Home Is Where...
Last week, while at a local electronics store, I saw a man, maybe 30 years old, browsing in the computer software section. He was wearing headphones attached to some device in his pocket. It struck me that he was wearing headphones in a retail environment. What was he listening to? Science Fiction? Music? A podcast on computer programming? And would the sound coming from that device affect his behavior in the store and, ultimately, his purchase for the day?
With technology, we have changed from media consumers to media customers, controlling every aspect of how we digest it.
This places special emphasis on the programming strategy of a digital signage network, and as we acquire and play content from external sources, we are starting to create experiences beyond the bubble of a brand or product.
We need to understand the strategy of endemic.
CORPORATE AND THE ENDEMIC ‘R’EVOLUTION
“Endemic” was the corporate buzzword a few years back when retailers were trying to figure out a brand’s relationship among environments, products, customers, employees, and the culture that this mix created.
When reviewing content, I would ask myself, “Does this fit in the store? Does this help the customer make a decision?” When thinking about the store, we would ask ourselves if what we were doing was endemic to the to the brand.
Technology has provided retailers with the opportunity to create a stronger bond between the brand and the customer. Digital signage forces us to rethink the idea of endemic because it combines multiple channels of information including content from outside the native environment. In turn, this forces us to comprehend the psychology of a brand’s influence on the customer’s lifestyle, not just what goes on inside the store.
Therefore, when thinking about the experiences we generate, we must ask ourselves, “Is this endemic to the customer?”
THE ENCONOMY AND THE CUSTOMER SHOPPING SHIFT
The current economic situation has exaggerated the customer’s shopping behavior and the retailer’s focus on that behavior. Because the conglomeration of retail and technology has never been greater, the effect on revenue has never been as significant.
Retailers must work doubly hard: They must sell the products people want to buy both in the store and on the web. But, more importantly, they must foster a culture that people want to engage in and evolve.
The customer builds the brand, not the retailer.
For example, if I own/operate a bookstore and know that my core customer demographic loves Subaru cars, should I start advertising them even though I don’t sell anything related to Subaru?
Yes. You need to relate to your customer and your consumer. Digital Signage plays a key role as an enabler, a device that moves the customer from point A to point B, whatever those two points are: From sad to happy (emotional engagement), from the back of the store to the front (navigation), from reality to fantasy (perception), or from money in the wallet to money in the till (impact/ROI).
THE AUDIENCE LANDSCAPE AND STRATEGY
We used to think of our audience as captive: A group of people stuck in a store with no alternative but to stare at the big shiny screen and all the pretty things it said. (If you’re thinking about Apple’s “1984” ad right now, you’re not alone.)
Rob Winston, Senior Accounts Manager with Arbitron Out-of-Home, says the audience landscape is changing, and I agree. Customers are no longer captive; they are much more selective about what they receive. Mr. Winston asks, “In this audience landscape, how do you create engaging, effective content?”
There are myriad methods to finding the right mix for an engaging experience. No single equation works for all environments. In my own research, I have seen the spectrum of endemic and non-endemic advertising. One customer said, “Don’t sell me Budweiser if I can’t buy it here.” The idea of placing non-endemic content comes with reluctance due to fear of alienating a customer.
The way to find out what your customer wants is to do two things: 1) Ask; 2) Try. But, do not assume a priori. Some of the best responses from customers came when they didn’t know what was next.
WHERE THE HEART IS
Endemic and non-endemic messaging encourages the need to consider culture: The idea that customers are made up of more than a product, that they prefer the influence of other factors when making a decision, factors that originate in their lives outside of the store.
When building an effective Digital Signage strategy, you must ask, “What is endemic to the customer?” Do you promote experiences and merchandise that you don’t sell because it’s what the customer wants to see and hear? If you work at a video game retailer, do you put a Coca Cola commercial on your program even though you don’t sell the product? Yes, it generates revenue for you in ad sales; and yes, it’s an untapped market for the advertiser.
But the value goes much further than revenue. It creates an experience and an environment that the customer wants to be in.
You make the customer feel at home.
EVEN THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING
At the electronics store, I continued to keep my eye on the gentleman with the headphones, wracking my brain wondering what he was listening to and trying to figure out if I could tie that into what he purchased, which appeared to be a role-playing computer game. I timed my approach to the register to end up in line right in front of him. He continued to wear his headphones through the transaction, and after he bought his software I asked him what he was listening to.
He said, “Nothing. I wear them so no one will bother me.”
You can purchase the doormat in the picture here.
