Category: News

The automotive industry is undergoing an era of digital disruption. With a modern, tech-savvy target audience, creating a high-energy, interactive and visual experience is no longer optional for automotive dealership showrooms – it’s a necessity. Static signs and posters simply do not captivate an audience anymore. Digital signage is engaging and interactive with the ability to be updated anytime, anywhere.

Digital disruption enables companies to provide a new level of customer experience. According to a Harris Interactive study conducted on behalf of Verint Systems, 88 percent of customers prefer doing business with a company that offers a quality customer experience over a company that has the latest and most innovative products. With the ability to create a wow factor in the showroom, digital signage enhances the automotive industries’ customer experience, leading to stronger engagement, increased loyalty and improved conversion rates.

The potential for digital technology to enhance the customer experience within the automotive industry is limitless. The list below covers only a handful of the many opportunities available:

• Outdoor LED
  LED, whether this is in the form of an LED trailer or an LED display installed on the dealership’s facility, provides a high impact, flexible advertising option to attract passing traffic. Digital signage allows marketing teams to effectively and efficiently communicate messages to consumers with the ability to update content instantly.
• Digital Screens
  Digital screens can be strategically placed throughout waiting rooms and showrooms. Keeping customers entertained in the waiting room with digital displays helps reduce perceived wait time while also creating a defensive marketing strategy for dealers by providing a dealership specific channel. Content for the screens can include current product and service promotions; latest model releases and features; up to date financing options; and generic information such as time, weather, news and social media feeds. By the time a sales person greets the customer, the customer would have already been exposed to numerous marketing messages. The screens deliver stimulating full color images or video capturing the interest of customers, creating a sense of curiosity and a desire to find out more. Video walls can be designed in different formats, allowing for large screens or custom designs and content, to have maximum impact, and deliver an in-store experience beyond the customers’ expectations. With the ability for screens to function independently and display different content or combining numerous screens to display one large vibrant video, marketing teams are provided with endless opportunities.
• Interactive Screens
  Many of today’s customers are “digital natives” – those who have grown up with touch-friendly devices – and assume everything can be swiped, pinched and zoomed. Accenture’s Auto Digital report (2015) indicated that more than half of the respondents would be interested in an interactive touch display that provides information on the available models during a visit to a showroom, proving that today’s customers value the efficiency and speed of using self-service tools to find answers. Not only could an interactive screen provide extra details about a car, a dealership could also take it that step further and enhance the customer experience with an interactive car configurator. Using an interactive screen, customers could alter the model choice, accessories and colors and immediately see on a screen what their dream car looks like. As technology continues to advance, customers would also have the option to rotate the car and be able to view their selection from every angle, including close-ups of different parts of the interior. Strategically positioning interactive screens within dealerships will further assist in reducing perceived wait times and provide customers a sense of empowerment by putting them in charge of accessing new information which is relevant to them.
• Beacon Technology
  According to research by Marin Software, “Consumers increasingly use smartphones at dealerships to research and validate brand choices pre purchase, driving a surge in mobile auto app usage in 2015.” Beacon technology allows businesses to tap into this vital marketing opportunity by communicating with customers on the one device everyone keeps close – their mobile phone. Messages can be pushed to a customer’s mobile phone when in a predetermined proximity of a beacon. Using a customer data base, dealerships can send messages to customers and potential customers when in proximity to particular models.

Digital disruption is the key to succeeding in the automotive industry. As Accenture’s report says, “Dealers who are innovative, aggressive in pursuing digital strategies that engage the connected customer, and proficient in communicating the right message through the appropriate digital channels at the right time, will become automotive disrupters that can sustain growth in the global automotive market into the future.”

Featured on DigitalSignageToday.

Often the customer’s first point of physical contact with a brand, a car park has the opportunity to create a strong impression and brand connection. Typically, when customers arrive at a car park they are stressed, in a hurry and looking to find a space as quickly as possible. As the focus on providing a positive, unique and engaging customer experience continues to grow, car park operators are embracing new technology.

