The morning press - digital signage news for March 10

Morning, folks. Here are some of the more interesting things being talked about in the digital signage market these days...

• What If Gen Y Wants to Be Behaviorally Targeted, asks AdAge a few days ago? I spend a fair amount of time working on plans to prevent dystopian, Minority Report-like futures, but maybe I'm just barking up the wrong tree. Maybe I'm just getting too old...

• Herb Sorensen posted a fun article deconstructing the shopping trip that's been making its way around our slew of industry publications. It's a short read, and well worth it for anybody dabbling with media in the retail space.

• Zoom Media's $30 Million Cash Infusion has of course been much talked about already, and is a harbinger of things to come. There are so many small, struggling networks out there that may fail or simply give up during these relatively hard times. The few strong, healthy and aggressive players with balance sheets that let them raise cash are going to make a killing absorbing these smaller guys, expanding their reach, and then bumping up fees and/or service offerings when the economy permits it.

• Don't forget to vote for the best digital signage content over at POPAI's 2009 Digital Signage Viewer's Choice Contest.

• Think the TV and cable networks are just going to sit back and watch while we try and steal a tiny share of their market? Think again, says the New York Times. Apparently, cable companies are already targeting commercials to audience members, and their experiments will probably soon turn into nation-wide deployments. Their use of demographic data, purchase history information and other personal info floating out there in the aether apparently lets them target almost down to the individual level. Cool. Scary.

• Ricoh is launching a wind-powered ad in Times Square. 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels will power the 42nd and 7th Av electronic billboard, saving 18 tons of carbon per year and about $12,000 to $15,000 a month in electricity. Holy crap. $15,000 a month in electricity. Suddenly my South Florida summertime power bills don't looks so bad.

• The market for digital signage products and services is set to rise 33% this year, according to a research firm. I actually spoke to ABI Research's Zippy Aima while she was putting together this report, and while 33% seems a trifle optimistic depending on how apocalyptic the day's economic forecast is, it seems completely within reach as well. Adrian reports that big things are afoot in the big deal space, and as we've told you before, there are other places where digital signage deals are happening right now too.

Tags: digital signage, digital signage news

Looking for more digital signage info? Check out WireSpring's Kiosk and Digital Signage blog for in-depth industry analysis and even more news about the digital signage industry. While you're there, feel free to read up on our digital signage software and services