EDIT: And here is the moment when André Koitzsch, MDS Sales Director DACH, Baltics & Scandinavia, took over the prize! Pictures are taken from invidis.de website, pls see them at their source

The information gathered will help in forming an opinion for your own airport advertising. Heathrow T5’s notorious opening in 2008 and its resulting recovery is a study in management and consumer opinion. Digital Signage was a key influencing cause in regaining customer confidence. The early battle-plan and its outcome was reviewed at this same venue last year and had most of the attendees on seat-edge.

The Heathrow Channel
Ad revenue on the Heathrow screens has increased by 20%. Early adopters of the technology are part of the reason. Digital Signage, as an ad channel, is climbing because of types and numbers of screen available. At the date of this report there are 400 screen at Heathrow. Heathrow is the 4th largest airport in the world, just behind O’Hare Intl. Annual passenger total is over 38 Million.

Present dwell time at Heathrow is about 160 minutes. Of which about 100 minutes is in the departure lounge.
A different kind of info is expected along the chain of Touchpoints up to the gate. Main priority is flight information. Thus information provided needs to be contextual, real-time and in the appropriate language interspersed with flight warnings and alerts. A certain element of Wayfinding is paramount.

Bernay’s Touchpoints. Touchpoints are the signs seen by the public as they approach the airport and finally arrive in the departure lounge. The same is in reverse although with reduced dwell time.
• Large billboards outside the airport begin to influence the passenger’s mind-set to the event he or she is about to experience.
• The influence and conditioning begins also within public transport to the airport. Heathrow Express provides the first rail system in Europe with a LED tunnel advertising system. Major brands use this to enter branding messages into the subconscience and set anchors.
• Another point is the gathering area just before the check-in booths. Flight information boards provide catch points and extra anchors.
• The check-in desk is the beginning of a more personal approach. Here more details of flights are revealed. This period can also be used to firm brands anchors, also introduce offers
• Cafes and Restaurants provide another anchoring opportunity, with interactivity.
• Customs and security check areas provide more opportunity to dispense with flight information and advertising anchoring sessions.
• Air side retail areas further provide opportunity for branding (anchoring) and information.
• Departure lounge more branding and interactivity areas.
• Overall anchoring opportunities can also be broadcast on Wayfinding screens.

The audience is now becoming the Key Point of Difference. Heathrow has a special kind of audience. The majority are up- market and liquid. We could classify them into;
• Executives: High-end travelers, people who make decisions and set strategies for their companies. That is why airport advertising is so important for the world’s premium brands.
• Blue Chip Managers: Second-tier management
• MidLevel Executives.
• Holidaymakers. Refined.
• Avid Adventurers.

Heathrow Express Shares a station within Heathrow’s T5 with London Underground This is a special passenger commuting train from Paddington Station in London. The time from London to Heathrow is 15 minutes. The audience on these trains is upmarket, providing a £100 million turnover. Surveys revealed that passenger satisfaction is high.The passenger’s need to remain connected has been satisfied with extra investments into Wi-Fi equipment, as it’s becoming a key business driver.

In Summary
The discussion was not all about Terminal 5, but rather Heathrow in general. The word out this year is audience, Audience is fast becoming the Point of Difference, and this is positive at Heathrow.
A huge investment had been made with the result being that no cannibalization from standard advertising was made. ROI for most companies advertising at Heathrow was a healthy 16|% increase in orders from passengers passing through. This makes the setting a valuable real estate for any brand style advertiser.
To attain this not only was there a substantial monetary investment but also research. Eyetracking research using technology more at home in a fighter jet proved that screens were in the right locations. Content playing on the screens also attracted enough attention to satisfy the Bernay’s “8 Times” rule.
Finally with Heathrow placed in one of the financial centres of the world, the passenger passing through is not only interested in getting to his or her plane on time but has a keen need to remain connected. Heathrow has well catered to this service. Thus customer experience has been high on the agenda when planning this airport. This and providing the service the airport was built for, planes, will with digital signage, help preserve the focal point Heathrow commands.

James van Etten, Executive Editor, CLIPPINGs – Digital Signage Newsletter

Project Summary
Although Heritage Valley strives to be uniquely connected to its community, with a large employee base of over 4,300 and two main hospitals 17 miles apart, it was often difficult to make sure everyone received information in a timely manner.

Carlotta Morgan, interactive media coordinator for the health system, remembers having to go to one location to deliver communication and then having to travel to the other location to do the same thing. “Of course,” she adds, “nobody gets the information at the same time.”