Put simply, wayfinding is the information systems that guide people through a physical environment and enhance their understanding and experience of the space. A vital aspect of wayfinding is signage – directional, information and identification. In high-stress environments such as car parks, an effective wayfinding system helps contribute to a sense of well-being, safety, and security.

Linking technology such as online booking, number plate recognition software and sensor systems with digital wayfinding signage ensures a seamless parking experience. For example, a customer has booked a space online. Upon arrival the number plate recognition software recognises the customer and automatically opens the entrance gate. A digital parking sign, linked with the sensor system, outlines the number of available spaces on each level of the car park, whilst digital wayfinding signage throughout the car park guides the customer towards the most convenient or booked space.

One of the latest innovative wayfinding solutions is software with the ability to be integrated within a smartphone app, touchscreen kiosk or pay station. Linked with number plate recognition software and a sensor system, customers can enter their number plate and be directed to their parking space.

Making the shift from traditional to digital not only enhances the customer experience, but provides operators with an opportunity for increased revenue. Engaging with nearby businesses, digital wayfinding signage content could also include advertisements, car wash and valet specials.

The efficiency and visual engagement of digital technology builds a level of customer satisfaction resulting in repeat business, positive word-of-mouth, and increased market share for your parking facility.

Featured on Parking Australia.

Digital signage, whether this be in the form of LED, video walls or interactive kiosks, is breathing life, energy and attractiveness into pubs & clubs. Cutting edge technology is transforming ordinary sporting spaces into exciting environments that are elegant and unforgettable.

Placing digital signage throughout a venue is a brilliant method to improve customer engagement, lengthen customers stay times and in turn, increase sales. With the ability to update content instantly through a cloud based content management system, digital signage provides pubs with complete control of the venues displays. With the capability to easily add photos, videos, live websites, hashtags, RSS feeds, news tickers and social media feeds – screen content is unique to the venue, remains relevant and offers something fresh and new.

With an ever-evolving calendar of events and promotions, digital signage not only provides more compelling marketing over traditional static signage, but is a cost-effective solution. Let’s go through a handful of the potential options below.

LED 

LED signs can provide unique opportunities to attract attention and build ambience within a venue. Outdoor LED, whether it be placed on a building or within a pylon sign, has been rapidly increasing in popularity as it engages passing traffic resulting in increased walk-in customers. Indoor LED can add ambiance and functionality to venue entrances by displaying welcome messages, high impact animations, promotions, announcements and directions.

Digital Screens

Placing digital screens around the venue offers entertainment whilst improving branding with stimulating images and videos. The options are limitless with digital screens – whether you choose single screens or combine multiple screens to create a video wall. Each screen can function independently to display different content or can combine to boast that special image, video or promotion on an enormous vivid, vibrant digital screen. Perfect for a club venue, this enables the venue to display multiple live sporting events whilst also promoting upcoming events, specials, raffles and happy hours.

Digital Menu Boards

Unlike tired-looking static boards that crack and fade over time, digital menu boards enhance the customer experience through the combination of products with full-motion video along with the ability to up-sell and promote new items instantly. With menus that usually comprise of breakfast, lunch and dinner, digital menu boards can ensure venues don’t overwhelm customers through the use of day-part scheduling. Update menu items and change promotional content remotely and seamlessly with an easy to use cloud-based content management system.

Interactive Kiosks

Give your customers the ability to engage with your venue by offering a touch-friendly experience with an interactive kiosk. Our kiosks have an ultra slim design enabling them to fit seamlessly within any location and provide a wide range of functions including way finding, web browsing or self-service. Within large venues, wayfinding directories are essential to ensure a positive customer experience. Perhaps you could make the kiosk multi-functional and allow customers to browse through and purchase tickets to upcoming events; or display bus, train and taxi information – the opportunities are endless.

Motivated through enhancing overall experience, the progression into digital for pubs & clubs can be executed well when it remains customer focused. Understanding what drives customers to your venue then enhancing that through digital experiences could be key in ensuring their return business. Access to more sporting events, elevating music experiences or showcasing unique aspects of the club would assist in the overall social atmosphere. Digital platforms would allow for an easier integration and interchange between these customer draw cards. Service elements made more accessible through digital will also enrich customer experience from wayfinding, transport, location information and other promotions.

