Author: waapiti dev

Digital communication

Waapiti updates Aopen player’s approved list

player aopen

Hardware manufacturers continuously release new models, which must be tested with our digital signage platform before they can be implemented in any project. In recent months we have expanded our product range with Aopen manufacturer, with whom we have already carried out various digital signage and interactivity projects.

Below there is the current list of Aopen models approved by Waapiti:

What kind of players are supported?

The Waapiti platform uses both standalone players and displays with SoC embedded players (most manufacturers in the market have released several SoC models). As far as external players are concerned, we consider two types: the standard Waapiti players, which are Intel NUC and Raspberry Pi; and the homologated ones, which are players from other manufacturers, such as Aopen.

Why so many models of players?

After these latest hardware additions, Waapiti technology can be used by more content player devices. This flexibility of our digital signage platform is an advantage for our customers, offering them a wide range of possible players. In this sense, projects with Waapiti don’t depend on a single content player. Instead, it is possible to combine different hardware as needed, depending on the needs of each project. 

Another considerable advantage is the plug and play technology. If a client already has a digital signage network and wants to switch to a new provider, it’s easier thanks to Waapiti’s wide variety of players. If you want to switch to the Waapiti management content platform, in most cases it would not be necessary to change all the hardware previously installed.

Continuous innovation is one of the values that best define the Waapiti team. We try to be as flexible and quick as possible to adapt to each new technological innovation in the digital signage sector. 

Content Strategy
Digital communication
Fairs & Events

Covid19 prevention technology: In-store capacity solution for digital signage

capacity|covid prevention solution|in-store capacity solution

There are two new concepts to face in this “new normality” after Covid19 crisis; the social distancing and the capacity of each public space. Both requirements could be easily resolved with Waapiti’s Covid19 prevention solutions for digital signage.

We introduce in-store capacity, an easy solution to inform and control the flow of people inside any public space. Customer’s flow is automatically calculated using 2D and 3D counting cameras positioned at the entrance. The information obtained from this smart system can be displayed in real-time on digital signage screens positioned in the entrance.

Displays provide information about customers flow and alert them if they can enter or not enter, ensuring safety to customers and keeping them always informed. Simultaneously, it is also possible to broadcast corporate information, Covid19 prevention measures or promotional messaging.

in-store capacity solution

Additionally, we can provide other integrated solutions such as controlling automatic doors, people temperature monitoring, hand sanitizer dispensing (provided by our trusted partner in scent marketing) or speakers integration for audio messages (provided together by Sonat Sounds’s background music services). There is also the option to add different extra information, for example, display in real-time the percentage of customer’s flow on screens, feed information on expected wait times or access to a very detailed dashboard.

Waapiti’s in-store capacity solution is fully customizable

The visual communication and alert messages could be personalized with the brand’s corporate standard, including logotype, colours or any considered item. 

This people counting solution for capacity management can be used for other marketing purposes such as analyzing the flow of visitors in each establishment, according to hours and days, etc. This data is increasingly interesting for marketing departments, but often the necessary interpretation tools are not available. In this way, Waapiti and TMM Group offer advice on how to make the most of this technology for a successful digital communication strategy.

Several markets – retail, supermarkets, businesses, education, healthcare, etc.- are increasingly requiring this customized solution. Considering this broad target market, our Covid19 prevention solution is adapted to each market needs and it’s available in different hardware products, ex. kiosks, ceiling support, floor-standing or integrating the displays in the furniture.

Fairs & Events

Waapiti highlights at ISE 2020

Waapiti booth|Stand Waapiti ISE|Waapiti 3D & cubes|Gemma Cusco presentation|Avixa round table ISE 2020|Waapiti booth|Waapiti booth ISE 2020|Waapiti stand|Gemma Cusco|Gemma Cusco|Derek Hossack

Waapiti and TMM Group participated in Integrated Systems Europe that took place on 11th to 14th February in Amsterdam. The team released new Waapiti Manager 3.0, built from scratch and improved version of the cloud-based and serverless platform for digital signage. Many assistants stopped by booth 8-C271 and discovered the new functionalities of Waapiti software for digital signage.

Live product demonstration and fast talks

Four intensive days of the fair where we participated in different talks, live demos and panels. Our CEO, Gemma Cuscó participated in a fast talk at Ecler’s booth. She explained the advantage of Waapiti as a unique platform to distribute audiovisual content anywhere. Waapiti platform is also used to manage and distribute Sonat Sounds background music services.

Gemma Cuscó also joined a panel on digital signage situation in Spain organized by Avixa.  It was a great experience to share expertise about user experience at POS and keys to success in long-term digital communication projects, with AV professionals from Admira and Icon Multimedia. 

ISE 2020 highlights

Looking for Barcelona 2021

ISE 2020, the last edition in Amsterdam, was a great opportunity to meet many interesting professionals. We are already looking for the next edition in Barcelona on 2nd to 5th February 2021.