Having a central spot for displaying information would help, the hospital administrators decided. Initially, they tried using an LED display in the Sewickley hospital lobby to provide information, but the static display didn’t meet their needs. Heritage Valley wanted a system that could be expanded and used for two audiences: consumers and employees. Mrs. Morgan also wanted to be able to create a more dynamic display.

At first, Heritage Valley evaluated LCD digital displays that could be completely customized. They also considered buying a more encompassing subscription program, but found that those options often had features that weren’t needed and that were to expensive.

The Solution
Eventually, Heritage Valley selected Rise Display. The digital signs allow them to display live data, text, photos, animations, TV programs and videos from a computer and view it on the display screen.

“We used it out of the box,” Mrs. Morgan says. “Rise customized a template that met our branding standards, but other than that, it’s an out of the box solution.”

Heritage Valley bought four LCD displays to use in the main lobbies and cafeterias of the two hospitals. Since that initial investment three years ago, they have purchased four more units. In addition to installing one more display at each hospital, the have put two in their walk-in clinics, located in area Walmart stores.

As with any technological product, parts occasionally wear out. When that happened, Mrs. Morgan was extremely impressed with the customer service she received from Rise.
“They drop-shipped me the unit and I had it the next day. They were there to help me with all the configurations,” Mrs. Morgan recalls. She adds: “I love Rise.”

Heritage Valley anticipates using the Rise displays as an integral part of the hospital’s communication tools. Even now, Mrs. Morgan posts teasers on the displays directing viewers to information available on the hospital website. She looks forward to using the displays to provide real- time wait times at the various locations so patients can determine where they may receive care faster.

“That’s the ease of this,” she says. “Getting (information) down quickly and getting it up quickly.”

Project Summary
Gary Huether, president of Arooga’s, knew from the onset that he wanted to include high-tech digital signage in his restaurants. “With being a sports bar, being able to incorporate real-time sports scores was very important,” Mr. Huether explains. He also aimed to use the digital signage for advertising daily and weekly specials and special events.

Mr. Huether first came in contact with Rise Display at the Las Vegas Nightclub and Bar Convention and Trade Show. Among Rise’s wares was a vertical display that caught Mr. Huether’s interest. “With so many TVs in our places, some of the horizontal displays can blend in,” he says. “But the verticals really draw people’s attention.”

Additionally, “We were finding that not too many [companies] offered the live sports feed, which was one of our biggest needs,” he says. “But Rise did.”

Rise Display worked with Mr. Huether to design and install four 42″ vertical boards, and many horizontal displays ranging from 37″ to 50″, at each Arooga’s location. At least one vertical board is located in each lobby and is used to display rotating specials and advertisements for special events. “While guests are waiting for tables, I think [the vertical displays] get more of their attention than a stand-alone billboard,” says Mr. Huether. “And once we have their attention and are rotating the ads, I think they’re retaining more about our specials because it is something neat and unique.”

Because the flexibility to make content changes himself was important to Mr. Huether, he was provided access to web-based software that allows for changes to be made within minutes. “It’s as easy as uploading a .jpeg to an e- mail,” Mr. Huether enthuses.

Among the 100-plus televisions in each Arooga’s location, the electronic displays keep customers updated with real-time sports scores and game time information. Arooga’s also uses the digital displays for direct marketing and co-op marketing, which was an additional benefit, says Mr. Huether.

“I think the [displays] are great,” he says. “They’re building advertising in-house, and we can upload content by ourselves in a minute. They’re also doing the wow factor. When people walk into the lobby and see a vertical board with our name and brand on it, I think they see that we’re up with technology. It’s something new.”

Project Summary
Until recently, they did not have a very efficient way to communicate the menu to the students and building staff. “We would post a small 8″×10″ sign board on the wall in several spots, with the full week’s menu. The students would have to walk to the sign, check to see what was being served in each line and then go to that line. This caused crowding at the cashier stands and delays in the lines.”

What they needed was a better way to display the menus to the students to avoid crowding. Their solution to this problem was to hang a large digital menu board on the wall where all of the students could see the menus without blocking any of the busy lunchtime traffic. “We needed to convey the daily menu for each of the lunch lines, and we also wanted to be able to reach the students at the Senior High School in a ‘techie’ way that they could relate to.”

The Solution
The department selected Rise Display to supply them with everything that they required to implement their plan. “Rise had what we needed and it didn’t look too complicated to run or set up or change,” said Ms. Maas. “To piece together a solution by myself was just not feasible — time-wise, product-wise or content-wise.” The display solution that Rise provided to Wayzata High School included not only the large LCD screen itself, but also the user-friendly Display Wire software that lets Ms. Maas change the menus herself from day to day.