Going digital can open many new avenues to increase footfall, upsell your food and drink, promote upcoming events, and become the most entertaining venue in town.

As featured on TheShout.com.au

The retail environment is in a transient state. Traditional brick and mortar stores are adapting to the emergence of e-commerce and the growing integration of digital seen through the popularity of online shopping. To stay relevant, retail environments need to remain on the front foot. They need to ensure they are offering an in-store experience that lives outside the digital space but also can’t afford to be afraid to push digital boundaries, integrating the digital and physical elements to elevate the customer experience to a whole new level.

There is no sign that the evolution of the online market is slowing down, and there are a multitude of benefits in providing consumer goods through the Internet as people actively seek out the variety and convenience available through online retail (e-tail). However, there is still a place for a physical shopping experience. Understanding the customer journey and delivering a brand experience unique to the physical channel, as well as being inherently aware of the omnichannels, is important for brands as they navigate this new landscape.

In-store technology can be used for;

• Campaign integration,
• Visual merchandising,
• Store aesthetics,
• Branding,
• Wayfinding,
• Store information, and
• Collecting customer data

Digital tools including video walls and digital screens, social media integration, interactive touchpoints as well as virtual and augmented reality are all available to enhance the in-store experience and the emotional reactions associated with the physical purchase.

Video Walls / Digital Screens

Bringing your omnichannel campaigns to life through internal digital screens and video walls allows an engaging brand extension in your physical retail environments. Moods, colors, lifestyles and stories can be told through screens that display different content or combine to deliver large-scale videos and visuals. Take your product off the shelf and deliver images and videos of how customers can interact with your offering to build real desire around its potential place in their lives.

Social Media Integration

Integrate online platforms into your physical space through interactive photo walls, uniquely integrated brand uploads and hashtags. Let your customers be the star of their experience through customized brand filters, personalized messages, product information and the ability to share across social networks.

Interactive Touchpoints

Customers love having information at their fingertips, allowing them to feel empowered in the physical retail environment. Offer your customers wayfinding and product identification, or link products of interest through preference by following similar algorithms to online retail. Have an exclusive brand app or story? Bring it to life through interactive touchscreens and journey mapping by providing customers with digital access directly on your shop floor.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

The future is here with the growth of virtual and augmented reality. Leveraging VR and AR into the retail space allows a range of opportunities for further customer engagement, increased personalization and constantly changing environments, injecting a digital edge into your in-store retail experience. Purchasing a snowboard? Take your customer to the slopes. Looking to paint the walls of your kitchen? Experience the color coming to life in your space. The opportunity for retail brands in this space is truly exciting and will see a whole new world in relation to the customer experience.

Our recent visit to the PWC Chair in the Digital Economy on Retail 5.0 highlighted a shift from customer relationships towards proactive retailing and the future of customer managed relationships where the power within a physical environment lays in the consumer’s hands. The merging of physical and digital presents the ‘phygital’ retail space where the unique elements of environment and digital possibility find harmony.

Top 4 digital retail stores to pin on the Inspo Wall

As featured on Digital Signage Connection.

As part of the Retail Food Group, Pizza Capers is a franchised pizza store with over 70 outlets within Australia. Pizza Capers has continued to evolve since its inception in 1996 as it brings a fresh pizza product to the competitive market, continuing to challenge on taste and customer experience.

With the expansion of digital technologies and the rising value of the customer experience within the QSR industry, Pizza Capers have begun the transition to digital menu boards. After successful trials at three stores, Pizza Capers have selected national digital technology and media solutions company CV Media & Design as the official supplier of digital menu boards.

Sunny Olak, Pizza Capers General Manager, said: “We chose CV Media & Signage for their one stop shop approach to our digital menu board needs. Having a dedicated team to support our business is priceless – nothing is impossible with Wayne Randerson and his team. We are very satisfied with the results and highly recommend the services of CV Media & Signage.”

