Effective Business Communication

Corportate Communications Content

Friday, August 27, 2010 by MediaServices

- By David Trounstine -

Recently I was asked to speak at the first annual Digital Signage for Corporate Communications conference. It was a wonderful event where many of us got to share and learn about the experiences of working with digital signage in a corporate communications environment.

Corporate communications content really is its own beast, and all too often treated as a lower priority. I firmly believe that the better a company does at communicating important, relevant, and motivating messages to their employees, the better they will do at customer service, productivity, and worker retention. Informed employees are happier employees, and that's what we're all after.

The presentation I gave was geared toward the idea of treating your digital signage network as a company "television network". I encouraged communicators to think of their employees as their audience, and create content that was built for them. The use of personally relevant content is going to help foster a relationship between the employee and the information network, which will invariably lead to higher viewership.

I, for one, had a great time at the event, and I hope that the information I put together was informative and helpful. Here's my presentation. Enjoy.

View more presentations from MediaTile Digital Signage.

How tight is your communication?

Friday, August 27, 2010 by Chuck Gose

I'm catching up on my blog reading and there for a while I'd have to declare Google Reader bankruptcy. But I'm glad I didn't.

I came across this post from Chris Brogan and about tightening up communication. In his post, he focuses more on public speaking but the lessons learned apply to all forms of communication, including employee communications.

With attention spans shrinking all of the time, communicators must get tighter with their communication. This could be newsletter stories, messages for your intranet or digital signage content.

At this month's Digital Signage for Corporate Communication event, Mediatile's David Trounstine showed examples of how important it is to simply get the point with your content. With digital signage, you might only have somebody's attention for three seconds.

What will they get in those three seconds? That's up to you. David showed a series of examples of content going from multiple paragraphs down to one sentence with a headline. And even if an employee just read the headline, they'd get the gist of it.

The key to is regularly review the content you're displaying and make sure it works for your audience. As Chris writes, "Work on your efforts, and tighten up."
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Photo credit, NeoGaboX

Top opportunities & obstacles for digital signage in corporate communication

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 by Chuck Gose

The first Digital Signage for Corporate Communication was a big success (in my opinion of course) because for an entire day we had communication experts focused on how to best use the technology internally. The day-long event also included a tour of Eli Lilly & Company's network, in addition to content presentations from David Trounstine and Steve Crescenzo.

Digital Signage Today was kind enough to publish the list of top opportunities and obstacles facing digital signage used for employee communication. The challenges faced by these networks are often quite different from those that are public facing.

Please check out the full detail on Digital Signage Today but here's a sampling of what the group cited:

The Top Opportunities (in no particular order)

Flexibility – Forget cluttered bulletin boards and printing flyers. Recognition messages, HR updates and daily notices can be changed instantly and often through digital signage software. Also, you can play a variety of content, including static images and video.

Gives content depth & context – Through the use of images and/or video, digital signage templates, messages from screens can resonate better with workforces than flyers, whiteboard messages or company memos.

Interactivity – The network's messages will resonate better with an engaged user of digital signage. Interactive screens on the user level can also be used to access the company website or perform HR tasks, such as requesting days off or checking 401k statuses.

Break news to a non-wired workforce – Believe it or not, there are still members of the workforce not on e-mail all day. These groups can still be informed via update messages through digital signage.

Passive channel - E-mail can be very intrusive to an employee’s work day. Digital signage places key messages in the environment and lets employees digest the communication at their pace.

Reinforce & redirect – Digital signage can provide basic info and redirect employees to communication channels better suited to deliver the full message.

The Top Obstacles (in no particular order)

Money – We are still feeling the effects of a recession, and the initial non-reoccurring cost (capital expenditure) of a network is not something companies are eager to be shelling out.

Executive buy-in – This is along the same lines as the money example. CEOs have to have the final signoff on the network and are generally concerned about the bottom line. Executives have to be presented with a detailed cost/benefit comparison in order to get them on board. It’s best to do this early in the planning process.

IT – Successful digital signage is a collaboration between IT and marketing departments. Often times, IT staffs are strapped as it is without the responsibility of managing operations of a digital signage network.

Risk & security – Because operation of the digital signage network often lies on the company’s LAN infrastructure, proper IT security measures need to be put in place to ensure there is no misuse of the network.

I have been asked by many for details on the next event. All I can say at this point is stay tuned. I'm determined to make sure that each event is worth the time and expense it takes to attend events like these.

Back in the Saddle

Monday, August 16, 2010 by MediaServices

- By David Trounstine -

OK it has been almost a year since I have posted any entries to our design/development blog, and for that I apologize. So much has happened in the last year I don't quite know where to start, but you will be happy to know that I have regained my focus on providing information to the digital signage community about design and development.

