DigitalSignage Issue 20

Digital Place Solutions assists clients to unlock digital visualisation opportunities

“ Our previous experience with Digital Place Solutions gave us great confidence that the design created for Charlestown Square would be just as creative and effective as the first two solutions, without exceeding our structural weight limits.”

— Dwight Hodgetts, The GPT Group’s Charlestown Square General Manager

Digital Place Solutions provides Consulting, Sourcing and Supply services with a commercial imperative in mind; • Digital Strategy & Tactics – Develop/Evaluate/Execute • Digital Display Concept Development including Hardware, Content and Software • Technology Sourcing and Project Management Digital Place Solutions also represents interior LED specialist NanoLumens Inc. NanoLumens creates innovative new generation LED displays in any desired size, shape, or curvature, backed by the industry’s only Six-Year, Zero Failure Parts Warranty.

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Images for illustration purposes only Specifications correct at time of print, but subject to change without prior notice 1 Samsung LED BLU Commercial Displays use LCD display panels with LED back or edge lighting.

2 DP Cables not included. (Sold separately)–DP loop out not available on DM32E 3 MagicInfoŽ Premium S server client access software licence is required for networked applications, one licence required for each display (sold separately). Internet connection may be required. Data and subscription charges may apply. Usage may be subject to third party service provider agreements. Network infrastructure not included.

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Samsung Smart Signage Platform (SSSP) Included with DME, DHE and UED ranges

• Complete Stand-Alone Signage Solution • Design Template options included • DME, DHE, UED series allows for PC free content scheduling and delivery to multiple compatible displays using DP Daisy chain² (excluding DM32E) • DME, DHE, UED series PC-less video wall with DP Daisy chain² (excluding DM32E) • PC-less touch using SoC player and optional Touch Module (sold separately).

• Scalable for networked server based signage applications with MagicInfo® Premium S client access software licences (licences sold separately - one licence required per display³).

New Samsung Commercial Displays with Samsung Smart Signage Platform The new Samsung DME and DHE series LED BLU¹ displays introduce a sleek design. Helping to provide clients with a consistent look for their installations even when different model types are required for specific applications.

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CONTENTS ISSUE 20 2016

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Advertising Office: (02) 9986 1188 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086

Editorial Office: (03) 5331 4949 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353

Editorial Director: Christopher Holder (chris@dsmag.com.au) Publisher: Philip Spencer (philip@dsmag.com.au)

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Art Director: Dominic Carey (dominic@alchemedia.com.au) Graphic Design: Daniel Howard (daniel@alchemedia.com.au) Contributing Editor: Graeme Hague (news@dsmag.com.au) Accounts: Jaedd Asthana (jaedd@alchemedia.com.au) Circulation Manager: Mim Mulcahy (subscriptions@dsmag.com.au)

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FEATURE STORY 24 Wonder Wall: All Saints School’s Interactive Learning Space IN ACTION 8 Discovery Channel: Telstra’s Discovery Store 20 Smart Fone: Vodafone National Rollout 26 Target Audience: Highpoint Shopping Centre 30 Up Close with OLED: LG Business Innovation Centre

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COMMENT 16 James Ingram, Managing Director/Owner @ Prendi 18 Simon Stacey, Spatial & Brand Experience Director @ Deloitte Digital TECHNOLOGY 28 NanoLumens Aware: Digital Display Platform 32 ATEN VS1912: Videowalls Made Easy

alchemedia publishing pty ltd (ABN: 34 074 431 628) PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 info@alchemedia.com.au All material in this magazine is copyright © 2016 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. The title AV is a registered Trademark.

Apart from any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. The publishers believe all information supplied in this magazine to be correct at the time of publication. They are not in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. After investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, prices, addresses and phone numbers were up to date at the time of publication. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements appearing in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person, company or advertising agency submitting or directing the advertisement for publication. The publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions, although every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy. 5/8/16

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

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DISCOVERY CHANNEL Melbourne’s Telstra Discovery Store showcases a suite of digital signage solutions that may well change retail forever.

Story: Christopher Holder

R

etail digital signage has promised so much. It’s promised stores without tickets; a world of amazing customer insights; a more motivated, switched-on workforce; it’s promised more efficient, customer-centric marketing; a more dynamic, exciting retail environment; it’s promised the power of centralised marketing control along with the potency of hyperlocal messaging… it’s promised so much.

Engagis has been working with Telstra for some time, helping it with its retail signage. The latest deployment in the flagship Telstra Discovery Stores has been so successful that the Telstra Retail Innovations Team is now selling the suite of products to its enterprise and retail customers under the aforementioned moniker: Telstra Proximity (powered by Engagis).

Worldwide, there have been examples of stunning digital signage delivering incredible results. But it’s hard to point to successful signage networks that aren’t simply amazing one-offs or expensive proofs of concept. They’re rare as hen’s teeth: networks that offer a rock-solid technical backbone and a suite of solutions that can be rolled out in a scaleable, reproducible way and backed up by content creation, service and support.

DIGITAL METRICS IN AN ANALOGUE WORLD

It’s fair to say that the reality has been slow to catch up to the promise.

Admittedly, I’m in danger of sounding like a share prospectus here but what you’re about to read about is truly awesome, and, dare I say it, a gamechanger for digital signage, not just here in Australia but worldwide.

PROXIMITY EFFECT

This story is as much about an amazing telco concept store as it is about a digital signage solution.

As of 2016 the product is called Telstra Proximity Powered by Engagis.

Everyone knows Telstra. But the Telstra you may not know is a company that’s shifting its focus from being a big telco to being a global technology solutions provider. Meanwhile, Engagis is a digital signage specialist; has been for nigh-on 10 years. It has deployed and manages thousands of displays across the country, counting a small but influential stable of blue-chip companies as its clients. Engagis has amassed a suite of digital solutions that allow its clients to, in turn, follow its customers through the full pathway to purchase (and beyond): Attract, Entertain, Engage, Transact and Reward.

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

So what you see profiled here is more than a way-cool retail digital signage deployment, it is now a all-singing/all-dancing signage showcase for Telstra’s business clients to experience Telstra Proximity.

