Wild West

I gained a cursory interest in digital signage in January when I heard the two words put together for the first time. I wanted to know more so I went to the Expo in March. I called my mentor and friend -- tv producer Bob Banner -- from the streets of Chicago and told him about the electric atmosphere there, about how no one seemed to be thinking about THE POTENTIAL of using these closed networks as TARGETED AVENUES FOR AD-SUPPORTED ENTERTAINMENT.

I told him that it seemed as if no one knew what the eff they were doing or should be doing.... and found out that he went through the exact same experience in that same city...nearly 60 years ago.

In 1948, he was a theater professor at Northwestern recruited to make sense out of a new media called television.

Digital Signage is such a brand new industry. In spite of all the bluster, no one knows nothin. And those that act like they do, still haven't convinced the other pieces of their "team" (manufacturers, software folks, retailers, advertisers, merch folks) to follow their lead.

Consequently, it's a big clusterf*ck, totally fragmented environment.

Why am I excited by this?

Because it is exactly the way TV started in the late 1940's. No one knew anything about the new medium of television.

Watch this interview of one of the pioneers of television describe the atmosphere in those days. Copy and Paste the addy below into your BROWSER. About 6 minutes into the segment, Bob tells how TV started, how no one knew what they were doing, and how this exciting environment created real opportunities for those with their heads up:
CLICK HERE

So I take all these on-the-cutting-edge machinations and countless iterations of THE solution with a grain of "how can my organization be doing this better?"

Standardization in the space is a couple of years away, at least. There are simply too many people who think they have THE answer and therefore stop looking around, and thereby further delaying our trip up the bell curve.

So with all that in mind, here are links to trade organizations. A cursory glance will illustrate what OOH advertising trends are in place at present:

CLICK HERE

AND HERE

AND HERE


Hang on to your hats, this could get a little western.....