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Retailers wrestle with creating content for in-store digital media systems
By Anne DiNardo
There’s a scene in the movie, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” in which an employee at the Smart Tech store promises a customer that if he buys a TV, the employee will throw in the Michael McDonald “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” video that’s been playing on the store’s wall of TVs for the last two years.
That moment of pure employee desperation captures one of the challenges involved with in-store digital media: how to maintain an in-store system of video broadcasting with enough engaging content to inform customers, add to the overall shopping environment and not drive people crazy.
VM+SD’s annual state-of-the-industry look at in-store digital media systems shows that content is one of the leading concerns among retailers and designers, along with distribution and maintenance.
As prices of these impressive LCDs, plasmas and projection screens have dropped, making flat screens almost as ubiquitous today as MP3 players, the conversation has shifted to what should be displayed on those screens, how often it should be updated, what’s the best way to distribute it and how to avoid “clerk burn,” the industry term for that Smart Tech employee’s suffering.
“The discussion used to be how much does the equipment cost? Is it durable? Can we afford it?” says Brian Shafley, president and creative director at Columbus, Ohio-based design firm Chute Gerdeman. “Now it’s all about content. What is it going to be? How is it relevant to the store and the brand experience?”
What’s Playing Where?
What do retailers want on their screens? Shafley says he sees a lot of clients who want the screens to relay both specific product information and promote lifestyle/branding messages.
“That’s where the content questions comes in – do you want the same message playing over and over again or do you want your brand to be constantly refreshed?” he says.
Kris Konrath, director of marketing for Convergent Media Systems (Alpharetta, Ga.), which creates custom media distribution networks, says a retailer’s understanding of its customers’ shopping habits can help navigate the confusing waters of content development. For instance, he says, a grocery shopper visits the store several times a week and would need to see fresh content more frequently, whereas a car dealership may see the same customers only once a year and doesn’t have as immediate a need for new content.
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