I’ll allow you to navigate the various signage pieces in the Melbourne Telstra Discovery Store throughout the pages of this feature story, but I’d like to explore the big picture of how Telstra and Engagis transformed its retail environment.

“The Discovery Store was trying to solve a business problem,” noted Lucas XXX from the Telstra Retail Innovations Team. “Telstra is a world-class tech company but we had our products behind a counter on a shelf and there was a lack of connection between customer, product and sales representative. Using digital, we’ve broken down those barriers.”

“It’s all about bringing the benefits of digital into the physical bricks and mortar space,” explained Engagis CEO, Leon Condon. “Every business now expects sophisticated analytics from its web presence — who’s visited, how many clicks, what they’ve touched, where they’ve spent their time and what they prefer — and now we’re developing the same thing here in the world of bricks and mortar, knowing customer behaviour so we can serve them better.”

Right, Google-style metrics for the real world.

Sounds almost too good to be true. The truth is, there is some homework required to get those insights. First, Engagis looked at the job with fresh eyes, making an assessment of who came into a Telstra store, profiling customers into four ‘Personas’:

MAPPED As soon as you cross the Discovery Store threshold, cameras track numbers as well as noting the gender and age segmentation.

Once inside, cameras continue to map foot traffic and dwell time. The resulting data helps to build a heat map of the store plan.

Leon Condon: “In days past, store management couldn’t report to higher level management with any certainty about what’s going on in the store. And it’s a really fundamental question. Now with these cameras we can provide heat maps that show the dwell time across the store floorplan. ‘Let’s increase the product range in that section’, ‘let’s reduce it’, ‘let’s reset the layout’. None of those decisions could be made empirically without analytics.”

Fhil Vella: “The store is built to be adaptable.

And with the heat map we can respond to the metrics without shutting the store for weeks and resetting. Here we can reset overnight.”

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

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The Resolution Seeker, who is on a specific mission, such as a warranty return or an issue with a bill.

The Locator, who has done all their research at home and is simply there to make a purchase pickup — locate it and go.

The Dreamer, who knows they want a phone and a plan, but they don’t know which one. So they’re going to spend some time with an expert.

And, finally, the Explorer, who has 20 minutes to kill at lunchtime, doesn’t really purposely want anything, but is happy to learn and browse.

Other retailers might categorise their customers based on whether they’re a baby boomer, DINK, or student but profiling customers based on their Persona has proven to be far more powerful. It’s meant that a door greeter with a Windows Surface tablet can quickly determine a customer’s purpose and ensure they’re funnelled into the right digital pathway to purchase. The ‘concierge’ software on the tablet is part of the Proximity suite, it’s called the Electronic Floor Manager.

JUST THE DIGITAL TICKET

Curiously for a DigitalSignage story, one of the key pillars of the Discovery Store digital solution doesn’t involve a digital sign at all. But it most certain is digital and does away with printed brochures.

The interface is called Digital Ticket and it allows customers to continue their journey of exploration at home. It’s based on a biodegradable NFCenabled card which the customer is given by an assistant. If you want to learn more about, say, a Samsung Galaxy S6 you can use the card to tap on the interface — up to 10 products per card. When you return home you simply type in telstra.com/ followed by your unique digital ticket number and you’ll be presented with the wishlist from the store. Before too long the NFC card will be replaced by tapping your smartphone.

“The purpose of this store is in the name: discovery,” noted Leon Condon. “It’s designed to inspire and let you explore. The Engagis solution encourages you to continue the journey on other channels when you leave.”

“It also means that as people are waiting for an appointment they can explore the store with the Digital Ticket,” observed Telstra Discovery Store Floor Manager, Fhil Vella. “They can then hand the ticket to the sales consultant and work through what took their fancy.”

It’s a pertinent point to observe: every customer digital interaction is gold for the sales team.

Every button press, every movement… all of that engagement allows all 90 of the Discovery Store’s staff to do their job better — serve customers better, talk to them about what’s of most interest, interact with them in a way that best matches their Persona.

It’s not a point lost on Leon Condon: “We’ve got a pretty large team building these solutions — 62 Engagis people working on this store alone. We’ve found that more than half of our effort, more than 50% of the lines of code, is actually to assist the store staff. The value of bricks and mortar retail is in the physical footprint, but the real ace is the people working in the store. This solution, Telstra Proximity Powered by Engagis, allows those people to worker smarter and more productively.”

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FOYER TOTEMS If ‘Attract’ is the first step in the pathway to purchase then the six 10m-high LED pillars may as well have Attract written all over them. In fact, you could have anything written all over them and thanks to the hi-def 3mm pixel pitch it’d look amazing all the way across the street.

The totems are updated seasonally and are interactive. Floor Manager, Fhil Vella, loves their visibility: “They’re like the next Myer windows.

You can actually see the display across the street from the yellow store [Optus] and the red store [Vodafone], it really does attract.”

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

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FEATURE WALL & ECO SYSTEMS The Telstra Discovery Store is a large two-floor site in the heart of Melbourne. It’s Telstra’s chance to tell its story, and the story it would like to tell is: ‘we sell a lot more than phones’. The feature wall plays a significant role in setting the tone. The ground floor is weighed heavily in favour of the Dreamer and the Explorer — experience and touch — with ‘ecosystems’ showing a technological bigger picture.

Fhil Vella takes up the story: “You can walk into any store and have a budget in mind, but if you’re offered a value solution, then the budget goes out the window. I might go shopping for a $100 pair of jeans but if the sales consultant can get me excited about a whole outfit then my $100 jeans turns into a $500 ‘solution’… even if I can’t afford rent for another week!

“We want to demonstrate that value. We want people waiting for a tram to come in and see new technology being properly showcased.”

ELECTRONIC SHELF LABELS You won’t find printed brochures, tickets, dockets, posters, or price tags. Instead you’ll find electronic shelf labels.

Fhil Vella: “Every Tuesday we used to have two guys come in at 6pm and refresh all the paper tickets, and it was very expensive. Now we’ve got electronic shelf labels, so these are all remotely updated from the CMS by RF.”

