Whenever I see the old acronym DOOH (Digital Out Of Home) I always think of the five minute Homer Simpson sequence of him voicing is frustration at.. well, just about everything. It is also exactly how I feel when I am browsing through a retail space where the digital signs are either non-functional, obscured, or (even worse) promoting a different brand from the product that is being merchandised in front of them.

Ask a content team, and you will likely need a beverage while they bemoan how their careful content deployment strategy was “ruined” by the stores. Or possibly the broadside four alarm call from the CEO saying, “I just walked through the store with my vendor rep and the signage isn’t working..” to the support team.

What truly amazes me is that this is not a new problem; this has been happening for years and years

The truth is that most signage is planned and executed without a lot of input from the team that actually runs the store. As they are performance measured on sales, not your signage, they have little love for time wasted on being remote hands for your support calls, or keeping track of which display is showing what on what table.

If your business requirements and content plan does not involve some input from the front line team, you can say goodbye to your ROI.

-bj