July brought exciting surprises in the digital signage sphere. In fact, a literal brightly-glowing sphere was one of them, as we saw the MSG sphere activate for the Fourth of July festivities. While we’re on the topic of technology, we also spotted some wandering ad-carrying robots, but more on that later!
With July coming to an end, we have now made a solid step into the second half of 2023 and a mid-year check-up on the industry is in order. Lastly, we have some safety precautions for protecting your business from scams and understanding the way digital signage affects your profit in store. Let’s go!
The MSG Sphere lights up!
On July 4th, the massive MSG sphere in Las Vegas activated for the first time for this special occasion!
Residing at The Venetian Las Vegas Resort, this immense project showcases 19,000 x 13,500 pixels and hosts a seated audience of 17,500 people. The official opening date for the MSG Sphere is September 29th, 2023. It’s quite a sight to behold and was captured from various angles! It brought amazing visuals to life, from bringing the Moon down to Earth, to eye-catching dances of color and shapes. After this small test of its glamor, we look forward to September!
Mid-year check-in on global ad spend
According to a recent mid-year check-in on global ad spend by Adomni, the first half of 2023 saw significant growth, despite challenges in the advertising industry. Based on current data, global advertising is projected to reach $874.5 billion in 2023, with growth driven by digital expansion and economic recovery.
More specifically, DOOH is expected to see growth of 12.7%, meaning an increase to $35.6 billion. It’s important to consider upcoming events which are not easy to predict. The state of geopolitical conflicts, economic downturns, and the rapid advancement of AI all hold the potential to disrupt these predictions. This is why these periodic check-ins are important, to stay on track and accurately attempt to gauge the status of the industry in the upcoming months.
Australia reports shocking numbers!
While we’re on the topic of numbers, this month we saw very exciting news from Australia. Their Out-of-Home industry generated more than $1 billion in revenue for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic! More importantly, the digital portion of OOH accounted for more than two thirds of the total OOH revenue in 2022. This shows just how serious the transition is from static to digital inventory.
“The Annual Report is a testament to the remarkable growth and resilience of the OOH advertising industry in Australia,” Outdoor Media Association CEO Elizabeth McIntyre said. “The industry will continue to evolve and thrive, driven by solid data, technology, creativity, and a commitment to community and sustainability.”
Protect your OOH business from scams!
With the current state of the world, accessibility to AI, and so many available ways to scam, it’s important to be careful how you interact with strange messages online. Billboard Insider recently published a brief article on this topic, noting one such scam aimed at OOH businesses. With combined information on public business profiles, scammers may use AI and bots to impersonate people.
They then send emails which don’t appear too suspicious at first glance, delivering a file “you asked for.” This file is actually spyware. Because of these attempts, it’s important to be careful who you connect to online. Don’t open unsolicited files, and make sure your employees do the same. Another tip is to ensure your sensitive email addresses are nowhere in the public domain.
For more tips as well as examples of scams, check out the full article over at Billboard Insider!
Wandering ad robots coming to an event near you!
Whether it’s a good idea, we’ll leave that up to you. But it certainly is interesting! ROBOTIZER by 7amdaan is a robot on wheels which provides a platform for ads. These robots roll around at events, pedestrian areas, shopping centers, and any other attraction where they’re placed. As the company describes it, “this device is built for clients where they will be able to save money, generate revenue and access their audience with ease.”
What do you think? Is it the next big thing?
How does digital signage impact profit?
This month on the OnSign TV blog we talked about profit! Digital signage affects your profit in both positive and negative ways. And while it’s easy for us to just tell you that it’s worth the investment, we do break down the many ways it affects your profit, starting with the investment stage all the way to maintenance and the benefits it can bring.
These include direct ones, such as selling ad space and pushing your own sales campaigns. We also talked about indirect ones that emerge through customer satisfaction and loyalty!