STORE IN A STORE Leon Condon: “Retail leaders are moving away from being product specialists — buy a phone and a mobile plan — and instead targeting a customer segment: ‘what else are these customers interested in?’ What you see here is ‘Curated for the Curious’.

In other words, the same person interested in the latest iPhone is likely to also be interested in a GoPro camera and a Crumpler bag. So Telstra is selling lifestyle, not just pushing product like you’ve seen in the past. Naturally, the physical product is supported by digital engagement.”

ENTERTAIN Engagis has added ‘Entertain’ to the (Attract, Engage, Transact and Reward) pathway to purchase.

Leon Condon: “You can walk into a Telstra Discovery Store and have a not-for-profit latté, spend time on the PlayStation, get free wi-fi or charge your phone. We all know retailing is moving more toward experiences and if we make it more experiential, entertaining and enjoyable then we’re getting longer dwell time, resulting in better sales and conversion.”

STAFF PIC, STAFF PICK It’s easy to explore the features of a product on display. Touchscreens provide access to the information, including Staff Picks, where photos of actual staff members are used to provide a personal touch to informational easter eggs. Putting a face to information works, according to floor manager Fhil Vella: “It showcases our staff and helps customers to engage with our staff. It’s great to hear someone ask ‘Hey, can I speak to Stewart about the Galaxy S6?’.”

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TAKING TABLETS

THE ENGAGIS MODEL

Telstra Discovery Store ‘counters’ aren’t formidable monoliths with a Pay Here sign overhead, they’re portable pods that can be repositioned depending on the need. The enabler of this flexibility is the store associates’ use of tablets.

It may not feel like a big deal but the ramifications are profound. Because staff can be alongside the customer on the floor it means the customer is freer to explore — the journey to purchase doesn’t need to be anchored back to a fixed point.

Fhil Vella: “The personalisation and localisation of the digital media has really helped drive all of those key metrics. Getting the staff on the floor with tablets, and having the stock close at hand has changed the atmosphere from being very transactional to very adaptable. A customer can sit anywhere they want and we’ve got the technology to sit with them.”

Engagis is a new breed of thoroughbred digital signage providers. In a market with a host of individual software and hardware providers, Engagis takes care of the entire solution from cradle to grave. Engagis takes care of the design, UX, software development, the hardware sourcing, testing, provisioning, install, deployment and support.

Telstra Proximity exposes the Engagis smarts to a whole new market. Rather than the Engagis solution being necessarily bespoke to suit the client, Proximity takes a complex platform and allows it to be deployed at scale and backed by the people who designed it.

Proximity recognises that deploying digital signage for many retailers has to be an ‘all in’ decision, but it doesn’t need to be risky — not with the right long-term support.

“What’s most impressive about the Telstra Discovery Store,” observed Leon Condon. “Is the fact we’re doing all this without breaking the bank — it’s a small percentage of the build. And that includes the content creation and media management, which is a core part of the Telstra Proximity offer. That component in the past was viewed as a huge percentage of the investment, to the point where you wouldn’t buy the car because you couldn’t afford the fuel. Now we have it down to three or four percent of the cost.”

Engagis: 1300 203 810 or www.engagis.com

SELLER DOOR

All the product is now on the floor. From mobile phones, to bags and accessories, there’s no storage at back of house. There’s a recognition that part of the joy of purchase is the ceremony involved in taking ownership and the unboxing. Sales Associates are now trained to ask the customer if they’d like to accompany them to the display cabinet to secure the product themselves. “It’s that ‘cellar door’ experience,” noted Fhil Vella. And he’s absolutely right.

MEDIA FOUNTAIN Seeing product in the flesh and exploring the features and functionality is a big Discovery Store drawcard, but increasingly Telstra is moving into selling services. The Media Fountains, at first glance, look like advertisement hoardings, but upon closer inspection they’re interactive. Each Media Fountain allows customers to explore available services. Touch on the NBN logo to check on availability and why you would choose Telstra as your NBN provider. At kids’ level there are trailers for age-appropriate movies.

DEVICE LAB The Device Lab is one of the real success stories of the new store. It’s enjoyed incredible engagement. Using a touch table format, customers can drop one or two of a selection of phones (with a QR code on the bottom) onto the table and explore and compare features.

It’s not unknown for some customers to spend over an hour on the Device Lab comparing phone features, and it’s easy to see why. There’s something about the interface that’s really quite mesmerising.

It’s perfect for Explorers. They can take as long as they need and they know they won’t be interrupted unnecessarily.

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Image courtesy AV TECNICA

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Technology:

In-store Contentment Managing Director/Owner of Prendi a full-service digital solutions provider, specialising in creating digital solutions by seamlessly integrating a wide range of technologies, content and interactivity prendi.com.au

Column: James Ingram

W

hen it comes to in-store digital solutions, I would wager that 1% of your customers care about the brand, bezel size and resolution of your hardware. I would further wager that 100% of those customers care about what they are seeing when they look at your digital solutions: the content. The problem is that most installations focus mostly on the hardware (that’s the 1% of customer care), and content is an afterthought, often rushed and backed by no strategy (so much for the 100%).

It saddens me when you spend $10k, $50k, or even $200k on in-store digital solutions, only to have static images or incorrectly formatted low-budget content to display. Your customers definitely aren’t impressed, and your solution does not reflect the value of the investment.

Everyone likes to say the old adage of ‘content is king’ dubbed by Bill Gates 20 years ago, but unfortunately very few are translating this in-store.

CONTENT CURRENCY

The average Australian marketer currently allocates 30% of their total marketing budget to content marketing, with a key focus on social media, website articles, e-newsletters and videos. This suggests that it’s understood by most that content is the currency of the modern marketer. As Darren Guarnaccia said (Sitecore’s US-based EVP of Customer Experience): ‘it’s the coin with which you purchase attention from your audience’.

However, more often than not, this budget isn’t spent in-store on digital solutions. Instead we are often seeing content created for print or TV being transferred over onto digital screens in-store. It is of vital importance that each marketing communication channel portrays a unique message; taking into consideration the intended audience, location and timing. The right message, in the right place, at the right time.