The technology allows all of the screens to sync together and alternate through traditional menu content, animations and displays of new products and special offers. CV Media & Signage provide Pizza Capers with the complete digital solution including the development of new art works and animation by their in-house design team.

The choice to go digital not only allows Pizza Capers to cut printing costs but will also ensure consistency across franchises. Digital menu boards will be installed as each store becomes due for refurbishment and for all new Pizza Capers stores as the digital screens become a compulsory part of new store layouts.

Featured on Digital Signage Connection.

Health care facilities can be mystifying and unpredictable. Digital signage within the health care sector is a critical tool to drive the improvement of the patient, visitor and staff experience. Whether it be digital screens to reduce perceived wait time in the waiting room or interactive kiosks to provide navigation around a confusingly large hospital, keeping visitors and patients informed using digital signage significantly improves their overall experience. Below are just five examples of how.

Waiting times

Health care facilities are notorious for making patients or visitors wait, whether this be a matter of minutes or hours. In the book “Psychology of Waiting Lines”, David Maister says “unexplained waits feel longer than explained waits.” Placing digital screens which include queue-management information such as estimated waiting times in waiting areas can help lower anxiety, alleviate frustration and reduce the perceived wait time by as much as 35 percent. With the ability to display multiple forms of content, digital screens are not only informative but also provide a more enjoyable wait. Healthcare facilities can entertain patients and visitors through engaging news, shows, relevant health information or facility updates.

Wayfinding

Navigating as a patient or visitor through a large facility such as a hospital can be confusing, frustrating and stressful. Put simply, wayfinding is the information systems that guide people through a physical environment and enhance their understanding and experience of the space. In a high stress environment, such as a hospital, an interactive wayfinding kiosk can give your patients and visitors an enhanced sense of well-being, safety, and security. Providing a detailed map with physician directories and step-by-step directions will allow your patients and visitors get to their destination faster and more easily.

Promotion

Not only can digital signage improve the patients and visitors experience, but it can provide healthcare facilities with an additional revenue opportunity. Digital screens effectively inform and promote products, services and events to visitors without being seen as pushy. By selling advertising space to third parties healthcare facilities can enhance the sales of services or products.

Safety and directional

Most importantly for the healthcare industry, digital signage can act as an emergency alert system, raising awareness throughout the facility and delivering essential health and safety messages. Through a centrally controlled system, critical messages can be pushed out to all digital screens in the facility improving the ability to respond to any type of situation.

Staff can also be informed about safety procedures and events which could limit the accessibility of certain areas through the display of safety schedules.

Staff communications

Digital screens can be placed throughout staff break rooms for the same reasons as you would put them in waiting rooms – to engage and inform. Replace old static notice boards or whiteboards and instantly update your staff with new work policies, procedure changes, new treatments, safety alerts, training opportunities and other notices through a cloud-based content management system. This cost effective and flexible solution can be implemented across multiple locations, providing a solution to communicate with any number of employees quickly and efficiently. Digital signage can also be paired with technology to enable content to be pushed out directly to staff’s phones.

The health care industry is a natural fit for digital signage due to the constantly changing nature of its facilities and the dynamic nature of the healthcare sector. The ability to centrally update content ensures real-time messaging of critical information allowing any healthcare facility to provide staff, patients and visitors with the most current and accurate information at any time. Much faster, more impactful and eco-friendly than paper-based static signage, digital signage ensures a reliable, streamlined source of communication. From a small general practice, to a large bustling health care facility hospital, digital signage delivers a strong return on investment for any health care facility.

As featured in DigitalSignageToday.

As the first touchpoint with your business, it is essential to eliminate the frustration that often accompanies finding a parking space. Research by Columbia Business School has proven that a relaxed and happy customer is willing to spend more money and more likely to become a repeat customer. Avoid making potential customers irritable through focusing on creating an easier and more convenient parking experience.The growth and universal impact of digital technology is the key to engage with, entertain and monetize customers in the modern world. Not only can digital technology play an essential role in providing the seamless parking experience that customers now expect, it can also create insights to drive the future direction of businesses and the services it provides.