The name of the game today is 4G. Being that MediaTile is a cellular digital signage company we have been feverishly working to develop new applications and uses for the high bandwidth of 4G, and some very interesting products are in store for the next 12 months.

In case you missed the announcements from earlier this year we are now doing public demonstrations of 4G VideoPresence, a point-to-point two way video chat client that enables digital signage audiences to connect with customer services representatives instantly and personally. We won a first place award for the concept at the CTIA show, and oh man has it generated some buzz for us.

We are very excited about what's to come, and I will do my best to keep up with the pace and provide insider details.

That's all for now, but I will be writing more... soon!

Yesterday was a great day for digital signage & corporate communication

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 by Chuck Gose

As lame it sounds, yesterday was a dream come true. I've worked on digital signage at various employers for more than seven years now and couldn't be happier with how yesterday's Digital Signage for Corporate Communication event went.

Despite some travel issues and cancellations, we assembled a great group of communicators looking to discuss digital signage and learn more about how they can integrate it into their employee communications.

In my opinion, the best part of the day was our kickoff "show and tell" session where companies each talked about how they are using the technology and discussed some of the challenges they've faced.

My only complaint is that more companies weren't able to participate in the conversation so I hope going forward that we get more companies there and more companies using other digital signage hardware and software.

So where does it take off from here? Stay tuned...

Digital Signage for Corporate Communication conference is just a week away

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Register for Digital Signage for Corporate Communication conference #dscorpcomm in Indianapolis, IN on Eventbrite

The first-ever Digital Signage for Corporate Communication conference is just a week away and there are still seats remaining. Please sign up today if you run an internal network and are interested in hearing stories and picking up tips on how you can fine tune your network.

For less than $150, you get to see LillyTV, one of the world's largest digital signage networks dedicated to employee communications, along with hearing from two industry experts and a corporate communication guru. Not bad for such a low cost of admission.

Digital Signage Today ran a very complimentary article about the event and I'm very appreciative of the attention it has received.

Several people have contacted me who aren't able to attend this session due to vacation or travel restrictions but are interested in attending a future one. At this point, I'm not sure what it will look like down the road, but the feedback received from next week's event will determine steps forward.

If you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comments section below.

Today is Ticker Free Day 2010. . . but why? #tickerfree2010

Friday, July 9, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Several digital signage gurus have suggested that tickers (or crawls) run on digital signage networks are somehow maming the industry. To raise awareness to this "plague," David Weinfeld from The Preset Group have suggested that today, July 9, be Ticker Free Day 2010. Even the folks over at DailyDOOH are falling in line.

But why you ask (and I do, too)? Apparently, they are hoping to prove that networks can run relevant and engaging content without tickers.

Of course they can. Networks can also be run well without video. They can be run well without Flash. They can be run well without the inclusion of weather. It all comes down to content and the choices made. Who knows? Maybe we'll see No Flashy Flashy Day around the bend. I hear September is kind of slow.

I love Cap'N Crunch cereal. It might be my favorite. So if somebody told me that July 9 was Free the Cap'N Day 2010 and that I shouldn't eat the cereal, I wouldn't go along with it. Why? Because I like Cap'N Crunch cereal. That's great if somebody else doesn't like it, but I do.

I blogged that I recently went on a mid-pilot visit with one of our clients running a corporate communication network. We sat down with groups of employees to discuss what they liked or disliked about the network and what could be done to make it better.

Take a guess what the most positive feedbak tied to? Information in the ticker. Our client did a nice job of mixing up the ticker content between both internal news as well as external news (like weather, sports scores, etc.). The employees liked it. And if this company participated in the Ticker Free Day 2010, employees would not like it.

Take another guess if they are going to participate Ticker Free Day 2010 by removing their ticker. David does acknowledge in his post that not all tickers are bad and that they can be used the right way.

So I propose that instead of just telling people not to use tickers, let's teach them the right way.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles: a mid-pilot digital signage review

Monday, June 28, 2010 by Chuck Gose

For the next few days, I'm traveling across the New England area with a client of ours who's been piloting digital signage for the past three months. They looked to MediaTile to help them augment and improve their employee communications efforts.

This is the halfway point of the pilot so it was a good time for me to travel around with the project manager. We'll be traversing by planes, trains and automobiles (one of my favorite movies) to make it all happen. What's particularly cool about the visits is that we are sitting down face-to-face with employee groups to solicit their feedback on what they think of the technology and NOT just walking around looking at the displays.

