Following the renovation and rebranding of the former Burdines flagship store at Miami's Dadeland Mall, the Macy's Florida division of Federated Department Stores decided to up the ante with an innovative in-store digital media system.

The project was spearheaded by Robert Unger, senior vp, visual merchandising and store design, with the immediate objective of communicating new Macy's brands to South Florida consumers.

“We challenged ourselves to find a state-of-the-art vehicle for point-of-sale promotions, with the goal of creating an eye-catching and informative medium to educate the customer,” says Unger. “We evaluated several creative designs until we found the best possible fit for our objectives, the existing store design and our customer's shopping accessibility.”

Fabricated and co-managed by Digital Signage Services LLC (DSS, Key Biscayne, Fla.), the digital media installation consists of six display kiosks deployed in the center of the main store aisle. Because the aisle is also an extension of the main concourse of the mall, the large format (54-inch-by-40-inch) projection display screens deliver eye-level, high-impact images and sound out of the store to about 1.2 million monthly mall visitors.

Ceiling-mounted digital projectors beam content to the translucent acrylic display screens, creating a traffic-stopping double-sided presentation. Compared to LCD or plasma signs, the projection screens offer a bright, border-free aesthetic appeal that precludes the impression of a monitor or TV.

The presentations typically run from 10 to 20 minutes, and include a combination of synchronized audio/video, flash and still images. Rather than running generic music videos or broadcasting TV commercials, Macy's multimedia presentations are created specifically for this program, scheduled according to both general and promotional conditions.

Macy's cosmetic and fragrance area designer Maria Enza Finamore plans the promotional schedule in conjunction with brand vendors. This preliminary stage includes the coordination of guidelines, artwork and videos from the brands and their creative agencies.

Once approved, the components are forwarded to DSS, which digitally remixes the material for final presentation. According to DSS director Jose Diaz, the key is to convert Macy's raw materials into promotional messages that are appropriate for digital signage.

“It's important to remember what our client's goals are,” says Diaz. “Short and to the point is what we are usually going for.”

DSS maintains a staff of multimedia pros to perform repurposing and production.

The overall installation was developed as a turnkey system, with DSS providing fabrication, hardware, software and infrastructure, as well as ongoing maintenance and scheduling services. Content is delivered to the Macy's signage system via the DSS network, with data housed on redundant servers at the mall, at DSS's offices and remote servers.

The Macy's Dadeland project was selected as Judges' Choice in the 2006 DIGI competition, an honor bestowed by The Digital Signage Group, a dynamic signage trade association based in Seattle. More important, according to Macy's Finamore, customers have responded with what she terms “'wow factor' and incredible support.” She adds: “We hope this shows that technology and retail can be mixed together to give customers a memorable shopping experience.”