Digital Broadcasting

This just in…  Our HumanKiosk has been recognized by the CMO Council as an emerging technology solution that can help brands and businesses localize their marketing programs to optimize sales effectiveness. Check out the full announcement.

Today’s news follows the CMO Council’s release of its “Localize to Optimize Sales Channel Effectiveness” research report, announced on Monday. It reveals that 86% percent of national marketers surveyed intend to look for better ways to modify, adapt and localize their marketing content, messaging and prospect engagement practices. Highlighted in this research were the “preferred” marketing mediums to achieve “localization,” which include interactive digital signage along with electronic messaging, and social networks over broadcast television, local magazines and other traditional B2C communications.

This is an important milestone for our industry, for MediaTile and our HumanKiosk and MediaCast Video Presence solution, as it highlights the core “needs” and business value which is driving the high demand and interest in the HumanKiosk digital signage solution. Simply stated, businesses (and brands) are being driven by both profitability and competitive positioning needs to deliver marketing programs that increase customer relevance and direct engagement.

For example, 67% of companies participating in the survey indicated that localized marketing strategies and programs would help them achieve greater customer relevance, response and return; while 40% reported they desired better customer conversations and connectivity.

Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council, had this to say: "The HumanKiosk solution is a perfect fit for today's innovative brands and businesses seeking to localize their marketing efforts by connecting directly with consumers where and when they are making a considered purchase decision. The CMO Council's research, compiled from more than 300 member interactions across leading industry sectors, indicates that brands are moving to more targeted, personalized, interactive and measureable forms of local engagement - and the HumanKiosk does just that."

Here is the link to the CMO Council’s press release, and to their research report (fee based).   Click here for more information on the HumanKiosk Solution andMediaCast Video Presence.

Mike Foster
CMO and Co-Founder, MediaTile

“I want to show videos on my digital signage network”. Very commonly said and seemingly a simple request. But like peeling away zombie skin, there are many subtle levels.

In many cases, the request to put a video on screen refers to streaming a television channel. It can be done but it is really necessary? Obviously streaming video from an unknown source limits your control over what appears on your network and more often than not, you probably have more than enough videos in your YouTube account. With MediaCast, simply upload your mpeg video, put those mpegs in the desired order you wish to have them play (or “create a playlist”), drag and drop your playlist on to the preview, and approve. Don’t look now, but you’re broadcasting your own network.

Ok, not enough? Still want to stream videos? MediaCast can deliver this as well (assuming it’s a source that allows you to do that).  With MediaTile’s premium media player, you can even get as sophisticated as delivering videos on demand using a touch screen.

And the top the mountain...live video calls on screen. MediaCast can also feature MediaTile’s Video Presence technology. Video Presence enables your screen viewer to generate an intelligently routed video call that connects to a remote video operator who is determined by what the screen viewer is looking at.  

MediaTile’s solution set boasts all the benefits of digital signage, as well as the ability to add the human element, live on screen.

Register for our September 21 Cellular Digital Signage for Healthcare webinar and learn how Dominican Hospital, a member of Catholic Healthcare West, the fifth largest hospital provider in the nation and the largest hospital system in California, continues to grow a solution which exceeds their business goals and more.

Learn…

• How Dominican Hospital found an easy-to-deploy solution that fit their business needs due to HIPPA requirements;
• How they developed a campaign strategy to target and resonate with their wide variety of viewers, including fundraising and emergency broadcasts;
• Lessons learned since initial deployment of their digital signage network.

Register now!

Many times there's information I want to share on this blog that doesn't related directly to digital signage so I'll start sharing them in these posts. 

5 communication mistakes that are holding you back (Forbes)
When I get into a "hot and heavy" conversation with our corporate communication customers and propsects, we end up talking about a lot more than just digital signage. This post highlights some key things that communicators might be doing to hold them back. Communicators are guilty of all of these. I know I am. 

