Author: cvmediasignage3_admin

It can be tricky to communicate important messages in a workplace landscape. Often organisations find people are busied by their overlapping meeting schedules, endless to-do lists and an inbox of emails that no matter how many we action, never seems to get smaller. For companies, a challenge lies in embedding communications within the culture which is both effective and has the ability to translate into different team dynamics and in different locations.

The advances in technology have seen a growing interest in how companies can digitise their communications to integrate seamlessly into their employee’s everyday environment.  How can a company replace the infrequency of a newsletter or email and have a continued cultural representation of pride and progress?

The digital progression for companies is happening at a rapid pace with more efficient workflows, paperless systems and digital data control across multiple business functions. The digital journey is happening for businesses everywhere with Alex Niehenke of Scale Venture Partners saying “If you’re not figuring out how to be a digital company, someone else will be coming around to replace you.”

The integration of digital screens across business locations can provide a continuous feed of information and updates which reflect 3 core aspects of any company;

1. Progress: job wins, project updates, key milestones reached, project completions
2. Pride: team success, internal and external recognition, individual accomplishments
3. Information: safety updates, company information, important news, industry specific information

Similar to the feeds we engage in across social networks, digital corporate communications can bring life and activity to the office and site space. Building integration from the different facets of a business can be particularly beneficial in providing a layered culture of recognising progress, understanding peers and motivate a strong feeling of company pride.

A key aspect and positive of digitalisation within organisations is engagement. Moving from hierarchies to networks and shifting the sense of top down control to an empowering environment will be crucial for the future of work. Companies that want to stay ahead will be looking to move from the more predictable focuses and start experimenting with less predictable opportunities. Enriching company culture through consistent engagement can be achieved through active digital message delivery across different offices, locations and from different sources. The flexibility of real time digital communications empowers employees to engage other employees and offers a platform to spark internal conversation.

 

Case Study

CV Services Group integrated digital corporate communications over 18 months ago and have seen a number of key positives as a result. With 8 locations in 3 states and across two countries, CV Services Group have strived to deliver company coordinated communications simultaneously across all locations. Each office has 1 – 3 screens which displays rotating content inclusive of messages around pride, progress and for informative purposes. The simplistic design of digital screens allow them to blend into any space without interference yet still deliver messages with impact.

Commercial Director, Ian Norman said “integrating the digital signs into the communications mix has seen a number of key positives, with the delivery of up to date and topical content that can be refreshed on a regular basis. The teams have stated how useful they find the information and feel much more informed about what is going on within their own division and on a companywide level.”

The ability to adjust and change content in real time and in reaction to the external and internal environment is reflective of the digital progression being seen across many companies. For CV Services, reinforcing company culture is no longer left to intermittent team meetings or toolbox talks; the digital technology allows it to become part of everyday work life.

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The digital progression of work spaces is ongoing, as digitisation across the workforce is in full swing. Rather than fear the future, companies will seek to adapt, integrate and develop their business culture around the digital space. Assisting with all aspects of corporate communications from the technical to the function and delivery, CV Media & Design can integrate the best digital corporate communications for your company today.

Digital technology is driving rapid change in the car-parking industry — electric cars, driverless cars, car sharing, app-based searching, booking, digital payment systems — the list could go on. The two key areas where digital technology is changing the car-parking industry landscape are the use of Big Data and the use of digital screens to enhance the customer experience.

Big Data

The development of Big Data has provoked great expectations for those who manage parking facilities. In plain terms, Big Data collates data from different sources to reveal patterns and trends associated with human behavior. This data can then be used to help create personalized and engaging digital signage customer experiences. The car-parking industry is data-rich, comprising integral data points, such as payment transactions, occupancy data, sensor data, length-of-stay data and more.

Making use of Big Data and analytics can help parking managers to optimize pricing and parking availability based on factors such as the weather, special events or flight schedules for airport parking. Potential takeaways from data could be to create a dynamic pricing strategy — similar to Uber — based on demand and even offer promotions to attract customers.

Digital screens

The parking facility is often the first touch point for the customer journey but can frequently be overlooked in terms of the overall customer experience. The use of digital signage within parking facilities can not only inform customers of parking-related information, but also display safety and journey information as well as providing timely and targeted promotional messages from nearby retailers or businesses.

Integrated approach

Let’s go through a few ways parking companies can use digital technology to improve the customer experience;

• Book online — An online reservation system allows for a more streamlined customer experience as visitors can pre-book a parking space to reduce the hassle of driving and searching. Companies can collect data through this system by requesting general, vehicle and payment details.
• License-plate recognition — If the customer has registered and pre-booked a space online, the car can be recognized via license-plate recognition, allowing quick entry. If payment details have been registered, the parking costs can be calculated and charged to the customer’s account on exit. This is much easier than having to remember to pay before making their way back to the car.
• Digital parking signs — Located at the entry of parking facilities, digital parking signs can integrate with license-plate recognition software. Once data has been gathered about a customer, the digital sign can display customized and tailored content. This content can include welcome messages, pricing information, available parking spots, car wash and valet specials, and promotional messages from nearby retailers or businesses.
  To help manage supply and demand, parking operators can also quickly and easily adjust parking prices. With a traditional, static parking sign, a price change would entail a minimum two-week turnaround time with approvals, printing and shipping. Digital parking signs allow parking managers to alter pricing within minutes due to cloud-based content management systems.
• Digital video walls — Digital video walls can be based anywhere and everywhere within a park facility. Similar to digital parking signs, these can be linked to license-plate recognition software, allowing video walls to be used for directions — if the customer has an allocated parking spot — or relevant promotional messages.