One of the challenges this company has faced over the years was caused by numerous acquisitions. Employees at these specific sites do not have any specific or noted loyalty or ties to the larger corporate brand. Their hope was communicating dynamically through digital signage would improve their internal branding efforts.

The way the MediaTile approach works is the larger corporate entity can embed their messages on screens everywhere whilte still granting local control to communicators. It's one of the few vehicles that can be corporate, regional and local - all at the same time - each with their own control and input.

We're also going to find out which messages resonate more than others, which messages have a larger impact, and which messages are more engaging. We want to hear what the employees really think. The goal is to to determine if this technology is improving communication to their field force.

If I have any updates or revelationsalong the way, I'll be sure to share them.

"Be daring. Be inspired. Be there." with @Draftfcb

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 by Leah Kane

Later this week, MediaTile has a cool opportunity to be part an internal event with Draftfcb this Thursday in Chicago. They invited us, along with 19 other companies, to show off what we do and educate them on how our digital signage solution can help their clients.

This is a great showcase opportunity for Draftfcb employees to see the technologies that impact clients' business for years to come. Our own Roger Sanford and Heather Whalen will be there representing MediaTile and showing off our approach to digital signage so hopefully we come away with some great pictures and feedback.

What's interesting about Draftfcb is that they abide by "The 6.5 Seconds That Matter" mantra, recognizing the brief time marketers have to capture the attention of consumers and then quickly motivate them. Many businesses looking to improve communication with both internal and external audiences could benefit from the same approach.

Be daring. Be inspired. Be there." And we will with Draftfcb.

When corporate communiations & IT collide #iabc10

Thursday, June 10, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Why is it that Corporate Communications and Information Technology professionals can never seem to work well together? That was the recurring theme I heard over and over at the IABC World Conference in Toronto.

It has to stem from the fact that each group may not fully respect what each group is responsible for doing, or, more likely the case, they don't actually show the respect they have for each other. I listened to how corp commers describe their IT departments. Just imagine what IT people say about us.

In talking to attendees about digital signage for employee communications, every time this communications project became an IT project the communicator lost control. The communicator who is trying to deliver messages is then at the mercy of IT. I can remember feeling this way about past projects in my career. This apparent loss of control is not a good feeling. Communicators need to be in control of their messages.

So with our approach to digital signage and using the existing cellular networks, IT can be left out of the conversation. Not that they necessarily SHOULD be left out, but they can if the two sides aren't playing nice.

Companies who are successful have found an ally inside the IT department who understands what corporate communications is trying to do and "translates" it to the IT pros. Find your ally.

I'd love to hear your success stories of IT and corporate comms working together.
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Photo credit, Ben Margolin

Making employee communications dynamic

Friday, June 4, 2010 by Chuck Gose

I spent the day with one of our current digital signage customers who's looking to expand their network to help with a new internal branding campaign.

First, I love going behind the lines (so to speak) and seeing how our clients are using all sorts of measures to improve communication with employees.

Second, I love when they use digital signage to do it.

There divisions and lines of business have gone through some recent shuffling and they are banking on digital signage to help them through the transitions.

One of the features they love about MediaTile's approach is MediaCast, our digital signage software. Because it is entirely web-based, they can now give more people access to contribute content to the network. And with Composer, our embedded content creation tool, they can now take advantage of flash templates so that content contributors can focus on the message and not the

Find MediaTile in the AT&T booth at the National Restaurant Association Show

Friday, May 21, 2010 by Chuck Gose

This is our first time at the National Restaurant Association's annual show and we're excited about it. AT&T invited us to be in their booth (#5666) and we're thrilled to be a welcomed guest. Please stop by the booth to learn more about how our digital signage can help your business.

We've laid our claim to cellular digital signage and we're confident that NRA attendees will be impressed with what we have to show them.

I am far from a restaurant business expert (aside from liking to eat at them), but from what I've been told, there are many IT constraints inside the restaurants. But with signage connected on the cell networks, restaurant owners can update customers on the latest specials while also helping to educate employees on the latest promos.

If you'd like to learn more about the show, you can follow them on Twitter (@NRAShow2010) or following with the hash tag #nrashow. I'll provide as many updates as I can when I'm out on the show floor.

Can Facebook be a source for digital signage content?

Friday, May 14, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Absofreakinglutely.

I admit. I'm a pretty active user on Facebook. I keep my personal account updated, post photos and videos, manage a few Fan Pages (including MediaTile's), and so forth. But it struck me today at what a great resource it can be for digital signage content.

