Case Study-The Study Part 4
Case Study
Tracking ROI Progress
Where Does Digital Signage Fit?
There’s an old saying in the advertising business, “I know half my budget is wasted, but I don’t know which half.”
When a new medium such as digital signage and its advocates are fighting to break into a world long dominated by broadcast, print, and other traditional media vehicles, metrics really come into play. Advertisers respond to the claims of digital signage partisans by simply saying, “Prove it.”
But in reality, only a few marketers measure their costs on digital signage network installations and identify specific benefits. Many more haven’t been able to precisely measure ROI or can’t isolate the effect of their signage. Some have never really even thought of trying.
“A number of challenges must be overcome before the medium is widely accepted by retailers and marketers alike,” says William F. Gerba, CEO of Wirespring Technologies in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, a provider of digital signage solutions. “The most important, and perhaps the most difficult, is determining the return on investment of the digital signage network. Without a quick and easy way to calculate ROI, no amount of flash and sparkle is going to save our beloved plasma screens.”
Gerba says digital signage can serve a wide variety of purposes, but adds that without a specific purpose (e.g. drive up same-day sales of loss-leader products or lift cross-sales for circular advertisements), digital signage will never reach its maximum potential. “Purpose drives everything from content format to message to scheduling,” he says. “The really interesting thing is that many networks have been deployed without ever identifying a true purpose, yet many have still been successful at driving sales in some way or other.”