Our sister company, JD Pro, recently reported on the use of digital signage in the Staten Island Mall to help catch shoplifters – a billion dollar problem that’s been ongoing in this retail outlet for as long as we can remember. If the video kiosks help catch a few of these guys or prevent new shoplifters from even trying, it will be worth it.
At the same time as this story broke, we read about another very interesting use of digital signage technology, this time for marketing and promotions. And we bet it’s right up some of our readers’ alley. (You might already know what we’re talking about, but if not, grab yourself a beer and read on….)
Heineken Knows How to Celebrate
Heineken set up a special booth at Karaoke Boho in New York City’s West Village and let participants sing karaoke Christmas carols. A few lines into the song, a camera was revealed. This camera was capturing the action and ready to stream it live to the Jumbotron at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., the giant screen in Times Square, and those video screens in New York taxi cabs.
The responses from the out-of-tune New Yorkers ranged from enthusiastic to … off-key. Most agreed to continue. Now that’s what we call holiday spirit.
But that’s not what we found so interesting. After all, we’re audio visual integrators, not sociologists.
Technology Makes It Possible
When you think about the coordination and the technology required to capture video at a bar in the West Village and send that video to multiple locations across the city, including moving taxi cabs via a digital signage network… this could be called a promotion decades in the making.
Technology aside, the creativity behind the idea also makes us, as video system designers, go “Wow.”
And then we immediately started thinking about the possibilities for our customers. I mean, karaoke-across-the-East-coast has already been done now. But how could you use new or existing audio visual technology in your bar or restaurant to make millions of people take notice? Your budget doesn’t even have to be as big as the brewing giant. You just need some creativity, the right technology and willing marks, uh, we mean customers. Probably beer helps.
The point is, whatever you can imagine today, technology can accomplish. Curved video walls that sense your presence and change content as you move across the room. Audio systems that automatically adjust volume based on the time of day. These are some of the interesting but not quite out-of-the-box things technology can already accomplish.
What would you like to do to set your New York sports bar or restaurant apart? How can audio video technology help you achieve that vision? You bring the big idea, and we’ll bring the audio video design savvy, the technology know-how, and the brand connections to get it done right for you.
Need an imagination boost? In a special report our marketing department created, we talk about How to Drive Sales Using Audio Video Technology. You can download it for free as our gift to you to help you get the New Year started right.