“Our value with PosterDigital is key in the way we approach signage projects”, J.A.. Married, Technological

Technology, innovation and business synergy mark the 'DNA' of the Spanish company with almost the same name: Technological. Juan Antonio Casado, co-founder and head of the digital signage area, analyzes for Digital AV Magazine the evolution of its content management software, PosterDigital, and explains its value approach for this growing market.

They have developed a new version of PosterDigital, your content management software for digital signage, What functions and contributions for the client have they incorporated??

This is not an update as such, since PosterDigital is a cloud solution that is constantly evolving to which we are incorporating new functions, templates, process automation, contributions from clients and the knowledge we acquire in the projects.

So, What does the change consist of??

In reality it is a change of concept in how to approach PosterDigital, which until now was a digital signage department within Tecniológica that had a product. Now we've done it the other way around.: a product around which functions and services are added. It seems like a subtle issue., but it is a total change in the proposal to the market.

How is this new concept structured around PosterDigital??

In addition to reinforcing some of the contributions that are most used among our clients, as automatic troubleshooting, reformat it to measure, etc; We are working on some vertical solutions that help both content creation, with Social Apps and smart templates that show data from your social networks on the screen, as with interactive elements like Overy, a retail interface that changes the content displayed on the screen when the customer picks up a product, or a new interface for advertising circuits that helps media centers to exploit them.

Another focus on which we have focused a lot is on improving and increasing communication and user service in a more direct and personalized way., with new technical services, medium, after-sales… both for integrators and clients, since digital signage processes are complex and many elements come together at the same time (hardware, software, networks, bandwidth,…). For this reason we have developed a new web and more than 140 pages (in Spanish and English) by PosterDigital, as a segmented manual, with help content, video tutorials and troubleshooting; as well as real-time chat and telephone support to serve users in a more personal and direct way..

What product segmentation have you carried out in vertical markets??

It has been structured in retail, hotels and restaurants (catering industry) and companies, which are the main driving forces of digital signage at the moment. The objective is to offer a new sales channel, that is not just advertising, with more interaction and feedback with the consumer, with gamification, apps, omnichannel,… The problem with many projects and their acceptance or not is that those responsible for the circuits do not stop to think about what they want to communicate and in which content is king.. You have to mature what is offered and how it is done.

Another PosterDigital item in particular, and Technology in general, is the collaboration and synergies with other companies, What's new about this??

On the one hand, we are validating players to include them within our structure of what we call 'agnostic hardware'.. PosterDigital now supports players (SoC) of the main brands on the market, like those of Samsung and LG, as well as SpinetiX players, AMX, IAdea, The edge, ViewSonic, Planar, Kramer, Android…, and we continue establishing new agreements and integrating other manufacturers under the figure of Solution Partners, such as audience measurement systems, control and management of waiting queues, dynamic POS, etc.

And which new companies are part of your Solution Partners??

We have just signed an agreement to carry out joint developments with our technologies and products with Qmatic, Customer Experience Management solutions provider (CEM), for queue management, customer service and waiting times. We have also contacted developers to generate content, and we are always open to collaborations that provide interesting elements, useful and creative to a solution or project.

Added to this is the development and implementation of a certified partner and distributor program.. How it is structured and what requirements must be met, taking into account that innovation in Technology sets the standard.

The idea is to establish a value channel that knows the possibilities of PosterDigital and is able to tell it, to detect the needs of your clients, to implement it and generate trust, which is one of the main needs of a client when faced with a digital signage installation.

From PosterDigital we offer you support, both in the commercial process and in the strategic and technical process. We are currently certifying an 'Exclusive Partner' for each player brand and country, on which wholesalers who provide added value depend, like Charmex, Earpro, etc. and distributors and retailers of different levels, also trained by us in the product.

And how is the campaign to recruit and train?

The truth is that we have started this campaign relatively recently., but we are very surprised by the acceptance and the speed with which we are growing in agreements and certifications. Our idea was to start in Spain and then start the international campaign, but the events, as i tell you, They are making us go practically in parallel.

They advocate an omnichannel and interactive strategy at the point of sale, Is it also integrated with the rest of Tecnilógica's business lines??

for us, The integration between the development part of Tecnilógica and the digital signage or DS is the natural way to approach projects. Customize the interaction of a signage installation with a mobile application or complement a large surface CMS with on-screen data output through PosterDigital, among other possibilities, This is what makes our added value key in the way we approach digital signage projects..

Definitely, Interaction with mobile devices in the DS environment is an increasing trend, created by the demand of the users themselves. How do you see this evolution??

Natural interaction with physical devices is already a fact. It is difficult for the user to interact with the screen, with models you are not used to. Instead, If we offer you models that you already know, He uses them naturally and the response is spectacular. Solution customization, both at the interface level and in communication with other devices, databases, feeds, etc. It is another increasingly stronger trend.

Besides, the cheaper players, especially those integrated into the screens, coupled with the fact that the public is already more familiar with the support, digital signage is also becoming very popular.

A user experience that leads to an IoT environment, ¿no?

Of course, mainly in the ways of connecting and interacting with consumers through digital signage, which undoubtedly implies the generation of an IoT environment. PosterDigital's architecture is very flexible and makes connecting with external elements very simple. We already have facilities that show the temperature and humidity of the premises in real time, together with advertising content or other types of communications, which in turn are integrated with mobile applications in retail or with interactive elements such as Overy, which I mentioned before.

From PosterDigital they are promoting the exchange of experiences and cooperation with other companies and associations with events such as DinámicaDS, what is the goal from this forum about digital signage, even with competitors in projects?

Electricity sector OFF, which is the traditional field of digital signage, needs to face the market in another way. For example, other sectors, like the design, consulting or software development have been leaving aside the concept for some time, also traditional, of the competition, creating forums to share knowledge and experience and thus reaching projects in a more transparent way.

At Tecnilogic we believe that this model is exportable to digital signage and we are working along this line., in which we leave aside brands and personalisms and try to ensure that we all learn a little from each other. Why can't we offer a more efficient and innovative solution to a client?, creating work groups from different companies, versus one person wanting to carry out an entire project only to end up subcontracting elements of it because you don't have that knowledge.?

Definitely, a sensible approach that benefits the client and the growth of the market, but that is not always accepted in the protectionist decalogues of many companies. What is the positioning of PosterDigital in the company and what do you foresee in the short term??

At the moment, The DS area represents a 20-25% of the company's billing, with a dedicated team of fifteen people. With the shift to product that we have made at PosterDigital, that percentage will grow quite a bit this year and presents very good forecasts for the following years..

A key element for this is its international expansion, How is this growth contemplated in Tecniológica's flexible innovation and development structure?, in their identity signs?

Our model outside of Spain remains the same: understand the client's needs and offer them the solution that adapts to their way of working, instead of having you change it so you can use our software. For us, R&D is something we do continuously throughout the company., anytime, anywhere, not a department through which projects have to go.

And from there projects emerge, national and international, like for example...

We have notable projects in Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy… We are starting timidly in Latam, but it seems that PosterDigital and, above all, We really liked its customization possibilities and we are also going faster than we thought.

In the horeca vertical we have closed a project with the MotelOne chain and a Belgian integrator, with the installation of screens in its hotels in Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom, which is being expanded to the rest of the establishments they have in Europe. In Latin America we have another great project, with the deployment of 1.500 screens.