The guide

One might argue Morgan Stanley is not in retail. Be that as it may, there is a strong, yet simple idea behind it which applies to most industries, especially retail. Digital signage enables companies to create experiences. Needless to say, just by using digital signage you won’t necessarily create a compelling experience. Think of displays used for wayfinding or scheduling — many are strictly utilitarian. Creating an experience requires detailed planning, so that’s where you start. Coordinate with marketing and make digital signage part of your strategy, not an addition to it.

Why it is so important to focus on experience? There’s no math to it, thinking of a brand as a set of experiences will increase the perceived value of its products. Moreover, it can increase the perceived functionality or aesthetics of certain products. Evidently, that can result in higher revenue, provided that the resources spent on building the experience don’t exceed the added value. Most importantly, experiences are means to create loyal customers. This, in fact, is true to other industries, not only digital signage (I’ll expand on this in a future post).

Now for the simple guide (might be an overstatement):

Rich sensory experiences are the obvious choice in retail. Jargon aside, videos, animated content, interactive content — that is the key to maximizing the potential of digital signage.

Thinking to use digital signage to display your logo? You’re missing out. The easiest way to grow a positive attitude towards your brand is via experiences that people feel part of, built on emotional, evocative content.

To simplify, consider the visual explanation below. Content is split into two categories.

Whereas both categories are capable of delivering promotional and presentational content, it’s much simpler to create emotional reactions through B.; similarly, it’s much easier to create functional content and generate cognitive reactions through A.

In a sense oversimplified (but valid nonetheless), the essence of a compelling experience is illustrated via category B. — it can deliver emotional reactions, create content & brand impressions at any step, where’s A. can’t.

Hopefully, this explains why the Morgan Stanley logo-only content made a weaker impression, while the animation on the same setup made a much stronger one.