“But to be successful online, a magazine can’t just take what it has in print and move it to the electronic realm. There isn’t enough depth or interactivity in print content to overcome the drawbacks of the online medium.”

Bill Gates was on the money back in 1996.

“If people are to be expected to put up with turning on a computer to read a screen, they must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-date 16

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

information that they can explore at will. They need to have audio, and possibly video. They need an opportunity for personal involvement that goes far beyond that offered through the letters-to-theeditor pages of print magazines.”

This was said over 20 years ago, yet still translates today: if people are expected to come in-store, they need to be offered an experience that they cannot get online. Technology is constantly advancing and, with that, customer expectations are rising. Today, customers are willing to pay more for an in-store experience. An experience that seamlessly merges online and in-store. An experience that provides the right message, in the right place, at the right time.

MESSAGING BUDGET

To create the right experience, Australian marketers should be allocating a minimum 15% of their in-store hardware spend on content. That’s the initial content at launch, with a view to continue development throughout the year.

Content should determine the location, size, quantity and type of hardware you implement.

Knowing your customer and the flow of foot-traffic throughout your store will help determine the correct messaging to display at points of entry, passing, idling and purchasing. Each of these areas will need a different message supported by specific hardware.

If you don’t consider the movement and flow of your customers through your store, then you won’t know the correct placement and quantity of screens. If you don’t consider your viewing angles from outside your store, you won’t know to capitalise on the video wall which can attract attention.

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

The type of content you implement can be almost anything, depending on your needs. From custom touchscreen configurators, endless aisles, educational/sales tools for staff, through to interactivity, augmented reality or projection. The possibilities are endless, and can be integrated with more traditional forms of in-store communications such as decals or large format prints. The content your brand needs can be determined with an in-store content strategy.

A well thought out strategy supports your technology plan, and ensures your solution is correctly integrated and has a plan for the future. The strategy should be determined by a professional with expertise in all areas of digital solutions; content, interactivity and technology.

To create the right experience, Australian marketers should be allocating a minimum 15% of their in-store hardware spend on content.

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Retail:

Brand Experience Simon Stacey joined Deloitte Digital this year as its Spatial and Brand Experience Director. Simon brings over 25 years’ experience in aligning the physical and digital brands around the customer journey, communicating brand strategy and creating customer brand experiences.

Column: Simon Stacey

M

y background is firmly rooted in retail environments across all sectors. I’ve worked with Vodafone, Amazon, Tesco, Christian Louboutin as well as in the health and beauty sector. My core passion is looking at the retail experience with the brand and customer at its heart. The two are inseparable. Everyone’s talking about the customer experience and that’s obviously really important, but just as important is how the brand uniquely relates to that customer.

Tesco: Conversely, Tesco (the big UK supermarket brand) provides a case in point of somewhere people do shopping.

That’s my job: to go beyond the brilliant and make retail work for the brand, integrating the phy sical environment, the digital environment and, of course, the people.

Yes, digital in a ‘go shopping’ retail environment needs to make the experience easy and fuss-free but it can do more to inspire. Tesco went beyond expectations to create great curated merchandise product stories, as well as making it easy to order a pint of milk.

In other words it’s not enough to be brilliant — making the retail experience, joyful and easy — it’s about using the retail environment, communications, service, design, and digital engagement to make a difference from a brand perspective.

DO SHOPPING, GO SHOPPING

There’s a positive conflict between customers who want to do shopping — simple and hassle free; and for those going shopping — enjoying a much more immersive experience. Digital has a place in getting the most out of both those approaches.

Christian Louboutin: A great example of a customer going shopping is in the world of luxury brands — no one pops out to Gucci or Prada because they have to. Not so long ago, Burberry put digital front and centre of its flagship store in London, to much acclaim. Undoubtedly, there was an amazing use of technology at that Regent Street outlet. One thing that I would question is the use of digital on the micro level. Luxury products are about craftsmanship and the customer’s relationship with the product. Digital should be layered behind and beside the product rather than over the top; not providing a barrier to that relationship. I think that’s wrong.

My work with Christian Louboutin in the UK sought to deliver theatre to the retail experience and reinforce the brand. Undoubtedly, customers knew the brand but may not have been aware of the full brand story.

It was an example of deploying digital in the right place in the right time for the right reason.

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Post the GFC, Tesco invested heavily in reshaping its future. I worked with Tesco to take its ‘Click & Collect’ model and build bricks and mortar retail that would raise the Tesco brand from being bland and transactional to one that provides a positive experience for its customers.

Once people are in the store, having ordered the groceries and essentials online, we created a store that offered product collections that were inspiring to interact with. Alternatively, if you didn’t want to ‘walk the aisles’ you could sit at a Tesco cafés or ‘mini lounge’ and explore the curated collections, choose your product and pick up your order on the way out. It was a more tactile experience and removed from the mundane.

Everyone’s talking about the customer experience … but just as important is how the brand uniquely relates to that customer.

THREE MONTH ROI

When I left the UK 18 months ago, retail was in the midst of an identity crisis. The pace of change is just so quick, retailers simply didn’t know what to do. Retail used to talk about three-year plans for ROI, while now three months is more realistic.

Clearly, store design needs to be more flexible and resettable. Retail has understood this imperative for years. Just look at the shopfront window. Now the whole store is a brand window, and needs constant reinvention and innovation. The store needs to bring the brand to life. Use the store to market test products, co-create new things with customers and add theatre. This is the new way of retailing.

When it comes to the use of digital in this brave new world, it’s much more than putting kiosks in the store, it’s about asking ‘where can digital help enhance the customer experience?’ and, crucially, giving staff the tools to deliver a better service experience. They’re the fundamental areas of opportunity.

My advice would be to not separate the use of digital and store design — the two are inseparable.

Retail shopfitters used to talk about fixtures and fittings — inferring something permanent, heavy

and immovable. We need to reframe the way we think about designing, using frames and stages — implying a much lighter, more fluid and versatile way of forming spaces.

