Telstra to launch digital signage network

Australian telecom provider Telstra is ramping up its digital signage activities, according to DC News:

"Research shows that 70% of purchase decisions are made after a consumer has walked into a retail location and stores like Circuit City and Best Buy in the USA are reporting big sales increases after installing a retail TV system. In the UK Tesco has been running a network for more than 18 months with major advertisers like Proctor and Gamble and Nestle cutting back free to air TV budgets in favour of in store TV systems. Among the companies set to trial the Retail. TV network in Australia are Woolworths in their Big W stores.

"The current state of the digital signage industry is strong and getting stronger. While the industry is still in early development mode, indications are that it will become a tremendously significant market in terms of revenues. Depending upon which market research firm you prefer, and how you slice the pie, digital signage is expected to surpass $2 billion in overall revenues by 2009 (see figure 1). The hardware and integration segment of this is somewhere around $500 million. By comparison, the data projector market, which has been developing for more than 15 years, is also around $2 billion.

Digital signage can be segmented into several different markets and categories. Cap Ventures in the US recently did a global study of the market. They estimate there are approximately 2.7 million potential sites for digital signage or “narrowcasting,” as they call it. Samples of this market total include more than 45,000 shopping malls, 794 airports, 1.12 million retail sites, 545,000 hospitality and entertainment locations, and 739,000 service-oriented locations such as financial and health service locations as well as service stations. The number of these locations that are currently using digital signage is infinitesimal compared to the total number of opportunities. The take-away message here is that there is tremendous opportunity in your geographic market, and probably among the customers you already serve."

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