That's right. Mike takes it up to 11.

I believe that when you’re a marketer, you must never stop being the customer or you will lose perspective.

Mike Cearley knows this. Working for Fleishman-Hillard, DOOH is an arena he’s especially passionate in, so much so that he writes a blog about it.

What is the eleventh screen?
the eleventh screen is a blog dedicated to understanding “Any experience that occurs outside the home that does not require the audience to own the device, medium or platform from which the experience originates.” You’ll find musings not just about screens, but also about how they function in a culture, and how the culture functions around them.

Who writes it?
Mike Cearley (pronounced KEER-lee), a self described “evangelist on all things Out-of-Home, Digital Out-of-Home, and beyond.” During the day, Mike is mild-mannered SVP of Digital Strategy at the aforementioned Fleishman-Hillard. By night (or whenever he has time to write around working and being a dad and husband — man, do I know this!), he writes on the eleventh screen.

I don't know if he wears a cape. Maybe.

What does he write?
Mike writes about Digital Signage, emerging technologies, marketing, and mobile. You’ll find insights on topics like the fundamentals of communication, social media, and thoughts on trade shows.

Why should I read his blog?
There are two reasons. First, Mike’s interest in DOOH is a function of his profession; it’s is a channel he utilizes for clients in campaigns. Mike brings a professional perspective to the industry by being outside of it, not completely in it. Second, he’s passionate about this, so his writing is more engaging, less clinical. His blog entries are sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, but always interesting from someone who wants to take it to the next level.

Three to Read
Another Look – The Future of DOOH. Mike writes about Gary Kayye’s session at Digital Signage Expo earlier this year. He brings context and perspective on Kayye’s comments.

Guide to Looking at OOH Solutions – 11th Screen Style. Mike introduces a scorecard through which he views OOH solutions. He writes, “It’s simply designed to help me look for the same components across all kinds of. . .solutions. It’s my attempt at leveling the playing field in an areas where the field is far from level.” In this case, he writes about the ring-wall in Germany, a monster interactive. It’s a great read to see how bigger doesn’t mean better.

Recognizing the Art of Communicating. Here, Mike brings perspective on communication, talking about two experiences that are not quite digital out-of-home, but are very cool experiences nonetheless. Mike writes, “Both of these examples truly illustrate the art of communicating – with each other, between brands/consumers, and most exciting – the spaces around us.”

And One More
Are You an Expert Learner? This one doesn’t have much to do with DOOH, but has everything to do with how we all should view our roles in what is still an evoloving and maturing industry across the board. There is no such thing as an expert in this industry, and we can’t teach what we haven’t learned. I love learning.

'readin, 'ritin, 'rithmetic, 'roi. Hrrrrrrr.

You can follow 11thscreen on Twitter as well. Stop on over to his blog. You’ll be better for it.

Past BUs:
Bill Gerba: Digital Signage Insider
Ken Goldberg: Broad Thinking. Narrowcasting.
Brand Strategy Insider

Do you read a blog I should be following that is worth showcasing here? Send me a link. If I like it, I’ll write about it.

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There are two reasons people do digital signage: One is to get their message (or someone else’s) out there. The other is to make money doing it. And not not necessarily in that order.

It’s at this very moment where the philosophy and impact of branding comes into play. How do you make your message look and feel like…well…you? What are the proper principles of branding and how can you apply them to your company, or your message, or your existence in a given environment so that you have that crucial impact on the customer or client?

Digital Signage continues to grow, embracing principles and practices from several other areas of customer and consumer engagement. The philosophy of branding for many network operators may be a new thing because in the past there was never a real need to brand the message. A static sign in a store was just wall covering, for the most part. But, with a dynamic medium the need is greater than ever, especially for merchandisers who want to differentiate themselves and use their network as a factor of differentiation.

What is Brand Strategy Insider?
Brand Strategy Insider is the branding blog of The Blake Project, a brain trust of branding experts that “…design, manage and build brands that drive revenue through differentiated customer experiences.” Pretty much the purpose of a digital sign for many network owners and operators.

Who writes it?
The blog has several contributors: Derrick Daye (Managing Partner of The Blake Project), Martin Lindstrom, Steve Rivkin, Al Ries, and Brad VanAuken. All of them write on various topics within the brand strategy universe, and all of them write very well. Occasionally, they will disagree openly on the blog, and it makes for some fascinating reading among branding experts.

The blog also has several contributors from various disciplines that dip into the psychology of branding, advertising, and marketing, even going so far as to understand the neuroscience of marketing.

