Digital Signage News: First Physical Amazon Store, OOH vs. The Super Bowl, and more!

At the end of January, it’s time for the very first digital signage news post of the year! Not all news can be good news, but it is important to focus on the positive first. This month, we had a big announcement about the very first physical Amazon fashion store, leaving everyone curious to see the features they have in store, no pun intended. Furthermore, an OAAA analysis of the value of Out-of-Home ads shed some light on just how powerful outdoor advertising can be in comparison to other advertising channels. 

As for the bad news, COVID is still here! No surprise there. It’s ever so exciting to see in what new ways it can disrupt our plans for the year. For example, ISE 2022 getting a delay is something we saw coming, given the state of the pandemic in January. What we didn’t expect to see was these delays causing several events clashing together and causing quite a stir.   

First physical Amazon store coming soon!

Last week, Amazon announced Amazon Style, the ecommerce giant’s first physical fashion store. Naturally, it’s not envisioned as any regular store. Customers will be able to use a combination of their smartphones and in-store touchscreens to browse through clothing options and sizes, as well as provide item ratings. 

There are quite a few other features listed in Amazon’s post on this topic. One of the features is personalization. Amazon Style will rely on machine learning algorithms to produce real-time recommendations tailored to each consumer. To make this process even more accurate, customers will be able to provide more information on their preferences. While in the dressing room, users can browse and select clothing to have it delivered to them to try on.

The launch date? Amazon stated in their FAQ section that Amazon Style “will open later this year”. 

OOH vs. The Super Bowl 

An OAAA (Out-of-Home Advertising Association of America) post compared the power and reach of Out-of-Home to that of Super Bowl ads. Which do you think is more valuable to invest in when you have a few millions to spare? Your instinct might be to reach for the latter—given the vast reach of the Super Bowl—but upon considering a few key facts, you may want to reconsider.

For a start, Super Bowl TV audiences have been declining for several years. Furthermore, compared to 1967, the cost of a 30-second ad ($6.5 million) is now 20 times higher, while its total viewing audience has less than doubled. Overall, it might just be more profitable to take that $6.5 million and direct it to outdoor advertising and gain continuous ad exposure in top US markets for an entire month!

There are quite a few additional facts that support this theory. For instance, only 10% of consumers remember the average Super Bowl ad and recognize the brand in the ad. Naturally, this might not be true for giant brands like Amazon and Pepsi who make substantial investments into their ads and are quite impactful, contain celebrities, and make nation-wide statements. Lastly, 80% of Super Bowl commercials fail to change consumer opinions about a brand. After all, how can they do that in 30 seconds of an ad they’ll likely never see again, especially if it’s a brand they have never heard of before?

If you’re interested in the full analysis and more stats, check out the full article at OAAA.

COVID struggles continue for trade shows

We are somewhat used to living alongside COVID but we still see new negative disruptions emerge because of it. This is particularly true on the larger scale when it comes to big events, and not just in the outdoor advertising sphere. Earlier this month, Integrated Systems Europe was delayed to May 2022. What first started off as a delay of a few weeks grew into four months. 

The trouble doesn’t end there, however. Now it appears that ISE 2022 dates clash with planned dates for other big industry events in the UK. Dave Haynes (16:9) summarized some of these events quite well, with one of them being London Digital Signage Week. Suffice to say, its organizers were not too happy about it.

New #ISE2022 dates clash with three UK trade shows AND London Digital Signage Week <- the choice is clear for #AVBrits, stay at home, stay safe(r) and exhibit locally !!! @mediaprodshow #MPTS2022 @MidwichLtd (don’t usually attend @ISE_Show anyhow) @plasashow #LDSW https://t.co/HoswcRJOVr

— DailyD🌎OH #AdTECH #OOH #DOOH #RidgeWallet (@DailyDOOH) January 11, 2022

ISE organizers, however, don’t seem to be too fazed over the matter. After all, trade shows and events of this scale are not so easy to organize or simply throw around the calendar. It is likely they opted for the date as the most ideal one given the circumstances, and not so much in an attempt to spite anyone. Whatever the case may be, at the very least we can hope that the situation in May is such that no event, ISE included, has to face a delay yet again!

New study gives tips on effective campaigns

The leading digital media and promotions tech company Quotient released its 2022 Promotions Report which brings advertisers several valuable recommendations to help plan and promote ad strategies in 2022. For a start, the study focuses on five key variables which determine promotion performance. Any advertiser can change and optimize most of these variables to increase performance. These are category, scale, offer value, effective discount, and required purchase quantity. All are adjustable but the only variable of the five that you cannot change is category. So keeping this data in mind, a brand can really zone in on which key variables need to be improved. Understanding them better helps to strategize and improve advertising, digital signage included. 

The study focuses on each of the variables in detail. With quantity, for example, if a customer needs to buy three or more products to take full advantage of a promotion, they are more likely to engage in that promotion. Access the report for free to learn more about the other categories in depth!

Can social media and digital signage work together?

This month gave us plenty of exciting news, from the very first physical Amazon store to a new take on advertising strategies. And to wrap it up, here’s a guideline any digital signage user can use instantly! Social media has been a world-changing force for some time. Merging it with other advertising channels is hardly a new concept. When it comes to digital signage, however, creators still underestimate the union of the two. Social media and digital signage are a really powerful combo. But what makes it so great is how little time it takes to set up. The social media content is just sitting there, waiting for you to use it!

Digital signage software providers, including OnSign TV, provide a variety of apps built around social media. This can be as simple as deploying scheduled posts, sharing social media handles, building up re-post queues, or even creating self-building social media walls. It’s very easy and fast to set up, yet unlocks massive potential through software automation. Read more on the uses above, as well as other guidelines and tips, in our latest post!