DIGITRLSIGNRGE

Digital Signage: New Media LookingFor New Measurements Rajeev Sharma / Varij Saurabh

"There are many ways

to measure advertising.

Different types of

media have developeddifferent metrics and

methodologies tomeasure them-GRP for

television, circulation

for print, click-throughfor Internet. All these

metrics are based on

three broad levels of the

measurement funnel­

reach, engagement, andmotivation.

The marketplace for advertising-supported media isunique because, unlike other markets, media companiesdo not directly sell what they produce. They essentiallygive their product-content-free of cost to the audience,in return for their attention. They then sell this "audienceproduct" to the advertisers.

What makes the

marketplace even moredistinctive is the fact thathuman attention resistsexact verification and

quantification that typifythe commodities ofmost other markets. The

types of measurementsand methods used toestimate attention have a

profound impact on theRaieev Sharma marketplace because, at

the end of the day, these measurements form the basis forall transactions. Stakeholders must also have faith in the

metrics to be able to make their decision confidently. Thesefactors make audience measurement a very challenging,but essential, task for the growth of the industry.

Digital signage, as a new member of this market, muststill prove its value to the advertisers before it can gainthe same importance as television or the Internet. Thisindustry is even more complex because it sits in the middleof different types of media. It has traits of both televisionand the Internet. Its role in the advertising landscape is ill­defined, because it is well suited for both marketing andmerchandising messages.

Operationally, digital signage networks are merely a setof screens where content is pushed from a central location,which makes them look a lot like a television network.

However, unlike television, the audiences engage for muchshorter periods. Content creation and management fordigital sign age networks is similar to that for the Internet.For,lnternet, content has to be customized to fit the spatialand graphics guidelines of the websites .. Similarly, fordigital signage, content has to be customized for everytype of screen and location.

In many companies, marketing and merchandising divisionshave been arguing which group should be responsiblefor handling the campaigns on digital signage networks.Some experts believe that digital signage should be part ofthe merchandising strategy, because it is very close to thepoint-of-purchase. They contend that once the consumer isin the store, marketing ends and merchandising begins.Merchandising is responsible for converting them intobuyers. On the other hand, digital signage is also very wellsuited to convey branding and informational messagesto the audience, which makes it part of the marketingstrategy. In-store has become the latest battlegroundamong consumer product companies, who are looking forinnovative ways to reach customers.

There are many ways to measure advertising. Differenttypes of media have developed different metrics andmethodologies to measure them-GRP for television,circulation for print, click-through for Internet. All thesemetrics are based on three broad levels of the measurement

funnel-reach, engagement, and motivation.

The broadest measurement is the total population that hadthe opportunity to see(OTS) the advertisement,or reach. The television

industry measures theaverage number of setsthat are on in a given or·minute slot. In the Internet

world, total traffic is

measured by pageviews. The equivalentmeasurement for digitalsignage is passer-bytraffic. OTS does not

give any indication ofwhat percentage of thepopulation actually sawthe content; it just givesan estimate of who was

in the vicinity of themedia. OTS is clearlya measurement of the

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The latest trend in mediameasurement is towards

engagement. A lot of debatecenters around the meaningfor "engagement," andmethodology to measureit. Most experts attemptto measure attention as a

proxy of engagement. It is not possible to determine whenpeople are actually watching television in their homes andwhen they are channel surfing. Advertisers are thereforedemanding measurement at the commercial level. Thisensures that they know which program was being watchedat a more precise level. Most online advertising is measuredusing click-through. In fact, the Internet was accepted asa proven advertising medium after the adoption of click­through as the standard metric. Similarly, for the digitalsignage marketplace, measurement of engagement isextremely important. Different types of networks connectwith the audience in different ways. The context in whichthe network is placed determines how the audienceinteracts with it and what kind of content will engage them.Advertisers do not understand how best to capitalize onthese interactions. A better understanding of this mediawill increase the confidence of advertisers and help themallocate more money.

The bottom of the measurement funnel is motivation of

the customers. The goal advertisers are trying to achievethrough advertising is either increase in sales or brandequity. These are the decisive measurements of interestto advertisers. However, it is very difficult to separate theimpact of individual marketing campaigns. Sale is theresult of a number of different activities that a manufacturer

undertakes to increase the appeal of the product, andadvertising is a small part of the whole process. Therefore,measuring an advertising medium based solely on salesuplift does not measure the actual contribution it makes.Managing marketing campaigns based on sales metricsis just like driving a car and using the rearview mirror,because sales can be measured only after the fact.

Measurement is currently scarce in this medium because ithas unique challenges that cannot be solved by conventionalmeasurement methodologies. Measuring only what wasplayed on the screens is not enough, because it does

Varii Saurabh

last century. Advertisers aredemanding a more accuratemeasurement of how manypeople actually engage withthe media.

not give any indication of who was in front of the screenwhen the ad was played. Measurements such as averagedoor traffic provide a better estimate of how many peoplewere in the vicinity, but do not give any indication of howthe audiences engaged with the media and whether theyabsorbed the message.

The only way to understand digital signage is to observeand quantify audience behavior around the signage.A store has a number of marketing and merchandisingfixtures inside, and all of them compete for the customers'attention. Marketers need tools to model customer behavior

and create synergy among these fixtures in order to executesuccessful in-store marketing campaigns. Traditionally,such information was gathered through onsite observation,video ethnography, and surveys. All these methods are veryexpensive, slow and subjective. Poor sample selection hasplagued the findings of these methodologies. The emergingfield of video mining, also called video analytics, promisesa solution to the problems of the digital signage industry.

Automated measurement of shopper behavior makes itpossible for the networks to scientifically analyze audiencebehavior and explore their preferences. The biggestadvantage of using video analytics to measure audiencebehavior is that it is non-intrusive and objective. Thetechnology has also made it possible to develop a scalablemeasurement methodology that can become the currencyfor media transactions.

Many large companies have marked this field as a highgrowth market. VideoMining TM focuses exclusively onthis market and provides in-store marketing information

The only way to understand digital signage

is to observe and quantify audience behavior

around the signage.

services to retailers, advertisers and other digital signagestakeholders. It offers a suite of services through itsAudience Measurement PlatformTM (AMPTM), which isthe only direct solution in the market today. The uniquetechnology behind AMP automatically measures variablessuch as overall location traffic, area-based traffic, actual

eyes on screen, interaction with fixtures and products, andactual audience demographics. These data points form thebasis for reliable, standardized metrics for digital medianetworks. The objective research also helps improve theeffectiveness of the networks by creating better physicallayouts and improving content targeting.

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