Key to creating these insights is the implementation of a very important sales channel; an online booking system. Not only can businesses request general, vehicle and payment details, but loyalty incentive programs can develop a reliable customer base. Execution of an online booking system will allow for a streamlined customer experience as customers can reduce the hassle of searching for a parking space. Over 65% of Australia’s population shops online for a quick and effortless service, and the parking industry needs to reflect this norm in their offering. How?

1. Better Facility Management

Dynamic digital parking signage allows businesses to run facilities unattended using enhanced graphic displays and instructions to guide customers from entry to exit. A key benefit to this technology is the cloud based content management system allowing businesses to easily modify the content anywhere, anytime. Operators can also collate and analyse data of car park usage and trends, allowing the business to improve engagement with customers, create targeted digital marketing activity, plan capacity and implement dynamic pricing.

2. Reduced Traffic Congestion

Number plate recognition software will eliminate the need for drivers to stop and collect a ticket whilst linking dynamic digital signage solutions with intelligent sensor systems will provide real time space availability. The combination of this technology will optimise the traffic flow and help to ease congestion at the car park entrance and throughout surrounding areas.

3. Increased Security

BPA research shows that after location, security is the main concern when choosing a car park. Intelligent sensor systems and CCTV can be synced with LCD video walls to create a centralised command centre to provide a safe customer service experience. Centralised command centres enable staff to speak to customers, quickly address any security and traffic management issues and raise boom gates.

4. A Better Customer Experience

Digital parking technology provides a unique communication tool to manage crucial brand touch points and enhance the customer experience with customised, engaging content. By improving the ease of entry, payment and exit along with the implementation of a loyalty incentive program, customers will be more inclined to park at the same location more frequently.

Not only will your business improve your customers parking experience through the implementation of digital technology, the advertising capability of dynamic digital signage provides the opportunity for increased revenue by engaging with nearby businesses or through the promotion of car parks specials, car wash and valet options. Incorporating dynamic pricing is also a powerful way to instantly increase revenues and the bottom line.

As featured on Parking Australia.

Digital Signage Expo (DSE) in Las Vegas is the world’s largest and longest-running conference and trade show exclusively dedicated to showcasing innovative digital and interactive technology solutions. Now that CV Media & Design’s resident digital tech guru, Matthew Taylor, has returned and settled back into life post-DSE, let’s go through his top picks of the show.

Planar LookThru Transparent OLED Display

An overall favourite of DSE visitors, it was virtually impossible to take a photo of this without people surrounded. Planer’s display enables users to view video content, digital images and text on a virtually frameless glass video screen whilst still being able to see through it. Transparent technology such as this can generate high-impact engagement by placing call-to-action messages in the shoppers’ line of sight and within arm’s reach of the product, precisely where purchase decisions are made. Planar’s display offers creative, new digital signage opportunities that can take this medium to a new level.

LG Transparent Cooler display 49WEC

LG’s Transparent Cooler Display features a transparent display that can be customized to showcase digital content as well as allowing customers to view offerings inside the cooler. At a distance, the display can appear non-transparent, and communicate content such as infotainment or promotions. As the user steps closer to the cooler, the opaque screen can transform into a clear panel to display the cooler’s offerings. Using advanced video solutions such as this are not only highly effective, but allow retailers to stand out from the competition.

Going far beyond traditional merchandising display media, these advanced transparent digital signage tools by Planar and LG will be extremely effective for businesses to increase sales and improve communications. In addition to influencing purchase decisions, transparent technology is sure to be essential in engaging with customers, particularly with the digital generation.

Another two highlights included the revolutionary LG Dual-View Curved Tiling OLED 4K Display and LG 86-inch Ultra Stretch Signage. Both of these present a number of digital signage solutions for retailers to provide customers with a multimedia experience in those previously avoided tricky spaces.

Contact the CV Media & Design team for a custom innovative digital signage solution for your business now.