Hear me out. Whether you're in retail or corporate communication, you're always trying to share your customers' stories, whether it's with other customers, your employees or hopefully both. But gathering these stories can be tough.

Well guess what? Facebook is awesome at this. I'm a fan of all of our digital signage customers' Fan Pages and see their updates in my news feed from time to time. One of our customers simply asked people what they liked about their service. This simple question received great answers.

They can now share these stories, not just on their digital signage, but across all of their platforms. The content is absolutely invaluable. True user-generated content is raw but also equally powerful. And it's content that customers and employees provide readily and freely if asked.

So not only can digital signage promote your social media platforms, but these social media platforms can also be a source for content. I believe in the business world they call this a win-win.

"It will revolutionize our corporate communications."

Thursday, April 29, 2010 by Chuck Gose

One of my favorite under-the-radar movies is The Paper. It has a star-laiden cast of Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, Randy Quaid and so on.

Anyways, the movie is 24 hours in the life of a New York newspaper. (Think 24 the TV show before there was a 24.) There's one scene toward the end where Michael Keaton's character is trying to get a quote out of cop about a murder case. The cop finally says, "He didn't do it." It's exactly what Keaton wanted but couldn't believe the cop said the quote.

This week, I had my "He didn't do it" moment. I visited with an Ohio hospital group this week about installing MediaTile digital signage to help with their employee communications. We were mapping out locaitons, content ideas, strategy plans and so forth when the director of communications said:

"It will revolutionize our corporate communications."

She said it. She actually said it. I thought I was the only one who thought this way, but apparently there are others. What a ride.

In case you haven't seen The Paper, I can't recommend it enough. Here's a clip I found on YouTube.

MediaTile technology on display at #Kioskcom in the Walsh Wireless booth (#314)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 by Chuck Gose

The exhibit hall doors opened just a few minutes ago for Kioskcom & Digital Signage Show. If you happen to be here today, stop by the Walsh Wireless booth (#314).

They have on display a very cool and practical application of our cellular digital signage for the retail space. The unit is a free-standing display that would allow a retailer to embed digital signage inside a portable display. Walsh and MediaTile partnered with In-Store Experience to create this product.

We provided the digital signage technology. Walsh Wireless provided the cellular broadband capabilities. And In-Store Experience contributed the physical structure. Great example of a partnership coming together to create a viable product for retailers.

But stand doesn't need to be confined to just retail and consumers. Thinkn about how this could enhance employee communications if you're looking to showcase information. Or for visitors to a venue. The opportunities are endless but the technology is here.

MediaTile, Walsh Wireless and In-Store Experience

Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit: Day 2 in Review #DSContent

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Wow. You know when you go to conferences and you may not get much out of them but you're still overly complimentary? This is not the case at all. Day 2 of the Strategy Institute's Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit was awesome. And those aren't just my words, but the feedback from other attendees.

Aside from being a consumer myself, I don't have any experience in the retail world and truly am not aware of the challenges they face in the digital world. After yesterday, color me enlightened. Just follow the hash tag #DSContent and you can see all of the messages I shared from the @MediaTile Twitter account.

The day was a good balance of what the possibilities are with digital technology along with many of the obstacles that still exist. Here are a few of my observations...

Kevin Flatt and Mark Renshaw, Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide, showcased the future of what digital can be in the retail world, using a great analogy of who's driving the bus. Apparently agencies are the drivers who know where they want to go but often get lost and NEVER ask for directions.
Paul Flanigan, The Preset Group, led a panel of Michael Twitty, Unilever Americas, and Jim Lucas, Draftfcb. The information spewing out of Michael was amazing. I practically couldn't type fast enough about how brands are viewing digital in the consumer packaged goods world. This will lead to future blog posts.
And we finally had our first Foursquare mention with Stephen Randall, LocaModa. Stephen did a great job showcasing how digital signage and social media content can play quite nicely in the same sandbox. His point that "you must view that your digital signage message has a range of 20 miles, not 20 feet," really hit home with the audience.
And then there is Bob Stowe, Wendy's. Bob added an important element to the conference, highlighting the challenges faced when working with large corporations. Many wonder why quick service restaurants have been somewhat slow to adapt to digital signage. Bob outlined all of the players that get involved and the challenges with each. Though I don't think he'll be getting the key to the city of Detroit anytime soon. He mentioned that one of their stores stays open 24 hours solely due to security concerns. Yikes.
Rudy Dearborn, MGM Mirage, outlined the history that his casino has had with the technology along with some of the unique content challenges. What was peculiar is that they use Mac Minis to drive displays and had to have custom mounts built, along with a custom digital signage software application. BUT they do a great job of utilizing existing resources and data to keep content fresh and relevant.
And last but not least, our very own Simon Wilson and David Ozer, iPOWOW!, presented on the importance of getting instantaneous viewer feedback of what they are seeing on the screens. The audience didn't appear to be a big hunting crowd, so the example of how Hunter Specialities is using touch-screen technology in endcaps to promote their products. All kidding aside, the digital signage has given them a 30% sales uplift. That's no laughing matter.