By being agile, we get to test and learn. If something isn’t working, we can move it. Being lighter and more flexible should be more cost effective as well. Put those savings into the content and the brand stories rather than fixtures and fittings.

STORY DOING

Digital strategy is the business strategy, the two aren’t divorced. And the business strategy is about the brand and taking the brand out to the customers. The store is your chance to tell the brand story.

In fact, it’s more than storytelling it’s story doing — it’s getting your customers involved with and invested in your brand.

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SMART FONE Vodafone has a futureproofed 900+ display digital signage network it can grow into.

L

ast year, Vodafone could only manage to execute one campaign a month across all its stores. This year, it can go with one per day if so desired.

Last year, Vodafone’s stores were stocked with the usual reams of printed advertising material and brochures. This year, that’s not necessary.

Last year, Vodafone was lumbering in its ability to respond to competitors’ offers in the cutthroat mobile phone market. This year it can respond with alacrity.

Last year, Vodafone had no granularity in its national marketing strategy. This year, it can drill down to a store level.

Last year, its in-store promotional materials were static. This year those campaigns are dynamic, engaging and interactive.

Last year, Vodafone didn’t have an integrated national digital signage network. This year, it does.

PHASE ONE

What you see on this spread is Phase 1 of a longer-term strategy. But already its worth is plain to see for all those involved. The primary purpose of Phase 1 (ie. moving to a digital signage solution) has the ability to deliver the latest and best value 20

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

offers in real time and at a reduced ongoing cost.

Phase 1 is predominantly about the street facing signage with all the content scheduled by Vodafone HQ. The content is an extension of its current marketing and advertising campaigns which heavily features new handset launches, new plans and any specific offers to customers. By using the in-store screens in this way Vodafone creates a seamless integration of above- and below-the-line marketing, advertising and social media.

AHEAD IN THE CLOUD

The digital signage solution developed by Fujifilm Australia is something special. The cloud-based solution, which integrates Samsung commercial large format display (LFD) panels with built-in wi-fi, is powered by Signagelive for content distribution.

[See elsewhere on this page for a full explanation.]

Fujifilm Australia Technology Manager Craig Rumsey explained, “Fujifilm Australia entirely designed and now supports Vodafone Australia’s digital signage networks as a complete end-toend solution. The initial installation was into 100 stores in only 12 weeks. We have now installed a nationwide network of more than 900 displays with many more screens still to be installed.”

Vodafone might be testing the digital signage

waters with the scope of the screen content but Fujifilm has built the network with the long term in mind — while Phase 1 concentrates on outwardfacing, shop-window screens playing the same content, the potential for the system is far, far greater.

Fujifilm has developed the system with Vodafone and its customers front of mind. This means as the system rolls into Phase 2 and beyond, Vodafone will be able to customise content per screen in store and prioritise screens with location and messaging.

This is all now possible from Vodafone HQ and thanks to the ingenuity of Fujifilm’s tailor-made system, the only extra work required is the creation of individual playlists and schedules.

Already Fujifilm is testing what’s possible for future phases, exploring an interactive solution that allows Vodafone customers the ability to view and test Vodafone’s 4G coverage in store, in real time, using a touchscreen panel prior to signing up for a smartphone or mobile internet plan.

NO MEDIA PLAYER REQUIRED

By using Signagelive for content distribution the media is played directly through the Samsung commercial panels, thus not requiring an external media player. All that’s required in store is an internet connection. Each panel is an end point and licences to the Fujifilm solution and support

are sold per panel. Once the panel is installed it connects to the Signagelive server via Vodafone’s 4G network and the content, previously uploaded

by Vodafone, is immediately downloaded to the panel. The screens automatically check for new playlists and different playlists can be scheduled to run at any time.

ALL FROM HQ

Vodafone now has the complete freedom and flexibility of a centralised facility to run its countrywide digital signage network as all content is managed from Vodafone HQ, with the in-house team able to log in via a simple web portal. Content can be created, scheduled and managed on a local, regional or national basis, even down to ‘tagging’ individual panels depending on the requirements.

This way Vodafone can run different messages on different panels based on their location in the store and tailor campaigns in a far more effective and targeted way than ever before. The system also allows campaigns to be run based on individual events such as sporting matches or seasons. The control over priorities and content is at Vodafone’s fingertips in real time.

There’s no doubt this Vodafone network has been future-proofed by Fujifilm.

SAMSUNG FLAT OUT AMAZING Fujifilm and Vodafone have nothing but praise for the Samsung panels. The 900+ screens in the rollout drew from Samsung’s Professional Display series (specifically the DM65D, DM55D and DH55D models). Not only are they fast, robust and efficient but the image quality is exception and they look the part. “It’s hard to find other panels that match Samsung for quality and sharpness of image,” commented Fujifilm’s Craig Rumsey. As a result Fujifilm has several other significant digital signage projects in the pipeline all of which will use the same Samsung flat panel displays.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

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TECH TALK: THE SAMSUNG WAY Historically, the deployment of a digital sign requires a screen, a separate media player to store the media content, and some kind of content management system to tell the media player what to play and when to play it.

The Vodafone deployment demonstrates some of the benefits of doing things a little differently: the Samsung Way. The first acronym to get your head around is SSSP or Samsung Smart Signage Platform. SSSP replaces the media player with an integrated processor that can store the media and run an open source system platform. SSSP is included on Samsung’s commercial-grade panels, including the DME, UED and DHE series.

Samsung’s new 2nd Generation SSSP offers 22

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

significantly improved performance thanks to a 1GHz quad-core CPU and 1.5GB double data rate (DDR3) dual 48-bit memory. One measure of how powerful the processor is, is the picture-in-picture size you can run. The second generation SSSPenabled displays offer a PIP size over 50 percent of the display.

That’s the hardware, and Samsung has considered the software as well.

Traditionally, a third-party provider takes care of the content management. The 2nd Generation SSSP is now compatible with third-party software, or in the case of the Vodafone job you can use Signagelive — Samsung’s recommended cloud-based signage management software. The Samsung Smart Signage Platform, powered by Signagelive, has

provided Vodafone with a centralised facility to run and manage a countrywide digital signage network (948 screens and counting).

