Profit from Digital Media Technology (Let's Get Digital)

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Could digital signs equal dollar signs for the channel? Agents constantly are seeking new technologies to either sell into their existing bases or open the doors of new clients. And experts think the indirect channel not only stands to benefit from the digital signage revolution, but also is crucial to its success.

“Channel partners are essential: from the ‘hang and bang’ crowd, to those who can help retailers think through and implement their strategies – goals, planning, including where to use digital signage and what content to play, how to measure results,” said IDC’s Webster. She also said agents could perform a consulting role where content is concerned since successful digital signage implementations rely on fresh content.

Cisco’s Wyatt said that “customers need to understand what type of content works well for which type of medium, and then from there, how do they track it to make sure they’re getting the right return on investment.” Wyatt believes that companies will begin to invest in these key areas over the next few years, spurring growth in the digital signage market.

Doug Fink of Calence/Insight Networking Solutions, one of Cisco’s largest reseller partners that has been selling the solution since early 2007, agreed that knowledge of the solution, and complete investment in its utilization on the part of the reseller and customer, are key factors of a successful digital signage sale and implementation. Successful selling depends on “our ability to communicate the importance of a holistic convergence model – this means not only ensuring our customers implement the right technical architecture, but also have the appropriate skills and capabilities to implement and administer it; create a predefined operational plan; and have a solid understanding of the cost and metrics associated with deploying the solution,” said Fink, the company’s vice president of unified communications. He added that a successful digital solution sale also depends on involving the appropriate people within the organization to participate in the acquisition. “This has been a challenge for traditional IP networking resellers, as their relationships tend to be with the IT/network teams and not the people most dependent on their signage solution (e.g., marketing and video content teams),” explained Fink.

Cisco’s Wyatt indicated that the majority of the company’s digital signage sales are through indirect partners. The company is focusing initially on a handful of partners who specialize in the area of rich media or digital signage, but Wyatt said it is always looking to add partners with the right expertise and interest in being trained.

Wyatt also said there are several upsell paths from digital signage, including telepresence, surveillance and video analytics. “That provides a huge opportunity for partners because they can take these technologies, put them together and also sell the network necessary to distribute video across to these video screens or whatever the endpoint is,” said Wyatt, adding that high-definition video, which Cisco’s product supports, is really the killer app when it comes to instigating infrastructure sales.

I.C.G.’s Van Horn agrees that digital signage has the facility to lead into additional sales, like billable Wi-Fi hotspots for example. Ken Neeld, president of Delphi Display Systems Inc., manufacturer of outdoor digital signage solutions, said that incorporating I.C.G. technology into very specific and customized applications for its customers leads to even more revenue streams than just the core offering alone. “I.C.G.’s wireless digital signage solution gives us the power to enhance our digital signage offering with a unique combination of connectivity, value and quality in the marketplace, and then build on that with other products from our portfolio to approach different target markets,” said Neeld.

And the markets for digital signage are endless. Of course, there’s retail and point-of-sale locations, but opportunities also abound in service businesses, government agencies, office buildings or property lobbies, hotels and convention centers, and even churches. Because I.C.G.’s solution is completely wireless, Van Horn explained the company is currently in negotiations with a few large mass transit operators and a few taxi cab companies to investigate the possibility of mobile deployments.

Any business with a desire to share up-to-date advertising, cross-selling or informational content – especially to a widely dispersed audience – has use for digital signage solutions. Agents, resellers and dealers can give their clients control of their signage around the corner or across the nation with the click of a button – a powerful idea that most business owners would no doubt entertain.