Fwd: Digital Signage Increases Sales Up To 178 Percent...Even for The Other Hardware

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Andy Marken <andy@markencom.com>
Date: Tue, May 1, 2012 at 11:11 AM
Subject: Digital Signage Increases Sales Up To 178 Percent...Even for The Other Hardware
To: john.sokol@gmail.com


Sure it's about Hardware (nails, screws) but the report shows how digital signage
can help any retailer...any retailer!
Want to talk with Jeff Hastings about the study?  Let us know.
Want some photos of the test (nitty gritty stuff) installations think what it
could do for PC/CE products heck even iPads, iPhones? We're here for you -- A


NRHA Research Shows BrightSign-Powered Digital Signage
Increases Hardware Retail Sales up to 178.1 Percent
Interactive Displays Produced Measurable ROI and Sales Uplift for the Same Products

Compared to Stores without Digital Signage
Los Gatos, CA ­ May 1, 2012 ­ BrightSign, LLC®, a trusted name in the digital

signage industry, announced today that the North American Retail Hardware Association

(NRHA) has published the results of research comparing sales of specific products

in stores that used digital signage for promotion vs. stores that did not. For

the research, the NRHA teamed with BrightSign customer, Aubuchon Hardware, a

large hardware retail chain with 130 stores in the Northeast.
The results of the NRHA test confirm that product sales increase when interactive

digital signage is used. Aubuchon Hardware stores saw unit sales increase by

23 percent for interior paint, 45 percent for smoke detectors and a remarkable

178 percent for air filters in stores with BrightSign-powered digital signage

promoting those product specials, compared to Aubuchon stores without digital

signage.
Jeff Hastings, BrightSign CEO, will be discussing the findings of the NRHA/Aubuchon

research in his seminar, "Increasing Sales with In-Store Digital Signage," at

the Rethink Retail Conference held during the upcoming National Hardware Show®

at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Tuesday, May 1, at 11-11:50 A.M. and Wednesday,

May 2, at 2-2:50 P.M.
"The information we've received shows every hardware retail location using our

BrightSign players reported significant sales lift," said Jeff Hastings, BrightSign

CEO. "The hardware store trials clearly support the fact that highly visible

product information with moving graphics and streaming content creates a measurable

ROI for store management. When you see such a substantial increase in sales of

paint and air filters, certainly not what you would consider impulse buys, the

impact of digital signage over printed signs becomes obvious," he emphasized.
For the test, Aubuchon placed endcap digital signage displays powered by BrightSign

players in six stores and ran interactive presentations produced by the NRHA

for one month. The sales results were then compared to six other stores in the

chain that historically had similar sales for the products tested.
Unlike the many static and looping endcap signs that focus solely on price and

savings, the test displays also informed shoppers about the benefits of using

the product in their homes. Shoppers who wanted more information on the product

could press a button located on the display to play a short project-oriented,

how-to video.
The BrightSign HD digital signage players that were used to drive the Aubuchon

interactive displays were Full HD, solid-state players that make it easy to add

interactivity. Using the BrightAuthor software included with all BrightSign players,

visual-based interactive playlists can easily be created to trigger content playback

from buttons and touch screens.
Priced significantly lower than PC-based solutions, solid-state players cost

less to operate since they only require 5-7 watts of power, compared to 70-90

watts for an average PC. They also completely eliminate PC issues such as high

maintenance costs, system crashes, and mandatory software/virus updates. And

with no moving parts to fail, solid-state players built solely for digital signage

deliver increased reliability.
With the complete, ready-to-use BrightSign digital signage solution, including

hardware, software and networking capabilities, installation costs are significantly

lower as well. This all-in-one approach also eliminates hardware/software compatibility

issues and software licensing fees.
BrightSign is now shipping two new interactive, solid-state digital signage controllers

as part of its new line of solutions that is more affordable, compact and media

friendly than ever before. Offering Full HD playback, the new players include

the HD120, a basic interactive model with simple button interactivity and the

HD1020, a networked interactive player with advanced interactivity supporting

USB, serial, touch screens and mobile devices. BrightSign also offers the HD220,

a networked looping player, and the HD1010w, a Wi-Fi enabled interactive player.
Availability, Pricing
The new BrightSign HD product line of interactive and network-enabled players

are available from the BrightSign Store with prices ranging from US$250.00 for

the HD120 Basic Interactive Model to US$500.00 for the HD1020 Networked Interactive

Model. The HD1010w Wi-Fi enabled Interactive Model is priced at US$700.00. Distributor

pricing is available upon request. Backed by a one-year warranty, the players

include BrightAuthor, a PC software application that simplifies creating, publishing,

managing and monitoring digital signage displays, and the networked players include

a variety of networking options.


If you want to be removed from this news coverage contact:  support@markencom.com

Andy Marken
Marken Communications
408-986-0100
C - 408.390-0002
andy@markencom.com

More cities ban digital billboards

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-22-visual-soup_N.htm

As the USA cracks down on texting while driving, more than a dozen cities around the nation have banned what some consider a growing external driving distraction: digital billboards.

Digital billboards change images every four to 10 seconds, flashing multiple messages from one or more advertisers on the same sign. Opponents such as John Regenbogen of Scenic Missouri deride them as "television on a stick."

Several communities have banned digital billboards outright, the most recent being Denver earlier this month. Other places have put a moratorium on them pending a federal study on whether they distract drivers. At least two other cities and two states are studying moratoriums.

"The digital billboards are a distraction," says Fred Wessels, an alderman in St. Louis, which just approved a one-year moratorium on new such signs in that city.

"If they weren't distracting, they wouldn't be doing their job," says Max Ashburn, spokesman for Scenic America, a national non-profit group that seeks to limit billboards.

Research on the issue is mixed. A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study in 2007, financed by the billboard industry, found that they aren't distracting. A review of studies completed last year for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, however, concluded that they "attract drivers' eyes away from the road for extended, demonstrably unsafe periods of time."

"There's no doubt in my mind that they are not a driving distraction," says Bryan Parker, an executive vice president for Clear Channel Outdoor, which owns about 400 digital billboards. He cites industry-sponsored studies of collisions before and after digital billboards were installed in Albuquerque, Cleveland, and Rochester, Minn., that found no correlation.

"We've looked at that very carefully," says Bill Ripp, vice president of Lamar Advertising, which owns 159,000 billboards, 1,150 of them digital. "We don't want to cause any unsafe conditions for drivers."

Digital billboards are a fast-growing segment of the outdoor advertising market. Since a federal rule against them was eased in 2007, the number of digital billboards has more than doubled to about 1,800 of 450,000 total billboards. At least 39 states allow them. They cost an average $200,000 to $300,000 apiece, according to the industry group Outdoor Advertising Association of America. 

In 2007, the Federal Highway Administration relaxed a rule against digital billboards, saying they don't violate the 1965 Highway Beautification Act's ban on "intermittent," "flashing" or "moving" lights. FHWA is researching the signs, using eye-trackers inside volunteers' vehicles to determine whether drivers look at the billboards and for how long. The study is to be completed this summer.

There is little current data on whether greater distractions for drivers come from in-vehicle or external factors. The Department of Transportation, which is leading the national push against texting while driving, says that 5,870 people were killed in distracted driving crashes in 2008. But the agency has not determined how many of those deaths involved an electronic device, another distraction such as eating or tuning the radio, or something outside the vehicle.