“This is our biggest Samsung SSSP installation by far,” comments Jason Cremins, CEO and owner of Signagelive. “By integrating our ‘system on a chip’ software into the FujiVision brand, Fujifilm has eliminated the need for onsite media players and has been able to cost effectively roll out a digital signage network that can be managed locally, centrally or remotely using any device.”

Fujifilm: www. Fujifilm.com.au Samsung: www.samsung/au/business or business. partner@samsung.com Signagelive: www.signagelive.com

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23

Wonder Wall All Saints School’s Pioneering ‘Wonder Room’

In Action

Story: Preshan John

All Saints Anglican School: www.asas.qld.edu.au Prendi: www.prendi.com.au

It’s hard to know if classroom videowalls and touchscreens would’ve impacted my high school report cards. Textbooks were the only way you learnt back then, and the deepest level of technological interaction was the odd Google search and typing up assignments in Word.

make the school community wonder about, and wonder at the world around them. Jason was the mastermind behind the mammoth quantity of information presented on the interactive videowall, and he worked extensively with digital specialists, Prendi, to bring the videowall to life.

But those days are long gone. In a world that thrives on digital interaction and information consumption, the inevitable transfer of technology into the education sector continues to challenge our notion of what a ‘normal’ school education looks like.

Structuring and organising the diverse content was an important part of the process to ensure the interactive experience remained as open-ended as possible. Rather than force-feeding information to students, the idea was to launch them into their own journey of discovery. What’s more, the tactile component had to feel natural and enjoyable enough to keep students engaged long after the ‘wow factor’ had worn off. Prendi played a key part in keeping the fun and playfulness within the design.

All Saints Anglican School on the Gold Coast has embraced the ‘edutech’ revolution more than most. Six months ago the school inaugurated its ‘Wonder Room’ — a state-of-the-art learning hub that spent two years in intensive incubation.

While there’s plenty of AV geekery right around the room, the centre of attention is hard to miss: a large MultiTaction videowall configured as five seamless portrait displays.

MultiTaction has pushed the boundaries of what’s expected of your average touchscreen. Unlimited touch points means this solution is perfect for the classroom environment. Picture a group of knowledge-hungry students, each marking out their own screen real estate on the 5m x 2m videowall, voraciously devouring the vast amount of content before them without stepping on each others’ toes (or fingers).

WHAT A WONDER-FUL WORLD

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

“The Prendi guys were champions,” says Wainwright. “The whole time they were thinking about how this was going to work for little ones who can’t yet read, right through to those finishing Year 12. They were the ones building in little tricks to give kids a kick.”

CONTENT IS KING For the sake of coursework relevancy, the videowall’s content generally adheres to the nationally-standardised Australian Curriculum. But the ‘whimsical thinking’ philosophy for the Wonder Room meant there was no reservation in loading extra-curricular information into the CMS as well. If it’s fascinating and promotes explorative thinking, it made the cut.

This kind of install isn’t so different from a commercial signage execution. Regardless of the target market, the bottom line of any digital signage installation remains — eyecatching first impressions, easy interaction, and prolonged engagement. Only, in education, sales conversions aren’t a concern — the KPIs are somewhat different.

The way that information is presented is entirely unique.

Instead of categorising content by subject (maths, science, English, etc.), Wainwright organised it according to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. Wait, what?

Jason Wainwright, Director of Learning Culture at All Saints, says the goal of the Wonder Room is in the name — to

In 1983, Howard Gardner, a Harvard-educated brainiac, proposed that human beings have seven to 10 ‘intelligences’

This is a space where, every direction you look, something is changing or interacting with you by which we learn (as opposed to a single measure of intelligence). His theory challenges the assumption that linguistic and quantitative education forms a student’s optimal method for intake of information.

“Broadly, I’m tasked with looking at psychology, philosophy, neurology, and those sort of things,” says Wainwright. “So by using the 10 multiple intelligences — intrapersonal, interpersonal, mathematical-logical, verbal-linguistic, etc. — the main structure for the content was created. So any information we came across that could be useful goes straight into a category. There are 3500 content points entered into the system consisting of static images, MP4s, Word documents, PDF books, infographics. Within those 3500 graphics there might be over 10,000 data points.

“If a student would like to discover what fireworks are made of to create different colours, noises and effects, they need to consider which of the multiple intelligences is most likely to cover this. If they would like to look at a giant image of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, or at one of Banksy’s graffiti pieces, or at the world’s hardest mountain climbs, or nearest constellations, they must first engage their brain to consider where they might find it. The advantage here is that students will discover new ideas of interest along the way. This was really important to us and Prendi because we really want people to find links and realise connections.”

Commendably, this method means the videowall interface effortlessly caters to students of varying ages, personalities, and learning types. Because the selection icons are entirely pictorial, it’s a level starting point for anyone who fancies a go.

CHILD’S PLAY In an education environment, efficient content management is as important as the content itself. Where commercial digital signage

is often set-and-forget, the Wonder Room’s digital library has to be added to, subtracted from, and regularly updated.

Wainwright, who doesn’t so much as own a mobile phone, is quick to point out his technical ineptitude. He credits Prendi for designing an intuitive back-end through which the immense database can be easily accessed and altered.

“I can’t write code, and I don’t understand code, but we needed the capacity to manipulate content on a daily basis. The Prendi team created a back-end so I could load this stuff in myself and visually move things into place. It was a complete team approach to how we do it.”

CROSS POLLINATION As much as digital signage principles translate from commercial applications to educational, the reverse is also true — especially so in the case of All Saints’ Wonder Room where two years’ worth of thought and planning has gone into developing a structure that fosters creative interest and autonomous discovery.

The Wonder Room is also a testament to Prendi’s versatility and outside-the-box approach. Impressively, the company managed to realise Jason’s ambitious vision, construct a comprehensive, tailor-made digital solution from the ground up, and bring it to the big screen. “It’s been really great working with everyone at All Saints,” says Nat Russell, Creative Director, Prendi. “I think we’ve come up with something really unique and this is only the beginning.”