7 habtis that make great opportunities happen (Open Forum)
So often, communicators and marketers sit back and wait for a great opportunity to happen to them. Why not just make the opportunity?! That's what this article suggests and it reminds me of my digital project at Rolls-Royce. I knew installing digital signage was the right thing to do so I made it happen. It wasn't easy but I made it happen. That's why I'm here at MediaTile today. 

There's no such thing as information overload (Forbes)
I get what the writer is getting at here. Messages are often broadcasted without direct relevancy to the audience. This leads to overload. But the thought is that by targeting messages to the correct audiences, messages will be filtered and relevancy achieved. This is very much the strength that digital signage provides. 

Augmented reality for internal communications (Simply Communicate)
I haven't quite bought into the whole "augmented reality" craze and am skeptical of its use for employee communications. But if you have, here are a few examples of how it might work. (Key word being "might.")

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Diversified Media Group (DMG) is a network and systems engineering company, responsible for the management of day-to-day planning, engineering, installation, content development and routine maintenance across a wide span of business sectors.  DMG is also the sister company of Diversified Systems, one of the US’ largest A/V integrators, with multiple offices from New Jersey to Seattle).

Earlier this week, I attended the Masters of Business Online conference in Indianapolis. It was a great selection of speakers, focusing on doing business online and using technology to make business better. The topics and speakers were so strong, it was tough choosing breakout sessions.

But one I attended was called "Evolve or Die: The Future of Online Communication," led by Kyle Lacy. An attendee asked the question that everybody is challenged with in social media. "How do I find the time to do everything I need to do?"

Inside or outside of social media, everybody is challenged with this. At home or at work, it's a constant battle. Time is something we never have enough of. My kids are young and aren't players in the Lessons and Practices Game. But I do know parents who are lucky just to leave work on time to get the kids, shuttle them off to <insert sport/musical instrument> practice, somehow eat dinner, do homework and then find time to get to bed.

For internal communication pros, there are many, many things they'd like to do but time is a big obstacle. For those looking into digital signage, the concern of how much time network owners will have to commit is raised all the time. And while each case is different, I've found that digital signage can make corporate communication departments more efficient. It allows you to focus your broadcast communication into one vehicle and maybe eliminate flyers and banners. (Hooray!)

As we all know, time isn't like an hourglass that you can just turn back over when the sand gets to the bottom. Communicators need to develop super-human time management skills to be great at what they do. The more time you "free up" will give you the chance to be more creative and clever in your communications.
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Photo credit, HikingArtist.com

For internal communicators, this is easier said than done. Due to time limitations or technology constraints, communicators tend to broadcast messages across the board through newsletters and emails. And many times, workplace communication should be broadcast across the board, so to speak, if the message hits everyone.

But there are times when you need to better define your message audience and even dictate when that message "appears." With MediaTile digital signage, you have the ability to broadcast to large groups of screens at once, create various sub-groups based on individual departments or various geographies, and even schedule directly down to a specific screen.

During a time when corporate communication departments need to maximize efficiency, time is a valuable resource. The better you can target your messages will not only improve efficiency but should also improve your ability to this the target. In this case, employees.

It's been a busy week at MediaTile, but I didn't want to miss a big announcement we made earlier this week. Later this month, we will launch and add a new emergency broadcast triggering system to MediaCast (our digital signage Software as a Service).

What's unique about the Emergency Media Trigger (as we're calling it) is that in integrates within legacy emergency communication systems. This is especially huge for educational institutions and corporate communication departments who are always looking for effective and simple ways of delivering crisis communication without having to retrace steps.

The graphic below does a great job of showing how digital signage won't necessarily replace other emergency communciation methods but can augment them in a seamless and integrated manner. Based on what I heard at the Summit for Emergency & Disaster Planning, schools and college campuses are open and interested in making sure their crisis information gets delivered to their students.


Nobody wants to be "the guy" who has to run to back to their desk in an emergency to send an alert. This is why the  Emergency Media Trigger will enable network operators to simply send an email, as an example, to interrupt regularly scheduled content while automatically triggering an emergency message to play across the entire network. A second "all clear" external trigger will reset the network to its previously scheduled programming. It can even be more automated through our API.

