Friday, January 27, 2006

Arbitron Findings on Digital Signage

Arbitron published a report this week called 'Consumer Interest and Acceptance of Video Displays in Retail Environments'. The findings of the report back the many benefits digital signage industry pundits have been talking about for years.

A good summary was reported on the AKA website.

Arbitron Finds Viewers "Extremely Receptive" To In-Store Video

While the findings of the report are all interesting, we found this statement to personally reflect the desires of many of the males here at Webpavement.

The report also found that almost half of male shoppers (46 percent) are interested in getting sports news and score updates from video screens while shopping.
----------------------------------------
It was funny. After reading the positive findings by Arbitron, the next news item that we read from AdAge quoted the President of WPP's Global Retail Practice:

Though in-store marketing spending is estimated at more than $17 billion a year, measurement of the medium has been elusive and criticism of its effectiveness fierce. “Brands and marketers are desperate to reach shoppers at the shelf,” said Gwen Morrison, president, The Store in Chicago, a part of WPP’s Global Retail Practice. “Many of these systems have gravitated to these large screens and it’s always been hard for shoppers to look up. It’s been an ergonomic issue almost.”

Ms. Morrison said store employees often turn off volume on in-store networks and shoppers have “zoned out” tuning out the noise from ads. ShelfAds ”might catch your attention and create more of a speed bump in the aisle since the sound is not going on constantly,” she said.

Full story here.

----------------------------------------

We concur with her point on the ergonomic issue of digital signage. This can be resolved by using appropriate display sizes and installing them in the proper sight lines. However, we believe consumers are drawn to digital signage as noted by Arbitron. Especially the males that need external information (such as sports, stocks and news) when in a retail store.

Published by Webpavement digital signage.

No comments: