By Hege Bjørdal Kristiansen, Marketing Coordinator, Scala
As a relatively new marketing person in the digital signage industry
(in Norway), I find it interesting to observe the Scandinavian development of this
market.
But how is Scandinavia’s digital signage business compared to the rest of Europe?
Mainly, there are two
different kinds of digital signage networks in Scandinavia:
- Networks that are being financed by selling advertising and often managed by a media agency.
- Networks deployed by companies wanting to
communicate product/price, manage campaigns, provide a new customer experience, and encourage brand building.
Regarding advertising
financed networks, Scandinavia has not progressed in their digital signage efforts as the rest of Europe. Among Scala customers worldwide, we see examples
of both types of networks, such as Life Channel and Tesco, but Scandinavia is only beginning to develop a viable digital signage industry.
However, Scandinavia has many customers operating their own digital signage network. We have several
customers for instance within the retail industry that are managing their own digital signage networks.
They recognize the benefits and the opportunities digital signage presents to their efforts.
We see a
growing trend with digital menu boards. Traditional menu boards are being
replaced with digital screens. Customers immediately see the advantages and
the potential sales uplift when digital menu boards are constantly encouraging customers to consider other products that enhance their meal experience. Traditional menu boards have limited durability and updating them demands manual work and time. Customers deploying digital menu boards today emphasize how easy it is to dynamically launch
new campaigns and day-part their message to reach different customers throughout the day. Our latest customer employing digital menu boards in Norway,
Statoil gas stations, is now rolling out their digital solution in all of the
Nordic countries.
Digital Signage used for internal communications is also
a growing business in Scandinavia. We see an
increasing demand from companies that are looking for better communications tools (i.e. solutions that are interactive) to help them communicate better with their employees.
What will the future bring?
We definitively see a
positive development in this market. The future looks bright, there are a number
of elements pointing in the right direction. The prices of infrastructure are reducing and the need to communicate will continue to grow. We believe our
customers will integrate their digital signage networks with their internal systems and deliver real-time relevant information. Norsk Rikstoto, the foundation that administers
racetrack betting in Norway,
has seen the value of this interaction. Rikstoto integrated their betting
systems with their interactive digital signage kiosks with great success.
Digital signage is the future!