What do they write?
In VanAuken’s book, Brand Aid, he cites The American Marketing Association’s description of a brand as a ‘‘name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.” In a nutshell, they try to cover the universe of branding, taking real-life examples of brands and breaking down the reasons behind their successes or failures. The blog has over 50 categories of branding topics.

The length of each post ranges from a few hundred words to over a thousand, sometimes, and they post just about every day. It can be a challenge to keep up with all the entries. But each entry is a deep dive into the topic at hand. At the end of every article, you should feel like you learned something.

Why should I read this blog?
Because one of the most important things we can do in our industry is understand the impact that digital signage can have on an audience. With a screen’s capability for dynamic engagement, the opportunity to connect a viewer with a product or service and, particularly, with the provider of either the product or the service, the need to understand how branding functions is paramount.

Another important reason is that all of us in this industry lead or work for companies trying to be leaders in a category, whether you’re a hardware provider, creative agency, or consultant. This blog is loaded with insight on how the big companies succeed and fail with takeaways you can apply to your own organization, regardless of size.

Three To Read
Because they write every day, don’t try too hard to read everything. Instead, dig through their posts and find the articles most relevant to your discipline in the industry. They do write some about digital media, including social media, but I have found their overall marketing and branding insight to be truly valuable to me and my work.

There are literally hundreds of articles on their site, all of them great reading. Here are three posts that can give you an idea of the depth of their knowledge and experience:

The Principles of Marketing – January 14, 2010
In one post, Al Ries puts forth a great acronym to sum up the principles he practices and educated in marketing: FOCVS, “…a word using the original alphabet of the Roman Empire…” It’s a great piece of education on marketing, and I highly recommend reading this one first.

GM’s Appointment Shows No Respect for Marketing – August 19, 2009
I had put this post in an earlier Clicks post of mine. I think this is one of the best lessons in marketing you can read. It clearly shows that marketing is a discipline you acquire thorough years of marketing experience, not years of loyalty to a company.

Brand Focus Leads To Power and Profits – December 21, 2009
“…line extension inhibits the branding process. When a company makes and markets a broad range of products under one name, it is extremely difficult to build that name into a powerful brand. ” For a long time, Japanese companies like Sony have survived on a brand that connotes power and profitability. Al gives us a little reality check and helps us understand that focus can drive profits much higher.

And One More
Forgiveness and the Tiger Woods Brand – December 16, 2009
Part of the allure of the Tiger Woods debacle is the impact his personal brand has on the companies he endorses, how much money companies would lose by continuing to associate with him, and how fast some of those sponsors were to jump ship. This post is from contributor Dr. Robert Passikoff, and I found this very interesting. Two weeks after Tiger’s “transgressions” hit the airwaves, my partner, Pat Hellberg, formerly of Nike, said, “Remember Kobe’s mistake in Colorado? Nike stuck by him then. Today, Kobe’s Nike shoe is the number two best selling shoe in the world. There’s no way Nike abandons Tiger.” Sure enough, a week later Phil Knight issued a statement saying Nike would remain with Tiger.

You can follow The Blake Project on Twitter as well.

Past BUs:
Bill Gerba: Digital Signage Insider
Ken Goldberg: Broad Thinking. Narrowcasting.

Do you read a blog I should be following that is worth showcasing here? Send me a link. If I like it, I’ll write about it.

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Broad Thinking. Narrowcasting. Brilliant Writing.

I have to imagine that Ken Goldberg was the kid who liked to take stuff apart to see how it worked. Only that Ken could put it back together, not have any pieces left over, and make the thing run better than it did before.

Who is Ken?
Ken is the CEO of Real Digital Media, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions provider. They make the NEOCAST Media Management System.

Like my first Bloggers Unite! subject, Bill Gerba, Ken plays the role of service provider in the industry. But, his insight goes way beyond the fans of hardware and ones and zeroes of software.

Ken’s partner in the blog is Jason Broom, Real Digital Media’s VP of Marketing. Like Ken, Jason’s pedigree is deep and his value to Real Digital Media is directly a result of his background in software management.

What Do They Write?
Ken and Jason write the blog Broad Thinking, Narrowcasting. Until 2009, the blog had sparse entries. But this year sees more posts than 2005 through 2008 combined. This is a direct reflection of the industry’s activity. (Heck, I started writing in January myself.)

Ken writes from just about every angle of the industry, reading all kinds of stuff and taking it apart and telling you what you should know. The detail is closer than the usual 30,000 foot view – his posts average around 900 words, a little more than “my .02” – but not quite microscopic. His insight is more than an opinion. I don’t think Ken has been around the block. I think he threw a little mortar in his day.

