What’s needed next
To ensure the long-term success of digital signage, particularly as an advertising medium, other challenges will still need to be overcome:
Self-service kiosks allow customers to view special offers and then download coupons to their mobile phones.
Standardizing the business model
Overall, most brands, retailers and other businesses deploying digital signage lack a consistent or standardized business model. Some efforts in this direction have occurred, but marketers are still unsure of what is a ‘fair’ price to pay to display their dynamic messages in a shopping mall, at an airport or in an individual store.
Revenue-sharing between the sign’s owner and the media agency is also very subjective. The question of who is the appropriate representative to arrange the buying and selling of on-screen content and how brokering should be handled is inconsistent. Every industry player has his/her own idea on these topics, but no consensus exists.
Defining metrics
Unlike TV advertising or traditional out-of-home (OOH) media like billboards, the DOOH sector has not yet reached consensus on standard metrics for determining the value of ad exposure to an audience. Without standardized ways to measure this value, many ad agencies are reluctant to invest in the medium.
A definition of metrics and corresponding value will be needed if the digital signage industry is to grow beyond the current slew of isolated networks.
Developing more standards
The early days of the digital signage sector have been likened to the wild, wild west, where a 
severely fragmented industry produced an unwieldy variety of systems. Much of this fragmentation remains today, although the sector has begun to standardize with common hardware and operating systems (OSs). Open, standards-based platforms for application programming interfaces (APIs) and pluggable interfaces between display panels and embedded modules are allowing the industry to deploy digital signage networks that are interoperable with each other.
Other standards are still in the process of being developed. Content standards, for example, will help ensure various screens with different resolutions and aspect ratios can display the same content properly, enabling digital signage networks to become more ‘scalable.’
All of these initiatives will create greater efficiencies and lead to more investment in the digital signage sector.
The next generation
While it is appropriate to applaud the growth and success so far of digital signage as a compelling medium, it is equally important to continue working toward—and investing in—the future. As much as DOOH advertising has grown, it still represents a tiny fraction of overall ad spending, so there is much unrealized potential yet to be explored.
With the right investments in innovation, standards and a far-reaching vision, it is feasible to suggest the digital signage business model could one day become comparable to national TV networks, ‘broadcasting’ messages to select audiences across Canada, the U.S. and beyond.
José Avalos is the director of digital signage for Intel’s intelligent systems group. For more information, visit www.intel.com.