Results
“We are very pleased with both the sign and its content. The district maintenance staff installed the screens, the district electrician installed the Rise engine and the district carpenter built a box around each screen to match the wood in the rest of the building. The whole setup looks very sharp. One major advantage is that there are no visible buttons. We have received many compliments on the set up.”

And the Display Wire software they use to run the sign? “Once everything was up and running, it all ran smoothly. It has been great. It’s very easy to learn and maintain.”

According to Ms. Maas, their new LCD display is a huge hit with both staff and students. “The staff loved the high school signs. Now the kids don’t crowd around the cashier stands to look at the menus — they can look above the lines and tell very quickly what is being served on each line. Some start looking as they are coming down the hall.”

“And best of all, the kids are constantly commenting on how cool the signs are.”

Below are the pictures from the two latest Open Air, held during last two weekends in Switzerland.

Sonisphere in Jonschwil

An absolute outstanding event – the idea was to collect the top 5 heavy metal bands and make them play at one event. Metallica, Megadeth, Motörhead, Slayer & Anthrax, supported by some other carriers of heavy tunes (Alice in Chains, Airbourn, Overkill…) made this event historical not only on paper but in life as well. Not even rain and mud up to knees could have stopped 50K army of hard core fans.

All in all – 4 stages, the main one with two enormous displays, which allowed even those that stood (and froze) far away from the stage – to see the highlights of the event.

OpenAir St. Gallen

Held this weekend, on much better weather, with alternative (read: mixed) sound. With much tamer audience, the festival of light tunes (Gentleman excluded) had two pretty big displays next to the oval stage.

Project Summary
Right before a big open house was to occur at SPC, the digital display system they had invested in failed them. SPC’s Rich Griffin, network administrator, tells the story:

“System Planning Corporation provides research and development, systems engineering and technology support services to a wide variety of government and commercial clients. We had been using static signage to provide our conference customers with information on where to find the conference room locations for their meetings, but the building owner had become unhappy with our signs being placed all over the elevator lobbies.

So we were looking for a very modest digital sign alternative: dual elevator lobby monitors on three separate floors here at our corporate headquarters, as well as larger monitors in reception areas on the same three floors. As for content, our elevator lobby monitors would be used for corporate PR, new and existing employee spotlights, conferencing schedules for our internal users, as well as conference services we provide for external users, the occasional in-house produced video and cable TV.

When we first discovered Rise Display, we were essentially trying to find an acceptable digital display solution for a failed implementation provided by a previous vendor. We had contracted with a local digital signage provider, but after all the paperwork had been signed, it was determined that their solution would be wholly inadequate for our purposes.

There was a great deal of urgency, because the fact that the previous vendor’s signage product was completely unacceptable forced us to scramble to find another vendor who could meet our now compressed deadline. Basically, we needed to have our digital signage up and running in time for our Open House — which included a walk-through by our CEO to show off our newly remodeled corporate headquarters — that was scheduled quite soon.

I did some quick research and determined that Rise’s internet-based solution would meet our needs and that Rise could implement it within a very tight deadline that we were working under. After trying the Rise Display Network demo before we decided to purchase it, I felt confident that it would be an easily manageable solution.

We liked that it’s internet-based. We felt the combination of the Rise-created templates with our own in-house content, as well as the web-based management approach, was the easiest solution for us.
So we had Rise do the full installation of all monitors and monitor mounts, including three 42” monitors we had purchased from another vendor. They got it all done in time for our Open House. Rise was able to provide us with an attractive web-based solution with low overhead under a very tight deadline.

SPC’s managers and employees alike have been very pleased with the look of our Rise digital signage. The ability to integrate the subscription features, such as the weather, sports, news or stocks, has been a hit. And the overall look of our current templates is exactly what was envisioned when a digital signage solution was first proposed here at SPC.”

Business schools aren’t the only educational institutions that are turning to digital signage to help them get their messages out. For example, New York City’s famous Juilliard School, the country’s pre-eminent performing arts academy, recently updated their campus communication strategy by installing large LCD screens in the central lobby of their main campus at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

A private performing liberal arts college, The Juilliard School has roughly 1,900 students in its college, pre- college, music advancement and evening divisions.

Project Summary

According to Tunde Giwa, the school’s chief technology officer, the decision to add digital signage to Juilliard’s main lobby came about as part of their Juilliard/Lincoln Center Redevelopment Project, an ambitious undertaking begun in 2007 that involves major renovations to more than 50,000 square feet of existing campus space, and adds an additional 39,200 square feet of new theatres, studios, classrooms, practice rooms and specialty spaces to the arts school’s expanding downtown premises.

“We wanted to add digital signage to our lobby as part of our redevelopment project,” Mr. Giwa explained. “We needed this to communicate to our internal and on-campus audiences about events, along with news and weather.”

