What can content do for your business? According to Scot R. Hill, national account executive at Edgefactory, a branded media content creator exhibiting at InfoComm for the first time this year, it can save it.
Unfortunately, content is the conversation that needs to happen, but with digital signage, rarely does. “You know how everybody says content is king?” Hill asks. “Well context is queen. If your content isn’t relevant, then what’s the point? You can have the best hardware, but if your message isn’t put together right, none of that matters.”
Thomas Wester of Second Story Interactive Studios agrees that content needs to be a higher priority in the digital signage equation. “We’ve kind of gone through the commoditization of screens where it’s gotten cheap to put displays out,” Wester explained, “so content’s next, and it’s actually a big challenge. Once you’ve invested all the capital to put the screens up, then what are you going to put on them? And how do you keep it fresh? You can put something up, but then a year later or even two years later, how do you have a system to keep that going?”
This focus on content is why InfoComm decided to introduce the Content Creation Zone at this year’s show. According to InfoComm Executive Director and CEO David Labuskes, CTS, RCDD, this was a natural evolution. “Our relationship with digital signage continues to grow. We have more digital signage on our show floor than any other show. And part of the trending of that area of technology is that content is being integrated more and more with the hardware and the display. Most of the buyers of that area want advice, counsel and support on what to do with this video wall they’ve installed and invested in. And that’s content.
- “The exhibitors in that area are excited to have the opportunity to be there,” Labuskes continues, “and it provides a broader solution to solve the whole problem. Every year we reexamine what is this show, what does it mean, what is its purpose, what needs are not being met and how can we leverage what we have to reach out further. Every year has to be fresh beyond the product offerings to reflect the trends and reflect the way the industry is growing and changing. It’s both a response to the marketplace and an offering to the marketplace.”
