Rural American farm equipment stores probably don’t make anyone think of "Minority Report."

But digital signage is seeping into the heartland just like it’s invading the big cities, and cropping up in spots that might seem surprising at first.

Digital signage company StandVision LLC announced earlier this week that its displays were being deployed in several McLean Implement Inc. agricultural equipment stores in Albion, Ill.

And it’s not just farm equipment stores. StrandVision founder and CEO Mike Strand says that what he calls the industrial distribution market — tractor stores, electrician’s or plumber’s supply stores — is a busy niche market that still has room to fill.

"It’s actually sort of a surprise to me," he said. "There’s a lot of potential there in the industrial distribution sector…I definitely see it as an untapped market."

The installations were supported by Leslie Enterprises Inc., also of Albion, and provide information to customers at McLean’s parts counters and service areas, the companies said in a release.

Consisting of a 40-inch LCD television display mounted at each of the locations, the signage installations display general and agricultural news and market information, weather and promotional materials. All this is delivered to the displays through PCs connected to StrandVision over the Internet. Leslie Enterprises specified, ordered and installed the equipment, designed the display templates and established the subscription service with StrandVision.

"We were wrestling with ways to set up and control these displays at different locations," McLean Implement general manager Mike Clark said. "Kevin Leslie introduced us to StrandVision and we found that it lets us do everything over the Internet. We can easily mix our own promotions in with the news and weather. Customers appreciate having the latest grain market information while they’re being waited on."

McLean Implement also is planning to feature videos of its customers using its equipment, as well as point-of-sale promotions and discounts. The company’s also taking advantage of StrandVision’s Web display capabilities to show the constantly-changing digital signage in a frame on its website.

StrandVision says in a company release that the signs help "make the wait worthwhile" for people waiting for service at the stores.

Strand says, too, that having a distracting presence — say, a screen showing grain futures or the weather report — can help cool heads heated at the thought of spending thousands of dollars on a new piece of farm equipment. Farm and industrial equipment trends toward the expensive, he noted.

"So when people come in to get parts for their equipment, they’re usually not that happy," he said. "And what the digital signage actually does is give them something else to focus on … It kind of helps calm the whole situation down."

And then the digital signage also can be used to interest the people waiting in another piece of not-inexpensive farm equipment, maybe getting them to add another two or three thousand dollars to their purchase, Strand says.

"And that pretty much pays for a whole year of signage with the profit," he said. "Kind of interesting how that works."

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