So, all in all, a great show. But during the networking lunch, one of the attendees asked me how much of our business was in non-retail. Quite a bit in fact. He was curious why there was no attention paid to corporate communication networks.

I told him that's my challenge. That's why I do what I do. That's my crusade.

"Content is easy. But good content is the challenge." Day 1 at the Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Day 1 at the Strategy Institute's Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit was a good one. Even though I am very corporate communication focused, attending events like these are very helpful. It gives me a chance to learn what the retail industry and agencies are doing or have tried in the digital signage space. The first day was very agency-driven but that's not a bad thing. These are the people we need to have engaged in the market.

The comment that kept bouncing around in my head was mentioned by Pat Hellberg at The Preset Group. He led a panel of creative designers and while they were getting set up, he said, "Content is easy. But good content is the challenge." This sentiment applies to not just digital signage, but every medium.

I'd really like for corporate communicators to take note of this phrase. Digital signage software makes it easy to simply throw up content on to screens, but that's not what you need. What you need is really good content up on your network.

This is no different from an employee newsletter or intranet. You load them with crap and nobody is going to pay attention. Plain and simple.
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The chairperson for the event is Keith Kelsen, former CEO of MediaTile and author of Content Strategies for the 5th Screen. This is the first book dedicated to digital signage content and was launched at Digital Signage Expo. I'm proud of the work Keith put in writing the book and hope he has continued success with it.
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On a side note, I was surprised not to hear one mention of Foursquare, Gowalla or any other geolocation social media tool. I am far from an expert, but I think there is a huge integration possibility between these tools, digital signage and the retail industry. Maybe the digital signage shows how many check-ins there have been, who the mayor is, or what (if any) discounts you can get.

Busy week ahead in Vegas starts off with the Strategy Institute

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 by Chuck Gose

It seems like we're just coming off from Digital Signage Expo, but we're back out in Las Vegas next week for the next round of shows. It's going to be busy (maybe even a bit hectic) but we'll have all of the bases covered.

Kicking off the week at Mandalay Bay is the Strategy Institute's Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit Monday and Tuesday. MediaTile has been a longtime supporter of the Strategy Institute's shows and we're glad to be a sponsor of this event as well.

The focus of this how is bringing all of the pieces of a digital signage network together. MediaTile CEO Simon Wilson and iPOWOW's David Ozer are speaking on day two about measuring audience feedback and capturing sentiment.

I'll be out there for the conference. And I mentioned it was a busy week. Also going on is Kioskcom/Digital Signage Show and NAB. We're involved in those events as well. Stay tuned for future posts.

A perfect marriage: corporate communications & April Fool's

Thursday, April 1, 2010 by Chuck Gose

I love April Fool's Day. It caters to my two favorite audiences: the gullible and the paranoid.

When I did corporate communications full time, I always tried to have some fun with April Fool's Day. Never at any one particular person's expense but enough that it would make me giggle.

At one company, I passed around a memo from the Information Technology Business Service (ITBS) Department requesting that all mouse balls be turned in to be cleaned and calibrated. Most got the joke, but it was funnier to see people walking down the halls holding their mouse balls.

I'm also a big fan of publishing April Fool's newsletters and intranets. It's just good clean fun. (And important to note that I always got executive approval beforehand.) Corporate communicators tend to get beat on so this was the one day to really have some fun and be creative with employee communications.

I'd love to see or hear examples of April Fool's content that anybody created for their digital signage network.

I recently learned that the BBC actually has a sense of humore and puts out an April Fool's video news story. This one is from a few year's back about a special colony of penguins. Funny but also harmless. So have some fun today.

Want to get better at digital signage content?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Everybody who operates a digital signage network should want to improve the quality and relevancy of their content. Many have said, "Content is king." And it is very important, but it must also not just be great looking content but also relevant content to the audiences.

If you're looking to get better at content, there's still time to sign up for our free webinar on "Creating effective content for digital signage networks."

Neal Kealer from Met|Hodder will join us Thursday, March 25 (TOMORROW) at 2:00 pm EST. It won't take up much of your day, just 30 minutes, and pick up some great tips and techniques from an industry expert and learn what we mean when we talk about "contextual relevance."

We hope you can find time to join us.