One of the most-anticipated highlights of last week's Digital Signage Expo was the Thursday morning keynote speech from Paco Underhill, and his presentation "The Science of Shopping Meets The Information Age" lived up to that expectation.
Underhill, author of Why We Buy and founder of Envirosell Inc., immediately stepped down from the podium and lectured from the center of the room, no doubt utilizing his knowledge of proximity for message impact.
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Underhill's concerns about digital signage |
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- Too high-tech means its easily broken
- Customer is easily bored
- Poor placement because of no understanding of sightlines
- Budgets blown on hardware, software forgotten
- Not enough customization for the local market
- Audio can induce employee sabotage
- Digital signage attracts and is within reach of "evil nine-year-olds"
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At a show that featured touchscreen vending machines, 108-inch flatscreens and gesture-based immersive games, Underhill's message was fairly retroactive: The best digital signage is not 'cool.'
"The problem with anything cool is that it is directly linked to 'uncool,'" he said. "What may be cool to someone the first or second time may not be on the fifth or sixth visit."
The solution to that, he said, is to think of digital signage as a more practical medium, giving relevance the utmost consideration, and make sure it always fits into the context of its location. He also said that good digital signage should "create placemaking" and serve as a gathering point.
One of the best examples he gave was that of a hypothetical movie theater which featured screens installed outside of the restrooms as people left the movie.
"We know that around 20 percent of people leaving a movie stop to use the bathroom," he said. "And of course, girls take longer than guys, so they're all outside the bathrooms waiting. And based on the type of movie that just let out you know almost exactly what type of person is going to be standing there in front of that screen. It's a great microcosm for the digital signage industry."
Issues facing the industry
Calling on his expertise in shopper behavior and in-store design, Underhill addressed several issues facing not just the retail sector, but the digital signage industry as a whole.
1. Our visual language is evolving faster than our spoken word. "Our ability to process images has never been better – but our eyes have never been more tired," he said.
2. A lot of digital signage is still technology in search of an application. This is where Underhill focused on the 'cool-uncool' factor.
"There is a fascination with hardware, while the attention to messaging is misconstrued," he said.
3. We are now more time poor than we are money poor. "Those who design in-store media have a lack of understanding of the clock that is inside our heads," Underhill said. "Take the movie exit scenario for example. A 30-second spot here would be as effective as if it were in your garage."
4. People are looking for universal applications. Instead, they should be more sensitive to the local issue. Content that may be relevant in one area of the country may be completely ineffective elsewhere.