That's the title of my topic at the 6th Annual Emergency & Disaster Planning conference in Toronto. The folks at the Strategy Institute always put on a good show.

I'm honored to present at the show, but am equally interested to hear what the other speakers have to say. I would imagine this is a hungry audience, especially with so many public institutions concerned over a potential flu epidemic. The two-day conference is focused on the education sector. Just glancing through some of the other topics and you see words like "infectious disease," "lockdowns," and "shooter incidents." It just goes to show the challenge facing administrators and health workers these days.

I'm going to focus on how digital signage can be a tremendous asset in crisis communication. The exact description reads like this:


I'm on the Alumni Board of Directors at Butler University and we recently discussed how colleges are preparing for a potential H1N1 outbreak. I can't imagine the challenges faced by colleges when students are packed in there. And let's be honest, many college students aren't exactly known for first-rate hygiene practices.

For one of my first posts, I wrote about the importance of having the right digital signage hardware and software and compared them to the Wonder Twins. (And ironically enough, that post is found more often than others in Google search. Thank you Wonder Twins.)

And a year later, the message still holds strong. Without the right software, LCD screens are worthless. And without the right hardware, digital signage software does you no good.

So you have some decisions to make. You have to think about how often you're going to be using your LCD or plasma screens and determine if it's best to invest in commercial-grade equipment. Fortunately, for you, our equipment is commercial-grade. You can run it 24x7, 365 days a year or program it to turn off when no one's watching -- a great way to extend your screen life and save electricity.

And the software you choose is equally important. Our Broadcast Portal is known as "software as a service" (SaaS). Basically what it means is that we host the software application on our servers and you access it from the web. No software to install. No IT department to make uneasy.

So I'll take the blame today if you have the Wonder Twins stuck in your head today.

As digital signage practitioners, we all spend a lot time and energy explaining to our customers why digital signage is “not TV” – yet the brand marketers, network operators, or corporate communicators all seem to naturally call it “[something, something] TV." [Insert Brand Name, Store Name, School Name, Company Name etc.]

Digital signage networks differ from broadcast or cable TV for a long list of reasons.  For digital signage:

• The audiences are not captive;
• The content must always be relevant and localized;
• The business objective for the digital signage network will be tailored to each location and type of network;
• Programming must be synchronized with traffic flows and demographics of each location;
• Attention spans are short and sensory competition is high.

The list goes on, yet everyone still likes to call it “………….  TV”.  Some examples include

• LillyTV
• Santa Cruz TV
• Builder Television
  

When a name sticks it is hard to dislodge – especially when it is simple and quickly conveys the essence of something.  Don’t fight it I say – keep it simple – but be ever vigilant for the customer or operator who wants to treat it like TV rather than just naming it TV.




My background in internal communications has largely been in the manufacturing environment. When I would attend various corporate communication shows, i would be envious of several communicators. They would complain about why their employees wouldn't read emails.

I wish my coworkers even had email.

But this envy only lasted a few seconds. I enjoyed the challenge of not being able to rely on the easy communication methods. It's hard work reaching employees who don't live in Cubicle World (it's a real place - I've seen it). You can't shoot off an email and then cross your fingers they read it. There's no email address to send to.

This same situation applies at a lot of companies but one that completely escaped me until recently were retail employees. Duh. Here you have a workforce that's often far, far away from the corporate headquarters but their job is to stock shelves / racks and help with needy customers. They are constantly on the go.

Another challenge is that very few employees make a true career out of retail and others are strictly seasonal employees. They have no legitimate commitment or buy-in to the company. How does a communicator go about bridging the gap?

And this gap applies at high-end retail stores all the way to your local grocer. No matter how large or small, I firmly believe digital signage is a solution. With the proper network, a corporate HQ could broadcast out the key messages and even use the signage for training. At the same time, local managers could access the screen to inform on store performance numbers or do some employee recognition.

I only worked in retail once, in high school at a local grocery store. Frankly, I don't remember any communicating going on at all. But I'd like to hear from any of you who have worked in retail and can speak on the sort of corporate communication that occurs.

