For Almo Pro A/V, DSE 2019 is the first Digital Signage Expo since it acquired digital signage content creation firm Insteo in July 2018. So there is much to discuss with Digital Signage Expo 2019 attendees.
The distributor says its digital signage service revenue has grown more than 250 percent since the acquisition of a firm it had already been leaning on to provide Almo dealers with the ability to offer customers digital signage content creation services.
Insteo founder Jim Nista, now Almo Pro A/V senior director of content creation services, is front-and-center at DSE 2019, leading a session on production software techniques, and one on tools for creating digital signage content.
“It’s really nice that DSE has put full content workshops on both ends of the show,” Nista says, referring to the beginning and end of the three-day event.
Nista is also accepting an APEX award on behalf of Almo for a recent custom interactive kiosk installation.
Watch: Almo Content Redefines Digital Signage Opportunity for Integrators
What ‘Productizing’ Digital Signage Means?
The reason for the 250 percent jump in digital signage services revenue? Almo Pro A/V is finding traction with its profit-enhancing digital signage content services. Beyond content, it offers BrightSign software training, advanced design, programming, content loading and complete setup.
“What Almo is doing is taking every solution related to digital signage and providing a service for it,” Nista says.
“What Almo is doing is taking every solution related to digital signage and providing a service for it,” Nista says, “and that’s what we’re doing with our group. We do content creation. We do programming. We do creative work. But we also just do player setup. We’ll help an integrator get their players online. We’ll interface with their customers – talk them through the creative process, the onboarding process.
“So it’s so much more than just selling boxes.”
[related]One of the key points that Almo wants to hammer at DSE 2019 is that it’s offering Digital Signage Services as line items on its product list so integrators can incorporate them into their AV projects easily. That includes content.
Nista explains that many Almo dealers are seeing consistency in terms of what their clients’ digital signage content needs are, an example being donor walls. So Almo is “productizing” digital signage content by providing standard, “not cookie-cutter” content solutions that dealers can add as line items to their projects, he says.
Almo is also adding news and weather content widgets to its lineup.
“Almo’s main mission [at DSE 2019] is to outline all those products and services that we’re bundling,” Nista says.
Digital Signage Offers High Ceiling for Integrators
Almo Pro A/V is a full-service AV integrator, so why the heavy emphasis on digital signage and DSE 2019? The company has long argued that AV integration firms leave money on the table by not selling digital signage properly – emphasizing dynamic hardware solutions but losing sight of the content ideas that actually motivate customers.
Almo’s goal is to have its integrators ready to deliver solutions for digital signage 2.0 demand and to take advantage of that high ceiling.
Business development manager Jay Saret has often shared a pie chart in digital signage presentations that spotlights a tiny sliver of a typical integration firm’s revenue that stem’s from digital signage. The argument is that, by leading with content and having an ongoing content creative solution, integration firms can grow that portion of their business significantly.
At DSE 2019, the ceiling is getting even higher as the industry “is moving very slowly toward a digital signage 2.0 of content,” Nista says.
“It is happening. You’re staring to see clients that have the digital poster, they have the sign, they’re loading images onto the screen. And they’re not happy. It’s not automated. They invested 5 years ago and now they’re like, ‘Why do we have to keep doing this? Is there a better way?’ We’re starting to see a lot more projects that are driven by data, driven by automatically pulling information from calendars, driven by automating layout of content.”
Almo’s goal, of course, is to have its integrators ready to deliver solutions for digital signage 2.0 demand and to take advantage of that high ceiling.
Watch: Nista Discusses High-Ceiling Digital Signage Opportunity
Almo Digital Signage Services are now available as products (via press release):
- Software Training & Support Services. Almo offers a standard two-hour curriculum of BrightAuthor or BrightSign network software training, as well as customized BrightSign training options that go beyond the basics and cover a range of topics based on integrator needs. Additional services such as client onboarding, media player setup, consulting, enhanced support agreements and ongoing content maintenance are also available through Almo.
- Content Widgets:Easy-to-deploy informational widgets for digital signs including news, weather, custom calendars, waiting lists and tickers.
- Content Templates: Pre-designed templates for lobby directories, digital menus, directional signage, waiting lists, wayfinding, interactive lobby directories, photo directories, interactive donor walls, virtual concierge and more.
- Content Customization: The development of unique content for an installation. Includes advanced design, programming, content loading and setup.
Digital Signage Service Sessions at DSE (via press release):
- Tuesday, March 26, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Digital Signage Content & Media Expert Program (DCME). Deep Dive into Production Software and Techniques
- Friday, March 29, 9:15 a.m. Content Workshop: How it’s Made: Tools and Techniques for Creating Digital Signage Content
