Digital Signage : How Digital Signage Can Make Brands Memorable
For this medium to work, it must be interactive and leave an emotional connection with viewers
September 2010 By Mike Schaiman
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Augmented reality (AR) technology blurs the line between the virtual world and the real world by integrating real-time, interactive 3-D graphics into a live video stream. AR effectively turns viewers from passive spectators to engaged participants, enabling individuals to manipulate a world that only appears "real."
Interactivity, likewise, gets physical via gesture recognition technology, using a camera, computer and display such as an LCD or projection screen. If a visitor wears a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag — say, an RFID-enabled trade show badge — a display or exhibit can automatically reconfigure itself to present personalized content that appeals to that visitor's interests.
The Rules of Attraction
Cool and compelling as these technologies are, they're collectively just a means to an end – tools to create unique storytelling opportunities. Indeed, if the technology isn't immediately accessible or is deemed too confusing, consumers will be put off by it. Cutting edge is good; bleeding edge can be intimidating.
What matters is the retention rate, the nature and level of engagement, and how advertisers can hold consumers longer, communicate messages more effectively, and fully immerse them in their brands. The rules are simple: Attract. Engage. Remember. Digital signage must attract customers' attention, engage them in an experience and have them remember that experience long after it's occurred. Tell me something and I forget it. Show me something and I understand it. Involve me with something and I remember it. Interactivity simply works better.
Just look at the success of the iPhone, iPad and products like them (proof that a display doesn't have to be large to be effective). To deliver on its promise, digital signage must become experiential, and as a result, unforgettable.
Mike Schaiman is co-founder and managing partner of display technology company Helios Interactive Technologies (schaiman@ heliosinteractive.com).
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