I’m fond of saying that a patent is like a poker hand. You can win a game of poker with a great hand and you can also bluff and win with bad hand, but you can’t win with no hand. So patents, even bad ones, can sometimes generate a win for their owners, even when they are at best dubious.

I received an email this morning regarding the invention and recent granting of a patent for a “cellphone changing an electronic display that contains a barcode”.

I know some folks think I’m opinionated about some things, especially when it comes to the use of QR Codes in DOOH, so it will come as no surprise if I say (again) that:

Putting an oh-too-small QR code on digital signage for oh-too-little time and ooh-too-far-away is a waste of pixels!

Even if a user can draw their phone from their pocket faster than the Lone Ranger AND have a QR Code app ready to launch AND and be close enough to the screen scan the code BEFORE the campaign spot changes, the campaign better deliver something so damn valuable that it pays for someone (not counting anyone at the network, brand or the agency) to do exactly that.

AND even if a patent application for doing exactly that kind of thing was applied for in say May 2011 , I’m surprised the patent office didn’t site prior art AND GRANTED PATENTS from 2004 that disclose:

A system and method of interactive, location based and presentation and advertising that enables users with wireless network addressable communications device to control multi-media content on network addressable screens and enables marketers to track, monitor and respond to users interactions in real-time. A Proxy Gateway directs a network addressable client PC, connected to a digital display, to serve a local content or pull content from one or more web servers. A wireless, network addressable device, typically a mobile phone, is used to communicate commands to the physically remote Proxy Gateway, The proxy Gateway bridges between the communications device, forwarding them to the client PC which may pull content from the appropriate web server or display native message content.

Even ignoring the above IP, leading “practitioners in the field” continue to leverage interactive OOH/DOOH techniques proven to engage the casual onlooker. I guess the patent office doesn’t read search the DailyDOOH or other stalwarts of our digital signage industry.

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It’s that time of the year again when many of us the East Coast of US are fed up shoveling snow and look forward to the annual pilgrimage to Vegas for Digital Signage Expo (DSE).

Guilty as charged.

So, I’m dutifully prepping my presentations about social and mobile solutions and how they amplify the effectiveness of multi-channel content.

And, in doing so, I’m asking one leading question:

IS SOCIAL MEDIA A FEATURE OR THE FUTURE?

Certainly, a year ago most people would have answered (or demonstrated by their actions over the last 12 months) that at best, it’s a feature. And consequently, those people would probably have bolted on some inadequate tactical solution and failed to see any material improvement in customer engagement, experience or revenue uplift.

Today, as DS suppliers, DPB networks and OOH agencies undergo a strategic review of their offerings, many are realizing that unless they have an integrated mobile/social approach to their messaging platforms, they are simply underserving their audiences AND failing to maximize the value of their businesses.

So, ever the half-glass-full kinda practitioner, I am willingly risking yet another year of painful questions about the wrong technology solutions such as oh-too-small QR Codes (on loops that are move too quickly), web-based Twitter widgets that are impossible to read from more than 12 inches away… that I will try to answer without gritting my teeth.

There are not many companies that are battle hardened to the realities and challenges of our industry and have an agnostic scalable platform yada yada yada…. LocaModa is one such company.

If you’re going to DSE, let’s connect. You can reach me at srandall at locamoda dot com.

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This morning, that old Billy Paul song “Me and Mrs Jones” suggested itself as a useful metaphor to explain something about the polygamous relationship between DOOH, Mobile and Social.

This is a topic I’ll be speaking more about at next week’s (16th Oct) DPAA Digital Media Summit, so I’ve been thinking about simple ways to explain the challenges and opportunities in our space.

So does DOOH (and/or place-based media - to keep the pedants happy) have a thing going on?

Well when it’s with Mrs Jones, yes actually. When connected to social channels (via mobile or desktop computers)DOOH engagement and audiences is amplified by MORE THAN 10X.

Some data here: In the promotion of the Titanic Blu-Ray DVD, the DOOH media portion for the campaign had an available reach of 375,000. But a disconnected DOOH audience/experience is rarely what the client actually wants (even though in too many cases, the media buying politics are deaf to other channels/budgets and the difference they can make to the success of a program). This time though the brand did it right and used our platform to connect a multi-channel program. And when the DOOH campaign was connected to the brand’s online assets (namely but not exclusively) Facebook, the total available reach was over 28 million, of which 5.1 Million actually saw the campaign.

But don’t let me leave you with the impression that DOOH can’t raise to the occasion as well. By connecting the campaign to DOOH screens, the brand generating 282,000 engaged users and 2,700 comments, adding 2,723,544 fans and 688,704 New Likes, 37.67% more than the trailing 12 days prior to the campaign. In other words, the online channels WITH DOOH were also MORE effective.

That’s quite a potent uplift for DOOH.

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Developing social media platforms, tools, applications, widgets etc is always a moving target. APIs, terms and conditions etc change daily - so when vendors offer you their social media solution, you better know what questions to ask. You need to avoid being legally exposed for running social media software or content that does not comply with a social media platform’s terms and conditions.

For example, Twitter states VERY CLEARLY that no product can have TWEET in its name. Their full branding rules are here.

The growing competition for putting tweets on public screens requires the DOOH buyer to be sophisticated and knowledgeable enough to choose the right social media vendor.

This is a very specialized space.

Buyer beware.

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In the right hands, connecting an otherwise ordinary network of screens to an extraordinary screen or two, amplifies the engagement and value of the ordinary network. And I’m being polite - that ordinary network might actually be extraordinarily boring. But it can still be saved by connecting it to unique screens and places…

Take a retail experience where a mall shopper is rewarded by having their photo sent to the mall screens. The shopper gets a shot of fame, they tell their friends, and in the right hands that can enhance customer experience, foster loyalty and increase sales.

Times Sq can be used as an extreme version of this strategy. (NOTE: This should be a strategy, not a stunt. Too many times, brands and agencies get caught up in doing stunts that feature a big screen(s), but don’t connect them in any meaningful way, so they fall flat.)

Warning - shameless plug: LocaModa has done more Times Sq connected campaigns (e.g. connecting other DOOH networks, TV, Facebook, Twitter, websites etc) than any other company in the world.

We’ve worked with AT&T, Vans, South Park, Gap, Nickelodeon, Samsonite, Stride, Mexico Taxi project, Obama, Kayak, Loez Tonight/TBS, VH1, AdWeek, Ciroc and others

Of course those brands were interested in the hundreds of thousands of people seeing their campaigns in Times Sq every day, but they were also interested in the millions of people able to see AND engage via mobile, facebook, twitter and other websites - i.e. people who are not in Times Sq but pay attention because they could be promised a moment of fame in Times Sq.

In an age when we can all broadcast ourselves on YouTube, handing over the keys to public screens is actually a more unique and therefore more valuable experience for consumers and it can be leveraged to make otherwise boring screens suddenly much more engaging and relevant.

So don’t think Times Sq is for stunts - use it to amplify your campaign.

Here’s a link to our very own Mr Greg Stellato and his bride on their recent wedding day - now made famous by Gap in Times Sq, Twitter and Facebook.

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