Wainwright: “It’s actually quite ridiculous how versatile the pieces Prendi has given us are. This is a space where, every direction you look, something is changing or interacting with you. Anyone who walks in there and uses the MultiTaction videowall is amazed. You immediately see what it does and the impact it has on kids. People don’t get bored with it.”  Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

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Target Audience Highpoint Shopping Centre harnesses some revitalising interactivity.

In Action

Story: Christopher Holder

Interactivity: 1300 797 199 or www.interactivity.com.au

Anyone played Sim City? I have. Admittedly it was back in the mid ’90s, and it certainly wasn’t one of those modern variants where your avatar dates a cute millennial from an apartment down the hall. I’m talking about the original concept of building a city, keeping the inhabitants happy with shops, schools, parks and electricity. You’re constantly pulling levers to ensure your constituents don’t revolt or leave town. Furthermore, even if you think you’ve got all the settings right, and the place is thriving, that’s when Godzilla arrives, leaving a unforeseeable trail of disastermovie destruction behind his prehistoric tail.

This is much like how I imagine running a large shopping centre would be.

Running a large shopping mall requires the constant finetuning of settings, constant upgrades and refreshment, constant inspiration to breath interest and life into the retail environment. Rest on your laurels and your constituents revolt or move out. Become complacent and the proverbial Godzilla is just as likely to ruin your day.

RE: INVIGORATION The GPT Group, the managers of Highpoint shopping centre in Melbourne’s west, came to Interactivity seeking some inspiration. An older part of the shopping centre needed a shot in the arm. They wanted to attract youngsters and families. They wanted some kind of 26

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

drawcard that would pull people through into this particular retail artery that wasn’t feeling the love.

Interactivity is a digital specialist. We’ve seen its interactive activations in DigitalSignage over the years and it has honed its game: providing (often) temporary installations based on stunning visual content, responsive interactivity, innovative concepts and hardware integration.

HOP TO IT Maddi Goricane is Interactivity’s Projects Director and recalls the first meeting: “The client was in the middle of a sustainability drive — reducing its carbon footprint and water usage — which dovetailed nicely with our native flora and fauna plans.

“The client loved the idea of a native landscape interactive wall and a sea creature interactive floor.”

The wall shows a classic Australian landscape, with bush and desert. In it older children, especially, can see the the types of fauna in the bush. Lyrebirds, echidnas, emus and wombats all patrol the landscape. Bees swarm, koalas snooze. A kangaroo lopes past and will interact with you — stopping to regard you with with well-observed ambivalence.

The interactive elements allow you to impact on some of the movements of the animals. A ‘magic dust’ cloud indicates to the customer that the installation knows you’re there and registering your movements.

This is not a Just Dance-style kinetic interaction so much as an easy-going bucolic encounter with nature. The easy pace has meant that dwell time is high and you won’t hear sugarhigh squeals from kids.

KID MAGNET Some 20 metres down the hall is the water-themed interactive floor. This has proven to be a magnet for kids under five, especially. But in truth, who doesn’t want to interact with Nemo®… by which I mean the brightly coloured coral clownfish.

The fish animations are excellent and the interactivity is beautifully responsive, as kids attempt to jump on and chase the fish, and are themselves chased by the occasional shark or ray.

HOW IT WORKS Maddi Goricane explains how it’s done: “For this job we’ve supplied our own software which uses infrared, casting a series of dots over an area. A camera detects you as a heat source breaking an infrared beam and an interaction will occur at those coordinates. The brilliant thing about the interactive wall and floor is you can have as many children as you want because there are up to around 10,000 dots per emitter.

6.8m across. The 8m-wide wall image is produced by three projectors. In both cases the stitched together image is pixel perfect and perfectly colour matched.”

FAMILY AFFAIR It’s clever stuff, but ultimately the value lies in the impact on the shopping centre’s foot traffic in that neck of the woods.

Anecdotally the executions have been a huge success. The flow-on success to retailers has been measurable. More kids, brings more families which brings more potential customers to Target and the associated shops in the area such as Chemist Warehouse, along with a café and hairdresser.

Necessarily, such an installation is only every temporary, and by the time you read this, it will have moved on. Which is also the beauty of Interactivity’s work methods — scoping the right location, integrating the solution with minimum disruption to the client and having right impact on the behaviour of the customers. 

“Both solutions are using projectors. The interactive floor uses two ceiling mounted projectors to produce an image Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

27

AWARE-ness Campaign NanoLumens Makes LED Smarter

In Action

Story: Christopher Holder

NanoLumens: nanolumens.com Australian Distribution: Digital Place Solutions (DPS): 0412 339 489 or digitalplacesolutions.com

NanoLumens is a regular to the pages of DigitalSignage. It’s a company that in recent years has made a name for itself as a darling of the retail sector. Big shopping malls can’t get enough of its LED displays. Pacific Fair, Highpoint, Broadway, Indooroopilly and more, are falling other themselves to fill atriums and voids with hi-def, hi-brightness screens that display advertising and marketing content in an engaging way. Increasingly, as that market matures (ie. maxes out), NanoLumens product is going into corporate lobbies and the out of home sector (dynamic billboards).

if an LED panel is overheating or something else is not quite right. NanoLumens provides APIs for the diagnostics engine to allow the screen to integrate into any AV setup.

These purchases might be marketing no-brainers but, regardless, they’re big investments and NanoLumens’ customers have been expressing a certain degree of anxiety about obsolescence — ‘everything’s moving so quickly, will my display still be amazing in three years time?’

Internal & Third-party-developed Apps: The core applications available at launch include a built-in media, weather, sports, news, HTML5, social media, and audience measurement. The apps have been developed through NanoLumens’ partnerships with Admobilize, Gimbal, Navori, and Screenfeed. More partnerships will no doubt follow and it’ll be interesting to see how this aspect of AWARE develops.

The truth is, no one knows where the industry will be in three years. But NanoLumens has identified a few ‘known unknowns’ that it is seeking to address.

Its response is a digital display platform called AWARE. AWARE combines real-time diagnostics, media playback, and a variety of internal and third-party-developed apps into one integrated system that is accessible through a single cloudbased portal from anywhere in the world.

