The "Purpose Driven" Content
Working in both retail and sports arenas (I worked for professional baseball, hockey, football, basketball, and college basketball), I see a few common approaches to ensuring your purpose for being on a screen is aligned with the customer’s reason for watching it. While it may seem natural that certain advertisers are a right fit for the environment, the look and feel of both the physical space around the screen and the content itself must align. You never want to feel like you’re…well…trying to jam a square peg in a round hole.
The customer is there for the product, not the screen. People don’t go to arenas to watch Jumbotrons and they don’t go to retail stores to watch the televisions. They go to buy something or to watch something or to hang out with friends. This is important to your overall plan of promotion. If you think customers are at these places to watch you, you’re going to annoy the customer and they’re going to ignore you. (I’m excluding sports bars because people do go there to watch the televisions, but they watch games, not digital signage, and the recent advances is digital messaging surrounding content is a discussion in and of itself.)
A cardinal rule I have for anywhere I work or consult is that I never stop being a customer. When I was working in professional baseball, I would often go down and sit in the stands and watch the game and take in the experience. Honestly, I could never go into a park now and not peruse the video board(s), but by reminding myself that I’m there to watch the game, I see whether content works in the environment. It gives me perspective on effective communication.
Be a customer again. Walk through your venue and think about how you would react to what you see. You might surprise yourself.
Complement the environment. Be the feng shui of the customer’s experience. Did you ever go to an arena and see a commercial on the Jumbotron that was themed to the venue or the sport you’re watching, then see a commercial that seems to have been plucked from the airwaves? Which one sticks out? Your content should look like it belongs there.
Think about copy, style, timing, and demographic. Do most of the spots on the screen have a short running time? If so, should yours be short as well? Maybe. The location may have trained its customers on how to navigate the store or watch the screens during a time-out. By going against the grain, you may be running the risk of annoyance.
One of the most common sponsorships around the baseball leagues is the “call to the bullpen brought to you by XYZ Phone Company.” Because the manager “calls” the bullpen, and because there’s a break in the game when the reliever comes in, there’s time to promote phone service in relation to the action of the moment. It’s a good fit to the environment.
You can make this happen in the retail space as well. If you’re promoting a film release on disc in the home theater department, use a clip, not a trailer. People are there to look at cool HDTVs and possibly purchase one. What better way to do it than show how good your film looks in high definition? We have all seen trailers everywhere (even in sports arenas now!) and trailers lose their luster by the time the film hits the shelves; they become noisy and obtrusive. I have seen several customers walk out with a new TV and a movie to watch. Have a stronger presence in the environment because you look like you belong there.
Support the customer’s need to know. Don’t give the customer irrelevant information. In a social atmosphere where the customer’s mind is already tuned to something else, don’t waste the opportunity when customers do pay attention. You can be stylish, but don’t be coy. Get to the point. They’ll get the information faster and be happier for it.
All of these should be rooted in the basic strategy of purpose for promotion on digital signage. By thinking about these ahead of the process, you’ll ensure that your content has more relevance. And relevant content is certainly king.