We'll then know if there's any communication clean up needed on aisle 5.

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Photo credit, Untitled blue

When you hear "SOMETHING in a box," what comes to mind? Every thing's there? Every thing's included? No muss, no fuss. (But for some, a certain Saturday Night Live sketch may also come to mind.)

Anyways, our Digital Sign in a Box delivers true plug-and-play features to the digital signage world. No servers. No mystery black boxes. No wires or cables. No IT. To the naked eye, it really your network won't look much different than a simple set of LCD screens.

So here are the top five advantages of our Digital Sign in a Box technology:

1. A commercial grade, high-definition LCD display available in 19”, 32”, 42” and 47” configurations; also available in touch screen versions
2. A built-in embedded computer with a media player that supports industry standard media formats including: mpeg, vob, wmv, swf, jpeg, and ppt
3.  A built-in and activated Internet connection - just add power and it's ready to receive and play content thanks to its integrated cellular-broadband technology
4.  A web-based Broadcast Portal that eliminates the need to download and install digital signage software on your PC; you can control your entire digital signage network from your Internet browser
5. Security built right into the system. Each LCD pulls content to the screen; there is no way to push content to it. Also, your content can only be played on your screens -- no other networks can even use it.

Hopefully you can see why our approach to digital signage is gaining attention. Simplicity is key.

Growing up, I couldn't tell you how many times I heard that when I was a kid. AND it was always an annoyance because it seemed interrupt my GI Joe cartoons. And thankfully, it always only seemed to be a test. But the Emergency Broadcast System was in place a valuable crisis communication tool, giving the government the ability to alert communities if there was a crisis at hand.

We are now giving that same ability to MediaTile digital signage network operators. Just announced last week, users can now implement what's called an Emergency Media Trigger (EMT), allowing them to interrupt their normal broadcast with an emergency message to be played on the screens. It's designed to integrate within existing emergency notification systems and control centers on college campuses and at corporations.


The EMT feature will enable network operators to use an external triggering mechanism, such as email, to interrupt a regularly scheduled program while automatically triggering an emergency message to play across a digital signage network.  A second "all clear" external trigger will reset the network to its previously scheduled programming.

It is scheduled for release late summer, and will be supported on all installed MediaTile displays and networks.

Think about how important this could be for your crisis communication planning at your company or college campus. It's comforting to know that you would now have the ability to interrupt you normal messaging to convert your network into a vital communication tool during a crisis.

Though it's probably something you never hope you have to use, it's nice to know you'll have it if you need it.

"Is it easy to manage the content for the screens?"

This is a consistent question I get from prospective customers pretty routinely. It's an understandable concern. People don't want to start a new process or tool that's a pain to manage. Just yesterday I met with a development company who has a marketing staff of one. They don't want their one resource "to be wasting time with the network."

And just as I told them and now telling you, I know first-hand how easy it is since I once managed my own MediaTile digital signage network. It is extremely simple to upload and manage content. In fact, I would say it's the easiest of any network I've managed over the years.

MediaCast, our broadcast portal, is accessible from any web browser so you don't have to mess with getting your IT department's approval to load software on to your work computer. This is huge for those of you who have to work withing common operating environments. . . or whatever it is they are calling it these days.

And uploading content to our portal is no different than uploading content like you would on another website. You simply browse your hard drive, find the file, give it a name and click upload. Then you just need to add it to your playlists and that's it. You're done.

Your digital signs will then reach out to MediaTile's servers, download the content and play it back.

Simple stuff.

I'm a bit behind on my magazine reading, having just now read the pre-tournament edition of Sporting News. But last night I caught up on the March-April 2009 issue of IABC's Communication World.

There was some interesting info in this issue. IABC, in conjunction with Mercer Consulting, gobbled up feedback from the worldwide membership to better understand how the economic downtown is affecting corporate communication professionals.

There were many interesting highlights of the survey, but the one I want to focus on is how companies are communicating to employees about the financial crisis. The top vehicle at 56% is email.

