For Digital Signage, Context is King.

Digital Signage has ushered in a new King, and that crown goes to Context.

This is because successful Digital Signage creates a contextually aware interactive digital experience for the audience. In this post, let's focus on what it means to be contextually aware.

What is Contextually Aware?

Print media is hit or miss and a 1 way push of information. You decide the message and push it out there hoping that it's the right message and still relevant by the time it's put in all of the places it's supposed to be. We've all seen out of date billboards and displays as we travel around and shop. It's one of the reasons why most print-based campaigns are typically overlooked. They have become noise and more often than not are not relevant or not relevant enough.

Additionally, recent studies have shown that one a piece of content is viewed for the 7th time, the human brain filters it out.  Therefore being able to change content frequently, even small subtle changes, is extremely important.

There are two levels of context.

• Situational Context: This is context that is based on what is happening at the moment.  It adapts to input or changes in behavior. An example of situational context is that I am looking at a particular type or style of clothing and the digital signage informs and directs me to the rest of the outfit, accessories that match, or other information that makes it easier to find or decide "what" to buy (not "if" to buy).  This is the mobile phone display that changes content based on what phone I pick up.  It also knows to show comparison information if I am holding more than one.

• Personal Context: This context is based on who I am. This is based on some level of familiarity about some aspect of my identity.  It could be as simple as recognizing my gender or differentiating an adult from a child.  It could get as deep my personal tastes and typical buying behaviors. This is digital signage that can differential me from you and the more it can derive about me, the more relevant the experience gets. It knows what I typically buy and let's me know of in-store specials or entices me to buy something that it knows I buy.  An example is a wayfinder digital sign with bar code reader.  If I scan my loyalty card, it can direct me to specials throughout the store that are tailored to me and my buying history.  iTunes does this all of the time on the web and it's time we experienced this in the real world.  Help me make the best use of my time in the store and it will result in more sales.

You certainly cannot do that with print media or even with what I like to call "Powerpoint on a stick".  That is where some generic marketing material is cycling on a monitor for the general audience and you can literally do that in Powerpoint.

Next we will look at the interactive nature of contextually aware digital signage and I'll elaborate more on "Powerpoint on a stick".

Thanks for reading.