Feeding the Beast

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.

Customer dwell time can also help direct content development. A deli department should have a longer content loop than endcap or aisle signage, where customers are passing by more quickly.

“It all goes back to the basics and understanding your customer,” says Konrath, whose company is developing a system to help its clients develop custom content more efficiently and effectively.

Karen Meskey-Wilson, one of the earliest advocates of in-store digital media, says J.C. Penney (Plano, Texas) updates its content on average 16 times a month in conjunction with seasonal messaging, such as back to school or holiday. The laborious task is made easier and cheaper thanks to the company’s own production studios. “Our biggest challenge is keeping it fresh,” says Penney’s vp, store planning and visual standards, “and figuring out where to put it that gets the most credit from customers.”

In fact, digital signage placement can be as critical as content development.

“It’s not just hanging a plasma on a wall,” says Convergent’s Konrath. “It should be part of the overall design of the store environment.”

 

Like many early-adopters, J.C. Penney has wrestled with where the technology works best in its stores. So far, the department store retailer has tried plasma screens at the entrances and escalator wells of a half-dozen stores, as well as in the gift wrap and catalog areas. Recently, the company remodeled its cashwrap areas and moved the screens nearby. It is also testing another new deployment using LCD screens in conjunction with kiosks in the baby, intimate apparel and shoe departments. The screens show additional products not on display or perhaps not even available at the store, such as nursery furniture. And the nearby kiosk is ready for immediate online orders. “We can show customers our breadth of merchandise,” says Meskey-Wilson.

A Vehicle for Communication

Once retailers figure out the content issue, how are they delivering it to their stores? Last December, Harley-Davidson Motor Co. (Milwaukee), was reviewing its in-store digital media program to assess if the three-year-old system should be renewed or discontinued. Because the program’s content was 70 percent music and videos and 30 percent Harley branded lifestyle material, it wasn’t possible to use sales to measure the effects of the program. So the company surveyed shoppers, at stores with and without the media program, and found that facilities with the program received much higher ratings.

“We determined that it improved the shopping experience and gave us a vehicle to communicate with our consumers in a way that we never have before,” says Lynn Knutson, Harley-Davidson’s visual merchandising program manager.

Harley-Davidson decided to keep the system, but to tweak it based on feedback it received in surveys to its 300-plus dealerships participating in the program. The company is planning to increase its lifestyle marketing and offer more promotional spots, which will enable tracking sales going forward. The retailer will also add informational content that explains specific benefits of Harley-Davidson products.

“Our goal is not to hard-sell market on there,” says Knutson. “It’s more to explain the features and benefits of our products.”

Harley-Davidson is also changing its distribution method. Originally, the company was sending four hours of monthly content to dealers on DVDs. “We ran into problems when we wanted to do any type of promotion because the planning and production of the DVDs was so time-consuming,” says Knutson. “We couldn’t turn those programs around quickly enough.”

This fall, Harley-Davidson began a pilot program deploying fresh content to dealers via the Internet. The content is uploaded to an outside software provider’s site and then automatically deployed to participating dealers.

Feedback from industry leaders suggests that the majority of electronic digital signage users are increasingly turning to the Internet for content distribution. But there are other issues. Meskey-Wilson says J.C. Penney’s number one issue is distribution method. The department store’s cautious IT department is concerned about security on the Penney’s network. So she’s using a manual process to distribute content, while seeking bids from outside content distribution companies to supply a more efficient method. “We’re still working through it,” she says.

Why go Digital?

All the issues surrounding the use of in-store digital media – cost, hardware, installation, content development and on-going maintenance – raise one overall question: Why go to all the trouble?

“For us, it always comes back to ‘What’s appropriate for the brand?’ ” says Shafley.

For convenience store chain Sheetz, Chute Gerdeman employed digital menu boards and ordering kiosks to support the message of fast service and convenience. “The message is that the technology is going to help customers get in and out faster,” says Shafley. “But if the retailer just has a video playing on a screen and it doesn’t give customers a benefit that they can quickly understand, it’s superfluous.”

Meskey-Wilson agrees it all ties in with brand perception and creating an exciting store experience. “It’s the way the customer expects to shop today.”