For years digital signage vendors have focused their attention on developing powerful digital signage software that accommodates small networks through large enterprise deployments. The number of companies that exist in this space is amazing, approximately 300 or more by some accounts. However, as all of us in the industry know, the technology is evolving very quickly and just providing a digital signage product that facilitates placing text, graphics, and video on digital screens is no longer enough to compete in the industry – the bar is rising. Vendors have to consider online, social media, mobile, place-based media, user-generated content, hand-held devices, and wireless to be competitive.

The article goes on to say that “it’s critical to leverage the fullness of the medium while paying attention to, and planning for, our shifting media landscape. The DOOH industry cannot be looked at as though it were outside of the sphere of other media properties. It isn’t a separate entity. It is a piece of a robust ecosystem, in which symbiotic relationships foretell success.”

This point is critical for retailers who want to integrate digital signage into their in-store strategy. If their digital signage network is deployed as a separate entity, history has indicated it is doomed for failure. The message delivered to their customers on the digital screen is not tied to any comprehensive strategy and therefore the consumer is potentially presented a mixed message when considering the many avenues of information available.

However, if the digital signage network is considered part of the overall in-store strategy with brand and product messaging being consistent, the digital signage network becomes a viable part of the retailer’s brand marketing and product strategy. This ensures the consumer is presented with a consistent message when investigating the many avenues of information available.

So, as the digital signage industry evolves through its infancy an opportunity exists to create a media company born from a multi-layer approach to the industry. I believe, as the article highlights, enlightened DOOH vendors who work closely with retailers to combine the reach of place-based media with the mass distribution potential of the Web to form a fluid, nimble, efficient, and robust media entity; one that blankets the out-of-home space and supports the redistribution of power occurring online will be the “next great media company to emerge from the digital-out-of-home space.”