La transformación del digital signage: tendencias y desarrollos
julio 11, 2019
EBlast 16 de Julio 2019
julio 16, 2019July 12, 2019 | by Sean Matthews
This is part one of a series looking at how to use pop culture to inspire your digital signage. Part one looks at movies, while part two will explore games and politics.
Your organization is made up of people, and so is your audience. When trying to engage them with digital signage messages, it’s crucial to keep this in mind at all times. One way to make your screens instantly attractive is to tap into the power of popular culture when crafting your digital signage designs.
Pop culture covers a wide spectrum of categories, but the most popular ones are:
- Entertainment
- Sports
- Fashion
- News
- Politics
- Technology
- Slang
Each of these is rich territory to be mined for elements with which to frame your content. It makes what you’re trying to say feel fresh and current, and thus relevant.
Tap into the zeitgeist
There are some pretty safe bets out there when it comes to pop culture things that have widespread appeal – things that are part of the zeitgeist, like Game of Thrones. You can be pretty sure that, even if a particular person in your target audience doesn’t watch the show, they know it exists and are seeing references to it all the time in their online life. There are jokes and memes they are exposed to on a daily basis, so any reference to Game of Thrones is instantly recognizable and familiar.
Of course, this means that your content creation team has to keep on top of what’s hot and trending, but chances are they are already doing just that in their free time. If Woody is a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, he’ll happily spend a bit of time creating messages that reference those films and characters. It won’t even feel like work.
Feed the fads
At the macro level, entertainment means films, TV series, music, video games and books. There is a tremendous amount of buzz around the latest movie release, which can be leveraged in your communications efforts. Some taglines and quotes from trailers and posters that have already been used and even converted into memes include:
Avenge the fallen. (This has already sparked a series of internet memes with this phrase over a picture of someone who has “fallen” – Ned Stark from Game of Thrones, Bambi’s mother, Bing Bong from “Inside Out,” T-Rex from “Jurassic Park 3,” John Wick’s puppy, etc.)
- This is the fight of our lives.
- Today we have a chance to take it all back.
- It’s not about how much we lost. It’s about how much we have left.
- Tony Stark: You trust me? Steve Rogers: I do.
- Thanos: You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me.
Any of these could be used in digital signage messages. For example:
- Avenge the Fallen. This could be used for anything that is now gone or has been replaced. A funny way to announce a staff member’s retirement, for example. Or to announce that the old cafeteria is being upgraded. Or that some equipment has finally been replaced.
- This is the fight of our lives. You could use this for anything that’s competitive. An in-company or university sports team has an important game coming up. Or, various departments are engaging in a bit of friendly gamified competition, and this saying is used to spur people to put in more effort.
- It’s not about how much we lost. It’s about how much we have left. – this lends itself to any environmental campaign, recycling awareness, charitable causes, etc.
You can probably think of dozens of ways these trending memes and phrases could be used in messages. You still communicate what you need to, but do it in a way that feels “with it” and current. This is especially useful if you have a certain message that you want up on your screens all the time – it’s in every playlist every day because it’s important. The message can remain the same, but the pop culture elements you use to frame it and attract attention can change as new films come out, new TV shows become popular, new albums or books are released, etc.
Pick the winners
Following awards ceremonies can also yield useful references. Green Book recently won the Oscar for Best Picture, so it’s on many people’s minds. Olivia Coleman’s acceptance speech at the Oscars had some memorable lines, as did other winners. The Grammy Awards almost always yield some choice quotes and moments to use, and people are often re-using, re-mixing and referencing them for weeks after the actual ceremony.
Obviously, TV shows like Game of Thrones and whatever’s the latest hot streaming offering are on people’s minds. When it comes to music or books, that might be a bit more up to personal taste. You can conduct periodic short surveys to see what your audience actually listens to or reads (most people will be happy to fill these out — they like answering questions about themselves).
You might be surprised to find out that 30% of your employees are fans of a particular musical group, or a sizeable portion listen to a particular podcast with regularity. What hosts or authors are in vogue with your audience? If it turns out you have a lot of Charles Dickens fans, wording a few messages in a way that references his work or include quotes will certainly get their attention.
