Digital Signage in Spain: status and future focus on Journal of Retail Analytics by Platt Retail Institute

Platt Retail Institute (PRI), instituto que colabora con la facultad de psicología de la Universidad de Chicago, publica una revista trimetral titulada Journal of Retail Analytics. En ella se analizan diferentes cuestiones de la evolución del retail y sus nuevas tendencias. Además, se le ha dado un enfoque importante al digital signage desde el principio, con artículos de formación en todas las áreas e incluso enfocado a los principales sectores en los que se desarrolla el medio.

En esta ocasión he podido colaborar con un artículo sobre la situación en España. El PRI ha invitado a profesionales de diferentes países europeos para dar una mayor cobertura el digital signage en Europa, por lo que amplían la cobertura de sus contenidos.

Es muy recomendable el artículo inicial, de Steven Keith Platt, en el que se profundiza sobre las ventas en período de fiestas. En realidad, estudiar y analizar los sectores y cómo influye la economía en ellos nos da muchas pistas sobre los más proclives para la instalación de sistemas digitales.

Como había anunciado en un artículo anterior, PRI ha comenzado el Index sobre el mercado del digital signage en USA, sobre el que publican datos y una pequeña reseña en este número del Journal of Retail Analytics.

Puedes acceder a toda la revista pinchando aquí. Y te dejo algunas partes del artículo que he publicado:

The digital signage sector in Spain has begun to show signs of growth, after nearly four years since the first networks with continuous, professional operation were launched. Given the current economic situation, this growth is occurring more slowly than expected by the companies involved, but there has been increased interest from retailers and advertising agencies in digital signage projects. This positive trend also is motivated by the development and consolidation of Spanish companies that are pushing for the sector to grow. Similarly, these companies are carrying out initiatives, forums, conferences and other events to publicize digital signage, which are aimed at retailers, advertising agencies, etc.

Events and initiatives that strengthen digital signage

Some events, such as the TOTALmedia fair (digital signage) in its second edition, have unified the sector and provided opportunities to showcase successful deployments in Europe and particularly in Spain. At the same time, Viscom Sign Fair (visual communication) has evolved to offer digital signage solutions to trade marketing specialists and retailers that are operating in the Spanish market. During the month of September, I was able to attend the conferences organized by TOTALMedia, specifically to review the current state of digital signage in Spain and see some projects being undertaken in other countries. In October, the I Digital Signage Forum took place, sponsored by Spanish marketing magazine IPMark and bringing together professional digital signage vendors, advertising agencies, media and retailers from different sectors. The conference focused on explaining the need for creativity and content specific to digital signage, the importance of the audience, and some effective projects.

Trends and areas for improvement of digital signage in Spain

The expectations in Spain, as could be drawn from the DBCI (Dooh Business Climate Index) performed by OVAB Europe and Invidis Consulting, are positive and most companies have growth projections for the next six months. Anyway, we still have some issues where we must improve during 2009 and 2010 to consolidate digital signage in Spain:

1. Expand professional (specific) solutions: Currently, specific professional solutions for digital signage systems still coexist with "homemade" systems developed by the clients themselves. This reflects poorly on the sector but its image is gradually becoming more positive with the company’s efforts.

2. Digital content companies: We must improve the quality of content and make it specific to the environment and type of customer that is seeing the channel. Content production in Spain has begun to awaken in 2009 with the commitment of some companies to develop quality content and focus on customer engagement, but it remains an unresolved matter.

3. Interactivity: Not only do we need to understand the development of touchscreen displays, but we also must create relationships between digital signage, interactive and mobile marketing systems to generate better shopping experiences.

4. Advertising: We must involve the media planning companies in the sale and promotion of advertising space, once we have established the audience measurement metrics that advertisers demand to commit to digital signage. At this point, media planners are only interested in the advertising channels and not the corporate networks.

5. Research: In addition to audience measurement and application of metrics, we need to develop specific studies, both quantitative and qualitative, to enhance the effectiveness of digital signage in different sectors and provide us with consumer behavior data at the point of sale.

¿Quieres saber más sobre el Platt Retail Institute?

Platt Retail Institute at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (PRI) is recognized worldwide as an industry-leading expert in research and consulting to retailers, media companies, financial institutions, hardware, software, transmission, and other business enterprises seeking to impact the customer in-store experience. PRI serves as a knowledge bridge between the academic world and industry, by synergizing the wealth of knowledge being produced at the university level with the need for more advanced yet practical business research and insight at the customer level. In addition to its global consulting expertise, PRI also publishes pioneering industry research.

Espero colaborar en más ocasiones con Journal of Retail Analytics y que de esta forma se puedan difundir por Europa artículos y cuestiones formativas para el digital signage que ayuden al crecimiento y profesionalidad de nuestro sector.