Why Should I Read This Blog?
Each post yields something interesting, and I’m happy I read it when it comes through. Ken’s not afraid to give his opinion, worrying less about the politics and more about the truth behind the matter. (See the post on Wal-Mart DVD fuss. I have yet to see an apology.)

Overall, their insight is valuable to those who wish to see the digital signage is much more than just a screen, and computer, and a customer.

Three To Read
Digital Signage and Kiosk Apps: A Future of Coexistence (November 16, 2009)
Ken gives a high-level comparison between digital signage and kiosks, and, more importantly, he shows the main reasons these two disciplines are having a hard time integrating more cleanly, and he’s spot on.

Can We Take It Up A Notch? (October, 26, 2009)
“But it would help everyone if people redoubled their efforts to act with integrity and honesty.” Like all industries, we have the good, the bad, the ugly. Ken does a splendid job of showing the bad and the ugly while being a good guy about it.

Kicking Off The Crystal Ball Season (September 4, 2009)
Our entire world is in love with the “Top 10” something-or-other approach to bringing in the new year. Ken wrote seven predictions to start the season of conferences and big press releases; he didn’t need 10. I read this right before we launched The Preset Group. The man is clairvoyant, I tell you! I can’t say he’s a bettin’ man, but something makes me want to hang out with him in Vegas in February for the Digital Signage Expo.

Do you read a blog I should be following that is worth showcasing here? Send me a link. If I like it, I’ll write about it.

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Home of da gahd-fadda.

One of the best parts of the industry is the collection of blogs and websites that have sprung up in the past year (present company included). Like any nascent industry, many out there are simply trying to get a share of the market by disguising a sales pitch with insight.

“Here are the top reasons you need to understand the next wave of digital signage. And here are the top 10 reasons Doohickeymakers Incorporated is the best solution for the top 10 reasons you need to understand the next wave of digital signage.”

But there are a few out there that are rock-solid blogs with insight, passion, and an objective view of the industry. Most of us (if not all of us) work for someone else, and it’s darn near impossible to keep the goods from creeping in every now and then, but there is a difference between promoting products or services and promoting thought.

Over the next few months, I’d like to introduce you to some blogs that I follow. Some are endemic to digital signage, some are about branding, some are about marketing, and some are just great to read. But they all provide me with insight that I take with me into this industry every day.

Without further ado:

The first one on my list is Bill Gerba. Depending on what crowd you prowl with, you may hear adjectives like sage, godfather, etc. All true. When I started out in this industry, I was shown Bill Gerba’s blog and have made very effort to never miss a post, even going back and reading stuff before I knew what I was doing.

Who is Bill?
Bill is the CEO of Wirespring Technologies, a hardware and software provider for clients that utilize digital signage and kiosks in a variety of sectors, such as restaurants, banks, retail, and healthcare.

What does he write?
He writes the Digital Signage Insider Blog. You can find articles posted weekly either from Bill himself or a team of bloggers he incorporates who provide articles with as much passion and insight as Bill.

Why should I read him?
Because he’s one of the smartest people you will meet in this industry. Every time I read/see/hear him, he exposes his thorough knowledge on the subject and its relationship to the industry as a whole. Don’t let his affiliation with a technical company fool you. His perspective and understanding on the aesthetics of digital signage are examples that I, along with many colleagues, follow on a regular basis.

What does he write about?
He writes about everything that involves digital signage, from audience measurement, to the physical implementation of screens, to the technical detail that goes into it. He brings a conversational tone to his pieces that make his point easy to understand.

What should I read?
Here are three articles that can give you a great idea of Bill’s perspective and understanding of the industry:

Choosing the Best Digital Signage Providers: SaaS vs Self-Hosted July 9, 2009
The Software-as-a-Service debate has been gaining steam, and is something that all companies with digital signage will have to deal with. Even as a software provider, he avoids using the debate as self-promotion and gives an insider’s perspective on whether or not SaaS is right for the client. A must read if you are thinking about this for your network.

Making great digital signage content: A quick reference guide May 23, 2008
This should be required reading for anyone getting into the industry. Bill provides several content guidelines that, if followed, will have you creating much more engaging content. I know this. I have used these principles before.

A Sound Approach to Digital Signage Audio April 29,2009
“If there was ever a subject to inspire debate among digital signage experts, sound would be it.” He’s right. Then he gives a brief and very compelling tutorial on when you should or should not use sound.

Here is where you can find a full list of his archives, dating back to early 2004. Even the stuff that is a couple of years old is still very relevant and worth the read.

Enjoy reading Bill’s stuff. You will be better for it.

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