After first trying a consultant’s recommendation, which called for a digital signage setup that Mr. Giwa characterized as “a very complex system,” the school sought out and contracted the services of Rise Display, mostly because they found Rise’s recommendations and software to be much easier to understand and use.

The Rise Solution

“This was our first foray into digital signage,” explained Mr. Giwa. “The system that a first consultant designed for us would have required a lot of people to have learnt a very complex software product, to allow us to design and schedule our digital signs. We did try to learn how to use it, but it was much too complicated.”

Simplicity then became one of the main requirements in their search for a better digital signage control system: “It had to be easy to use, and attractive.” Rise’s combination of high-end display hardware and web-based sign content management software — called Display Wire — fit the bill. In contrast to their confusion with the first consultant’s system, Mr. Giwa said, their experience with the Rise solution was much more rewarding. “Rise’s software was much easier to implement, and much easier to use. It’s a quality product.”

The Final Result

The performing arts school’s new digital signs opened to rave reviews on campus. “In general everyone likes the Rise system,” continued Mr. Giwa. “Users comment on how easy it is to use and members of the community seem to really like it. We’re very happy with it. Very satisfied.”

Founded in 1842, Villanova University is a coeducational Roman Catholic institution that welcomes students of all faiths. Villanova University is the oldest and largest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with more than 6,300 undergraduates enrolled in a wide variety of degree programs. For more than a decade, Villanova University has been ranked #1 by US News and World Report in the Best Universities-Master’s category in the northern region.

With a reputation for high-tech leadership that earned it PC Magazine and Princeton Review’s recognition one of the top 20 “Most Wired Colleges in the Nation,” Villanova University was an early adopter of digital signage, having installed its first LCD display in the business school’s applied finance lab several years ago.

Project Summary

Now, as more and more schools are equipping their own trading labs with digital signage, Villanova is busy creating a networked, campus-wide information system. With 17 large screens already installed on campus, and approximately another 35 planned, Villanova’s digital signage network is expanding rapidly, a testament to its popularity on campus.

“We wanted to introduce a better method for disseminating information throughout the University,” explained Michael Hoffberg, Villanova’s associate director of media technologies. “We were looking for an elegant and affordable way to convey up-to-date information — events, special activities, schedules, emergency notifications and so on — to students, staff and faculty in an attractive, timely, and eye-catching manner.”

The Final Result

Rise’s Display Wire gives University administrators complete control over the composition and timing of all content. Distributing information via digital signage enables the University to limit paper postings and is intended to cut down on the volume of emails sent to the Villanova community. In addition to displaying information about campus events, schedules, and emergency notifications, Villanova also sells advertising to local merchants that accept the school’s Wildcard debit card.

All members of the Villanova community use the Wildcard identification card to enter and check out books from the library and use campus resources such as vending machines, dorm laundry facilities and the bookstore. The Wildcard can also be used as a debit card that is accepted at a growing number of off-campus vendors including retail stores, restaurants, and fast-food chains. The Wildcard office is now selling advertising to local merchants that accept the Wildcard.’

“In each of the buildings that we’ve equipped with Rise engines and software, our clients now have a method for displaying important, current information critical to the students, faculty and/or staff,” said Mr. Hoffberg. “Based upon their feedback, this method of distributing information via digital signage far exceeds previous use of paper postings. It has also cut down on the barrage of emails that’s sent each day to the Villanova community.

“The big ‘payoff’,” he continued, “is the effective dissemination of information. It’s an effective, low- maintenance system that did not impact heavily on our limited staffing resources. Many of the current signage users have expressed interest in adding more monitors to their systems.”

22 theatres digitally equipped this year: a record in the Festival’s history.

stated the Christie press release issued beginning of this week. For the 4th year in a row, Christie is responsible for digital projection of the Festival’s Official Selection, Out of Competition & Marché du Film elements.

“For the fourth year in a row, it is a huge privilege to see our digital projectors playing such a critical role in this key event in international cinema”, said Christie EMEA Vice President, Dale Miller. “A pioneer in the film industry for more than 80 years, Christie is again making available its expertise and experience to the world of cinema.”
“After 3 successful years alongside our partner XDC, we have signed a 3-year agreement with the Cannes Film Festival. This agreement covers the provision of technical and logistical aspects of 2D and 3D digital projection and is proof of the trust and respect that cinema professionals have for Christie,” says Pascal Gervais, Director of Development for Christie, France.

This agreement comes into effect at a time when France is speeding up its switch to digital. In April 2010, there were no fewer that 1000 digitally equipped theatres, representing nearly 20% of all screens in use. 75% of these 1000 theatres are thus able to show the 3D versions of films offered by distributors.