This isn't surprising and in fact, I thought the number would be higher. Email is easy. I was pleased to see that face-to-face/group meetings came in second at 54%. It's important that dialog is created. Here are where other vehicles fell in:


Employees want to see their leaders and managers. In times where this just isn't convenient due to travel costs or time constraints, digital signage can come to the rescue.

With your own digital signage network, you can schedule and play executive communications around the country or the world if need be. Plus, this takes the pressure off of the speakers knowing things aren't live. And with live broadcasts, we all know there's a host of things that can go wrong.

Plus with digital signage, you know you're reaching those workers who don't have access to email, the intranet or the Web (which were three of the top four answers).

With the launch of Mediacast 4.0, we added a new feature that's going to be huge for all of our MediaTile customers, including those running employee communications networks. With the previous broadcast portal (our online digital signage software), you could preview individual piees of content separately, but NOT your full playlists of multi-zone playlists.

But now with Mediacast you can.


This preview feature will give you a "live" look at what your viewers would be seeing on their screens. What you see above is a three-zone layout, which includes a weather feed from Accuweather and US News in the bottom ticker. The feature produces a low-resolution look so it's not something you'd want to reproduce for other purposes, but it's a great way to make sure your digital signage content is going to be shown the way you want it to.

When I had my own network, I purchased a screen for my office so that not only could I test content but I could also monitor it throughout the day. Even with the new preview feature, I still recommend network managers having a screen close by.

This morning I read this very insigtful article on IndustryWeek titled, "Making the Case for Employee Recognition in Tough Times." Frankly, the headline speaks for itself, but here's some interesting data presented in the article:

• Companies that manage people right will outperform companies that don't by 30% to 40%
• 97% of managers agreed or strongly agreed that recognition improves morale
• 98% of managers felt recognition improved people's sense of belonging and increased their levels of commitment

The article went on to point out that only about half of all companies have a recognition policy in place. Yikes! In looking at the data, how can you (companies) afford not to! Through very little effort, companies can engage their workforce and improve business, rather than be a drain on productivity and morale.

As internal communications professionals, you're should be involved in your company's employee recognition programs. You are the conduit for getting the word out to the company of the great job your employees are doing every day.

With digital signage, you have the ability to put a face to employee recognition. As quickly as you can snap a photo (or record a video), download it to your computer, and upload it to your network, you can revitalize a dead employee recognition program. You have the ability to broadcast to your entire facility or campus through your digital signage network (1) who did it, (2) what they did, and, most importantly, (3) how it impacts the business.

All in an instant. So this begs an earlier question. Can you afford not to?
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Photo credit, Joe Shlabotnik

This post just goes to show that you never know when you'll be inspired with a blog topic.

Last night, I tripped across VH-1's countdown of the top 100 songs of the 90s. I'm a sucker for countdown shows like that. On came MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This." I forgot how much of a phenomenon that song was. I didn't have any baggy pants, but that's not to say I didn't want them. Though there were a few cool kids in Springboro who did.

So you're probably asking yourself what does MC Hammer have to do with digital signage? The song "U Can't Touch This" applies to my theory behind using digital signage touch displays for employee communications. Used correctly, they can be a great tool for corporate communicators. But often times they are not and become neglected.

I've also questioned the use of touch displays for corporate communications, largely because I'm not sure employees know they are allowed to touch them. They may be subconsciously singing "U Can't Touch This" to themselves. And I wouldn't blame them. Many times, there's not much of a difference in look between a traditional digital sign and one that's touch-enabled.

This is why MediaTile developed the Kiosk-in-a-box, Marquee Edition. It delivers all the impact of a large screen digital signage broadcast network with the interactivity advantages of a kiosk system in one integrated package. Essentially, it gives you a large digital sign at the top with a touch-screen kiosk below. And it provides complete anonymity to what people are doing on the touch screen; the two screens are independent of each other yet share the same network connection.

So if you have a big company event you need people to sign up, this is your tool. Advertise the event above and get your employees to sign up below. And if your connection is cellular, you can move it around to various locations (though it is a bit heavy).

So enjoy the video below (after you "suffer" through a commercial).