when we access video content on the web.
Below is an example of what things might be if we have no say in the matter. The scene is from Minority report. The character played by Tom Cruise walks across a mall full of translucent 3D digital signage ads, all customized to match his identity, which is determined by a mandatory scan of his eyes.
Although the content is beautiful and seductive, it is overwhelming and in my opinion, worse than what I experience when I'm out and about or when I'm on the Internet. scenario above doesn't allow people to opt in, as their identity is determined from automatic eye scans, connected to a vast database of information that fuels the system. (This sort of data is there, just ask Google!)
We aren't quite there yet, so there is time for thoughtful people to create a world outside of our homes that might be unobtrusive, pleasant, or entertaining.
Here are some examples:
Below is a slideshow of an assortment of pictures of screens and kiosks from airports, malls, grocery stores, cruise ships, and a smattering of other places, taken from 2007 to the present:
It is not always pretty, but there is hope:
Digital Signage Insider
Bill Gerba, Senior Writer
Bill Gerba is the CEO of Wirespring, a company that provides hardware, software, and services for digital signage and kiosk projects. Founded in 2000, this company has grown along with the digital signage industry. Wirespring's clients include Walmart, bp, P&G, Harris, Clear Channel, Televisa, Marriott, and GLFinancial.
One of the reasons I started following Bill Gerba's blog is that he takes a very user-centered view, and his recommendations are based on evidence supported by metrics as well as what is known about human information processing and behavior. Bill takes a wider view when gathering information, and he shares his thoughtful insight in a clear manner.
Must-reads:
Digital Signage Screen Placement: Targeting the Attention Zone
Digital Signage Screen Placement: Understanding Store Layout
Digital Signage Screen Placement: Angle, Height and Text Size
Digital Signage Screen Placement: Modeling Consumer Behavior
What makes good digital signage content effective?
Making Great Digital Signage Content: A Quick Reference Guide
This article contains links to more in-depth "how-to" articles that cover topics such as the serial position effect, use of chunking and coding to facilitate better recall among customers, optimizing for context while eliminating distractions, crafting copy and "call-to-action", use of font faces, sizes, and styles, use of features related to color, contrast, motion, silhouettes, and animation, and composing shots and scenes.
The DOOH Advertising Paradox: Better Spots Are Harder to Sell
RELATED
OVAB Digital Media Summit: Focus on Digital Out-of-Home
OVAB (Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau) Audience Metric Guidelines (pdf)
"Founded in 2007, the Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau(OVAB) represents leading out-of-home video networks and the advertising community that is actively engaged in planning, buying, and evaluating the effectiveness of the medium. On behalf of its members, OVAB seeks to foster ongoing collaboration between agencies and out-of-home video advertising networks, and provide standards, best practices, and industry-wide research as well as promote the effectiveness of out-of-home video advertising."
The Web Outside's DOOH Dictionary
"DOOH refers to digital signage that is displayed in public spaces (Times Square, airports, outdoor concert venues, enormous office buildings in Dubai), social places (bars, restaurants, cafes, college campuses,convention centers), and retail environments."
DAILY DOOH Adrian J. Cotterill, editor
Profiles of a variety of digital signage related companies
(from the Digital Signage Universe website)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Gas Station TV - I spied this at a suburban Detroit gas station!
While I was visiting relatives in the Metro Detroit area recently, I spied "Gas Station TV" flashing at a service station as I was driving about. Unfortunately, I didn't have my digital equipment nearby.
Here is information from the source:
Gas Station TV:
"GSTV features ESPN sports, CBS News and Entertainment segments, and local market weather. GSTV's 4 1/2 minute lineup is designed to maximize consumer engagement."
"Destination Media (http://www.dmedia.com ), the digital out-of-home marketing leader and parent of Gas Station TV and LG Electronics (http://www.LGcommercial.com ), a leader in digital signage displays, today announced plans for a long-term strategic technology and marketing alliance." link
CBS News on Gas Station TV
Could it be possible to market one's place of worship through Gas Station TV?
I found this picture on Google Images. I don't know Joe Thorn, but it if you are interested, his blog post that accompanied this picture, "Does your church advertise?", sparked a discussion about marketing and churches...
Related article from msnbc.
Previous posts about gas pumps and human-world interaction:
Google Maps at the Gas Pump?! One Small Step Towards Ubiquitous Computing for the Masses
Interesting Technology: InfiniTouch Expands on the Concept of Touch-Screen Interaction
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Bill Gerba's Summer Reading List: Digital Signage and Kiosks
Bill Gerba's summer reading list is a must-see for those of you interested in the business/industry side of interactive displays and pervasive computing. Take a look!
