Faizal Javer (Intel): “The vending, kiosks and gaming are the three emerging markets in digital signage”

Faizal Javer, Director of Channel Development – AVA from Intel Corporation, In this interview, he assesses the current situation of the digital signage market and explains how Intel's AIM Suite technology works to measure the ROI of digital signage networks..

Faizal Javer, founder of CognoVision, joined Intel in 2010 when the multinational acquired this platform that helps retailers and digital signage networks measure the effectiveness of in-store promotion and obtain deeper knowledge about buyer behavior. From his current position as Director of Channel Development at Intel, Javer works closely with a wide variety of digital signage providers and end users., which allows you to have a global perspective on this sector.

Which industries are currently at an 'optimal level'?’ for digital signage?
Retail has been the largest market, but we see significant growth in all sectors. We are seeing growth in corporate communications, health, bank, education, transportation and hospitality, including restaurant chains, casinos and resorts. The balance also changes depending on the geographic region, well, in Asia-Pacific, For example, we see a greater emphasis on transportation, while in North America and Europe, It is retail that takes priority.

What are the emerging markets for digital signage?? Which markets are not relevant today, but they could be tomorrow?
Three come to mind immediately.: vending machines, kiosks and the gambling sector. There's a revolution underway in vending machines, in terms of technology, format and function. Large flat screens are being incorporated into vending machines to attract customers and the AIM Suite is being used to present advertising messages that are as attractive as possible to the person or people looking at the screen.. And now, for the first time, The vending sector aims to measure the number of users and evaluate consumer behavior.

Both traditional vending machines and small kiosks are being adapted for purposes beyond vending.. For example, Vigix has created a sample and coupon vending and supply kiosk that has no moving parts and can be replenished by UPS. Independent kiosks are experiencing rapid growth.

When it comes to the gaming sector, casinos find digital signs much more effective than static signs. When the environment is taken into account, with all the visual and audio distractions, You can clearly see why moving images triumph.

What is the Intel AIM Suite??
The Intel Audience Impression Metrics Suite is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) intelligent, designed to deliver personalized content to consumers and provide retailers and advertisers with measurable results through digital signage. The software monitors, anonymously, viewer metrics, like gender, the age group to which you belong and the duration of care. Analyzing data in real time.

With the Intel AIM Suite, Retailers and advertisers can instantly tailor content presented on digital signs to align with viewer demographics, providing consumers with more relevant and personalized advertising, while allowing advertisers to collect more accurate data for better tracking. By reducing excess noise, Brands and retailers can tailor advertising content based on audience behavior and characteristics, helping to show the right message, at the right time, to the right people.

Is there a significant market for AIM Suite in the non-digital signage world??
We think so. The AIM Suite can measure audience and consumer behavior anywhere you want to visually communicate with consumers.. Our clients are deploying the AIM Suite to measure the effectiveness of any store display, with and without digital signage. For example, The automotive industry is using AIM Suite to measure consumer attraction to cars on display in showrooms., and some clients use it to measure the audience of people entering and leaving entertainment spaces to better understand the 'pull'.’ that has a certain event.

What challenges do you face in promoting the AIM Suite?? What are the concerns of end customers?
Privacy often comes up in conversation. That's relatively easy to address since the AIM Suite operates in a privacy-friendly manner.. AIM Suite has built-in privacy protection. No personally identifiable information is collected, there are no images recorded or stored and all data is aggregated by demographic groups.

What do you think is the most important factor in achieving success in a digital signage implementation??
Ideally, the end client has clear objectives and a plan for the execution of their digital signage strategy.. Now that leading companies in many industries are using digital signage, we see that the others are doing everything they can to catch up. Everyone else is doing it, so they have to do it too. However, Implementing digital signage alone is not a plan and without quantifiable objectives, understanding and perfecting success is very difficult. We find that clients without a clear strategy are a little lost, are slower to implement and, ultimately, are less successful than those with clearly defined goals.

So, have a plan, A strategy and objectives are the keys to successful implementations? It sounds like it's essential for system integrators and resellers to add a lot of value before the sale is even made..
I think so. From our experience working with service providers and end users, We find that the most successful implementations are those where a lot of thinking and planning has gone into it in advance..

Is this one of the reasons the sales cycle is so long for digital signage??
Certainly, could be one of the reasons. The sales cycle for large-scale digital signage projects can range from a few months to more than a year.. As AIM Suite is often part of a collective digital signage solution, we are subject to that deadline. Since AIM Suite is a relatively new solution, end users may not be familiar with it. Therefore, some type of training for the client is necessary. That being said, we can see many new end customers deploying the AIM Suite in a very short period of time, as your trusted IT solutions provider could already be a certified AIM Suite reseller.

How does AIM Suite meet the need for measurement and analysis for the digital signage industry??
About the AIM Suite, The industry has moved from subjective measurements to indicators that are more robust than those of the press and television. Now, for the first time, Network operators and end users can measure ROI and improve return on investment for the overall network, individual screens and on-screen content. AIM Suite's real-time content activation API also helps increase audience engagement and lengthen dwell time, two of the biggest challenges in the digital signage industry.

One of the challenges that the industry still faces is the lack of unified criteria for measurement and analysis.. This will evolve over time. But currently, it is difficult to try to compare results between different networks. Advertisers need standards to optimize their investment and evaluate effectiveness.

Besides, Today there are no massive aggregators that allow advertisers to easily communicate their message across many different or separate networks.. As an addition to this complication, Most networks have different estimates for costs per thousand impressions. (CPM). With standardization, The entire process would be greatly simplified, and this would surely help the digital signage ecosystem thrive.

Do you think the digital signage industry will grow beyond where it is today?, or do you think that is already happening??
It's already happening and growth is accelerating. Very often, We are commissioned with digital signage projects of more than 1.000 screens, something that is very encouraging. In general, I think there are many new ideas to incorporate into cutting-edge digital signage projects and we are seeing the change towards this. Content Management System Providers (CMS) and end-to-end solution providers continue to simplify digital signage deployment for end customers.

Working closely with the digital signage ecosystem has been an important focus of our go-to-market strategy.. Several leading CMS vendors have already integrated Intel's AIM Suite with their applications., allowing the AIM Suite to be easily used in conjunction with these systems. As the AIM Suite becomes more popular, More customers will be able to effectively measure and manage their digital signage networks to improve ROI.