Let's start with the commuter train I recently took into the city. Small screens were distributed throughout the train car. They appeared above the seats on either side of the car, with perhaps four or five screens per side. The main focus was a news feed from a national TV network, so I assumed the goal was to keep people occupied while they rode. The screens were visible, but as digital signage goes, this particular network did not fare well:



• The images (e.g. those used in the weather report) were not very clear, perhaps because of the screens or the quality of the images themselves.

• There were video news clips, but no audio, which may make sense in this setting, but it seemed counter-productive to show people talking when viewers couldn't hear them.

• The ticker that ran across the bottom did not coincide with the video clips and it presented a strange assortment of news. A brief statement about stock market closings was followed by a headline about a celebrity and then a quick sentence about federal politics, followed by some sports and then more business news.

From this viewer's perspective, the disconnect between information segments was jarring and slightly annoying. Reading the signs became an exercise in frustration, trying to decide whether the information was relevant to me or not. Like the vast majority of the riders I saw, I chose to disregard the signs and focus instead on my newspaper.

Contrast that experience to the subway platform. The signs were visible and offered relevant information in well-defined segments, i.e. business news followed by general headlines followed by entertainment. There was a good amount of local news. The weather and time were presented clearly. This digital signage was ideal for subway riders – it presented small blurbs of useful information that could easily be read during the short wait for the next train.

I found another successful digital signage installation in a food court. The signs were highly visible, even from a great distance. The “blooper” type videos of animals and professional sports were amusing and provided a great distraction for the people there. Children were especially interested. The loops of video did not repeat in the time I was there, clear evidence that the digital signage was designed to hold people's attention for the duration of a typical food court meal. I noticed the advertising but it was subtle enough that I did not feel overwhelmed by it. This digital signage network had struck the right balance between entertaining and marketing and it worked beautifully.

Lessons to Be Learned

What do these examples show us? In digital signage, as everywhere, content is crucial. Even the latest technology and high-resolution screens will not ensure success. If the content does not resonate with the viewer, or worse, if it annoys the viewer, the digital signage network could diminish the image of the company behind it.