After being an untried and largely unknown medium for a long time, digital signage has successfully claimed a prominent place in the array of new media offerings and is well on its way to becoming a standard part of media plans.
Digital billboards are driving the rapid expansion of outdoor advertising, and shopper marketing has been boosted by implementations of digital signage networks in retail. Both outdoor/out-of-home advertising and shopper marketing are now rivaling the Internet — the fastest growing advertising medium.
While screens are the most visible component of digital signage, the critical part of any network is the software that powers it.
Digital signage is the first and the only medium that can effectively reach the elusive consumers while they are out of home, and especially while they are shopping. The ability to customize each message to audiences at any location and even at any area within a location is another unique value that it brings to marketers. However, these requirements, combined with the need to constantly expand, pose a great challenge to operators in terms of network management.
One of the obstacles to faster growth has been the lack of software platforms that could accommodate all the functionality without being cost-prohibitive to network owners.
There are several hundred digital signage software providers whose product description says they can meet all the requirements, which confuses the buyers and delays the RFP process. Only a few dozen applications are actually deployed to operate networks.
Since digital signage is still in the process of searching for standards and efficient business models, even the most evolved software products are not perfect yet, but there are a few providers that lead the way and have a sizable market penetration. Growing networks will help settle the dust and only big software players will remain. Who will they be and which distribution model will they use?
