What Value Does a Million Dollar LED Display Have If People Stop Seeing It?
We’ve all seen the videos on social media with plenty of “likes”: the big unveiling of a major new lobby LED display showcasing a wonderful, imaginative piece of content that wows the crowd. There’s lots of back-slapping for all involved and a great video for PR.
The problem is the piece is still playing six months later and 90% of the viewers have stopped even noticing a display there at all.
It might as well just be a wall. A very expensive wall.
Everyday, across the country and across the world, major LED displays are being installed in corporate lobbies. These displays provide an incredible opportunity for the stakeholders to transform their environment, engage tenants and guests, and entice new tenants.
That’s why, one assumes, they have invested hundreds and thousands, if not millions of dollars on state-of-the-art hardware and software.
Unfortunately, this tends to be where the investment ends. Once that display is up and running, the big PR push is over, and everyone is back to work, the only time anyone considers the display is if it breaks.
Not only is this approach an incredible waste of the initial investment, it undermines the entire purpose for which the display was installed. As soon as the original content grows stale, that big expensive wall is no longer transforming the environment, engaging tenants and guests, or enticing new tenants.
On the other hand, if there is a long term content strategy and a talented team of creators, the display will continue to return value for the life of the hardware.
So, what might that strategy look like?
At Bravo, we like to approach a display like one might approach a magazine or TV channel, developing an editorial calendar that accounts for multiple factors including time of day, season, special events, announcements, and impact. We evaluate the nature of the audience to influence style, frequency, and messaging. Then we develop a production process that allows for consistent delivery of high quality content within a desired budget.
We do this with a blend of three key types of content: custom pieces, data-driven pieces, and generative pieces.
Custom pieces tend to be a mix of “show-stoppers” and pieces with specific visual demands like holidays or special events.
Data-driven pieces pull simple data like time and weather, or complex data like stock prices or social sentiments and translate them into metaphoric visuals.
Generative pieces use a combination of AI and machine learning to produce ever-changing ambient visuals to support a mood or vibe.
By blending these three types of content we are able to supply stakeholders with the variety and relevance required to maximize the value of that extremely expensive wall.
So, if you are thinking about investing in a large-scale LED display make sure you are considering the long term investment in content as part of that overall spend. And if that display is already up and running but you can’t remember the last time you noticed it give us a shout at Bravo.