The Brisbane Airport Corporation in Brisbane, Australia is a great example of innovative parking facility management. The company began their digital disruption with an installation of a video wall above the parking pay machines. Accessible through a cloud-based content management system, BAC can instantly update or schedule content, ensuring no promotional opportunity is overlooked. Digital parking signs have also been installed at the entry and exit of the state-of-the-art AIRPARK allowing the ability to dynamically manage pricing changes and promote parking specials.

Digital technology is a critical enabler in creating the seamless end-to-end experience that customers now expect. Enhancing the parking experience with the clever use of digital technology will help parking operators attract new customers, grow market share and increase revenue. Most importantly, though, digital integration into the delivery of parking services will help generate data and customer insights, allowing parking operators to proactively manage and improve the customer experience.

Featured on DigitalSignageToday.

Walking into a quick-service restaurant these days often means seeing a row of digital displays behind the counter, as LCD screens rapidly replace static back-lit posters.

With an estimated 50 to 70 percent of QSR sales occurring in the drive-thru, taking digital menu boards outdoors is the next logical evolution for the industry. A report by Futuresource Consulting in 2014 suggested that only 1 percent of the potential market for outdoor displays had so far been tapped.

As a reminder of why the drive-thru is important, much of Australia’s eastern seaboard recently copped an unseasonal lashing from the weather gods. As the rain pelted down, the number of drive-thru QSR customers surged as they avoided the drenching that comes from the 100-meter parking lot dash.

Making it easy

The drive-thru customer experience is all about speed and convenience. Having the right menu and message at the right time is important. In the past, business owners had two choices: Display all menu items — breakfast, lunch and dinner — on the one menu board all day long, or use two-sided menu boards that could be flipped during the day. Talk about overwhelming the customer.

The National Restaurant Association’s 2015 Industry Forecast showed 41 percent of the critical 18- to 34-year-old target demographic says technology is an important factor when they choose a restaurant, and the next age bracket — 35 to 44 years — wasn’t far behind at 39 percent. The NRA’s research found that technology improves speed and convenience for consumers. Are drive-thrus and technology the perfect combo meal then?

Let’s go through a handful of the top reasons outdoor digital displays go hand in hand with drive-thrus.

• Enhance customer experience through content
  Digital menus can be adjusted and scheduled to change according to the time of day. For example, a breakfast menu can be scheduled to only appear between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m., being replaced by the all-day promotion for the remainder of the day. It can also offer greater flexibility for promotions and help unclutter visually busy menu boards, which can accelerate order-taking and improve order accuracy.

• Less printing. More marketing.
  A simple price change or menu switch-out for static menu boards would take businesses weeks due to the graphic design time, approvals, printing and shipping. Going digital allows updates to be made in a matter of minutes, including being able to be responsive to the market conditions. Digital also allows for centralized control, with no need for the head office to rely on franchises to changeover static signage.

• Increase sales
  Digital signs can respond to orders as they are placed, so upselling can be an automatic, simple process. The screen can display complimentary items as the order begins to be inputted into the point-of-sale system. A high-resolution screen also allows businesses to tempt customers with eye-catching images of the menu.

Is digital up to the challenge?

But how will outdoor digital displays withstand the vagaries of unpredictable weather, I hear you ask? Rain, snow, heat and cold have for a long time made leaving digital screens out in the elements (i.e.., a drive-thru lane) a costly, complicated and unpredictable proposition. However, the barriers that limited how digital screens could be used outdoors and in direct sunlight have been tackled, making it possible to place high-impact, dynamic messaging in front of customers in nearly any situation.

Outdoor digital displays are now been designed to work flawlessly, for years, despite extreme high and low temperatures, heat from full days of direct sunlight, rain, frost, dirt, dust and fumes, to unpredictable things like power spikes and vandalism. Most notable is the Samsung OH series, which has all the engineering and design needed for ultra-bright, high-reliability, high-durability displays.

The digital edge

QSRs that embrace the opportunity to engage their customers through digital will not only outperform their competitors but will also differentiate themselves from other operators who have not changed the way they do drive-thru business for decades. By combining the influential capabilities of digital menu technology with outdoor digital displays, QSRs can drive sales increases, improve the speed of service and create happier, and hence, more loyal customers.

Is now the right time for you to install outdoor digital displays?

Featured on DigitalSignageToday.