I have a heavy background in marketing, branding, and messaging. So words matter to me and so do names. They invoke feelings and feelings sell. They also make things more obvious or more obscure because of the image they convey.
A great example of the effect of a name in the movie "Ice Age 3 - Dawn of the Dinosaurs". A character, named Buck, was warning the main characters of a horrific creature to be aware of and avoid at all costs. He continues and mentions that the creature's name is "Rudy". Manny, the prehistoric mammoth responds with: "Oh good, I thought it was going to be something intimidating.....like Sheldon".
The point is that we respond to names.
Well, one name I hate is "Digital Signage". Why? Because it sounds like a digital poster. This is significant because too many people actually think of it that way! The world is littered with Powerpoints looping on monitors pretending to be digital signage. The name has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I wonder what "Mobile Digital Signage" would look like?
Digital Signage has so much more to offer than the name implies. It's about being interactive, contextually significant, engaging, and responsive. Signs can't do that. I raise that last point because too many people think that you design content for Digital Signage the same way as for traditional signs and the web....and they are wrong (but that is another post for another time).
What the world needs to be thinking about is creating digital experiences. Immersive, compelling experiences that invoke desired behaviors. Yes! Digital Signage is actionable.
Is a digital maniquin that helps you pick out outfits or suggest accessories, a sign? What about something that changes with the environment (time of day) and then changes the environment in response to that? Time to think bigger people.
However, what can we expect from people that thought that Digital Out Of Home (or worse, DOOH) was a good name? Yes, "dooh" is what Homer Simpson used to say....
Thanks for reading.
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