Digital Signage

Digital signage brings public realm display advertising to life

Digital signage, or advertising screens, are increasingly used in public spaces like cafeterias, libraries, or offices to share content in the form of display advertising and videos. Audiences passively consume this content as they use the space it is displayed in.

Considerations

This channel is best when

• communicating routine messages, campaign information, and updates to physical locations around an organization.
• used to deliver emergency communications. Most networks can perform a system-wide switch to emergency programming when required.
• your message is relevant to and affects an entire organization (and/or its clients).
• you need to capture an audience that is not online or may fall between the cracks of other channels.
• you need more flexibility or interactive engagement than is possible in print.
• operating within Content and Design Guidelines to ensure your content shows up in the right way.

When to change the channel?

• UBC has a wide network of internal email newsletters which may be key to supporting your signage message. Our social media channels can also be effective, both internally and externally, for supporting some messages.
• This medium can be particularly hard to measure for a targeted audience taking a specific action. Most measures will only capture reach and frequency.
• Screens are tied to their locations. While new screens are possible, they can be expensive depending on IT specifications and electrical services.
• Specialist design or video production skills are needed to create engaging and effective content.

Details

The many screens used by large organizations like UBC form a “digital signage network.” This allows for a high degree of control over what messaging appears where and at what time. What appears on the screens can be determined by a number of factors, for example the screen location or time of day, and the network is generally controlled by a content management system.