Real-time Diagnostics: Every content management system (CMS) worth its salt provides some kind of proof of play — a report of when content was played and on what display. It may well also tell you if your Windows or Android media player is functioning properly. What the CMS won’t do is tell you if the screen was turned on at the time. AWARE provides that ‘proof of display’. It will also allow you to take care of proactive diagnostics. In other words, AWARE can send you an email

28

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

NanoLumens AWARE is set to make its display solutions even more compelling. Pictured is a NanoSlim display installed into Broadway shopping centre, Sydney, comprising a double-sided 4.5mm pixel pitch banner that measures 2.44m wide x 4.42m high.

Media Playback: You can build AWARE playback hardware into a new display or add hardware to an existing display.

Simply plug straight into the screen. This is especially pertinent if and when your NanoLumens screen needs to slot into a larger signage ecosystem or respond to changes in the network — regardless of what’s going on with the CMS or the network, your NanoLumens display is ready to roll.

Still a little vague as to what AWARE is exactly? Don’t feel bad, I think it’s a bit hard to put your finger on, other than to say that NanoLumens’ visualisation solutions will now play more nicely with all the other kids in the network sandpit, but will also be a lot more powerful as a standalone screen. There’s no doubt AWARE helps to differentiate NanoLumens in the market as more than just another purveyor of LED panels — a commodity item flooding out of Shenzhen by the container load.

NanoLumens Vice President of Corporate Development Nate Remmes puts it best: “We understand that our partners have a greater opportunity for choice in LED and we want to make sure we are providing them with a solution that is easier to manage, easier to deploy, and provides more value to the end user.” 

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29

Up Close with OLED LG Business Innovation Centre Opens

In Action

If you’ve been drooling over pictures of the recently launched LG product, such as the commercial OLED, or the ultrathing double sided displays, or the huge 98-inch ultra UHD LCD, then you’ll be pleased to hear that LG has opened a Business Innovation Centre in Sydney’s Darling Park.

The new facility has the latest LG product on display and a tech team to provide you with demonstrations and training seminars.

Want a refresher? Here are some of the 2016 launch highlights that set the ISE and InfoComm shows abuzz and will be leading the way in <avant-garde> signage applications.

The LG Business Centre: Tower 2, Level 20 201 Sussex St, Darling Park Sydney NSW 2000 1300 547 253 (option 4) infodisplay@lg.com.au

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

LG’s Dual-View Flat OLED display: is a paper-thin, dualsided display with perfect blacks and incredible colour.

It offers a space-efficient, two-sided design to provide customers a media experience in full HD (1920 x 1080).

With a slim depth and three different installation options – ceiling suspension, wall-mount and floor stand – this 55-inch flat OLED commercial display allows retailers to plan the most efficient use in any retail space while utilising a high-end display solution. The display has the unique ability to swap and mirror content on either side of the screen with a simple press of a remote control button.

Ultra Stretch 86BH5C: is a new signage format with a 58:9 widescreen that can display dynamic content depending on the user’s installation environment (eg. airports, subways, banks, art galleries, or retail stores).

This product is also a work of structural art in itself that can be seen as digital decor.

LG’s OLED Arch: showcases the customisable nature of LG’s commercial OLED technology. As displayed in overseas installations including Incheon Airport and N Seoul Tower in Seoul, South Korea. These commercial OLEDs couple the endless customisability of the flexible display technology and the unparalleled colour quality to create an immersive experience for viewers. OLEDs can be used to create an arch, tunnel or even an artistic wall display. 

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ATEN’s 3-in-1 video splitter, media player and videowall solution makes it easy to design creative videowall displays with overlapping media content and versatile video wall layouts – from standard to asymmetrical. The VS1912’s media player can play multiple photos, videos and Office files simultaneously. The VS1912 also features an easy-to-use web GUI for videowall setup and profile scheduling that can be set well in advance. With its 1080p resolution, the VS1912 provides an ideal solution for multidisplay applications such as digital signage, videowalls, projection screens, and digital board installations either through DisplayPort or DVI.

UP TO 12 DISPLAYS

Videowalls Made Easy A Box for Configuring & Managing Videowalls

The VS1912 supports videowall configurations with up to 12 displays and allows you to design creative videowalls in various asymmetric layouts. Custom widgets allow you to add banners, video playback, flash media, images and real-time clock displays over the screens. The Advanced Videowall features allow you to resize, layer (including picture in picture), span across multiple screens and even rotate pictures and videos at 90° intervals. Multimedia files are uploaded and the system is set up from a computer connected across a network. With a built-in browser-based interface and intuitive GUI, access and configuration is simple and does not require extra software. The VS1912 also features a scheduling function that helps you create detailed playlists days, weeks or even months ahead.

The VS1912 also packs two bi-directional RS-232 serial ports for high-end system control, an HDMI input port to accommodate an additional HDMI source and USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports for importing profile settings and schedules.

DigitalSignage has seen the VS1912 in action and it truly is fall-off-

a-log easy to use, and to create video walls from scratch. It will slot into a larger network or, tantalisingly, could form the heart of a one-off imaginative signage execution. The VS1912 has the flexibility to meet the needs of various environments, including tradeshows, lobbies, conference halls, shopping malls and any other public space requiring video displays. 

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Welcome to a World of Interactivity

Project: Australian Fauna by Land & Sea Client: GPT Group Location: Highpoint Shopping Centre Engagement Results: Measurably improved foot traffic in that precinct.

Education, Fun & Engagement Engaging, interactive content for kids is not only fun but promotes the powers of concentration, awareness and retention as well as visual perception.

Interactivity has the ability to create interactive playgrounds through touchscreens and projection. Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a touchscreen-based suite of games; high-engagement interactive projections on the floor, wall or ceiling; or something brand new, we can tailor a solution and program to suit your needs.

Interactivity Pty Ltd 1300 797 199 www.interactivity.com.au 35 Touch the future Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Make your message go further Our 86BH5C Ultra Stretch has a four-part display and provides a 58:9 ratio. More impressively the Ultra display enhances your retail or corporate messaging making it stand out from the pack.

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