Content Strategy

8 key steps in developing a content strategy for digital signage

content strategy

Investing in digital signage without a well-defined content strategy can be an investment that is not well executed. The content strategy is going further than deciding what videos or images must be displayed on a screen. It is important to understand digital signage language and how to create quality content and segmented messages. It is necessary to identify our medium and long-term goals, our target audience, to track and measure the engagement. And above all, be clear about how and who is going to manage this content.

We will explain the most important considerations and tips to keep in mind during the content strategy in a digital signage project:

  1. Identify the goals and objectives. This is not only important during the strategy, but it is also important before starting the project. Identifying the objective will indicate the checklist requirements such as the type of display (screen), the screen orientation, the placement, the brightness, and finally the integration in space/furniture. It is not the same to inform, to boost sales or just entertain. It’s important to have a clear goal because it will define the whole content strategy planned.
  2. Identify the target audience. Who are you trying to reach? Older people who need a lot of reading time or young people who do not have time to read? For example, in display windows, if we sell toys, we know that our target is the parents, but who will look at the product will probably be the children. In this sense, you have to know what is more engaging: an unbeatable price or a big image of the trending toy. Surely the toy or even the advertising will be more impactful and have a greater claim for a child.
  3. What and how. Quality, quantity and size. It is so important what we say that the how. Give a short, clear and concise message. Thinking about where and from what distance the message will be visualized. It will help us to understand what size of the font will be enough to be read, and how extensive the message should be. For example, in a display window, short sentences with large letters are easier to read, so they can be viewed from more than 5 meters away. Once, we understand these screen dimensions, we should be able to adapt the content to the screen orientation (landscape or portrait) as the screen resolution that matches. It is important to know that a video for social media does not always work in digital signage.
  4. Content length and “call to action”. Someone who does not see the content from the beginning should always be able to understand it. Spaces with low attention times require a quick call to action. For instance, in areas with high attention times, such as waiting rooms, require longer and more informative content. The total length of the content loop must be reasonable at the time of the user’s exposure, the renewal of the audience and the social moment.
  5. Targeting and segmentation. Target content is very important but it is also important to ensure that messages are timed to display at the proper time of day, for example, the affluence between the week and the weekend is not the same. In crowded areas, we need more direct and concise content. Therefore, a content management platform allows you – in an easy-to-use interface – to schedule content and deliver the most effective message to your audience. That’s it the success that the content strategy works effectively and help you reach your goals.
  6. How and who will manage the content. We have to choose a CMS that simply allows us to display the images and videos in an easy and fast way. Once you have a marketing plan, it is important to assign a manager for updating the content. The marketing department is usually in charge of this. But in case of this department can not do this management, it is important to know that there are companies as Waapiti, which offer the management service to update content through its digital signage platform. Waapiti Manager is a web-based platform, manageable from any computer, browser and mobile device.
  7. Tracking and data measurement. It is essential to measure the campaigns to prove their effectiveness. In digital signage, we can track different data, from the most basic, such as the number of times each content has been broadcast in a specific time, or more enriched data such as who has watched each content and for how long. In addition, we can cross-check data with other information such as a sale to really measure the effectiveness of the strategy. It is said that digital signage must be “tracked, measured and improved.” Good content can generate engagement, but only a very well-worked content influences the buying decisions.
  8. Maintenance. You may consider this point are not related to our content strategy and generate doubts. Do I really need screen maintenance? This is a minor aspect until the client experience a black screen or needs to remove a video immediately and the content player has dropped its Internet connection. This is when all the alarms power on. A technical assistance department continuously monitors the equipment and is proactive to solve any possible issues. Still, we must know that technology is unpredictable and can not be guaranteed 100% that nothing will happen. But it guarantees security in the sense that there is a specialist team working on continuously, available 14/7, who will solve the problem quickly – according to the SLA (Service Level Agreement) agreed with the client.
Content Strategy
Digital communication

Have an expert partner in technology strategy and content strategy

partner digital signage

During a digital signage project, there are specialists from different areas involved in, such as architecture, operations, audiovisual, IT or graphic design. Sometimes, the client ignores all these specialists and the importance of coordination between them. Often, it is believed that a digital signage project is just deciding “where to install the hardware” – a LED panel or LCD screen depending on the space – and “how we integrate it into the furniture so that the wiring is not visible.”

In addition to all these more technical AV areas, a turnkey digital signage project also includes other areas such as customer service, IT, content design or audiovisual production. We have seen a perfectly integrated LED display with a 3-millimetre pixel pitch, an impressive project but the client does not know how to manage and play the content. Examples like this made deployment done are not seen in its greatest quality.

Digital signage specialists offer turnkey projects and include different services that answer many questions such as: What content do we play? How should these contents be? How are we going to manage them? Or What happens if I have an issue and something does not work?

These added services are sometimes offered by an internal team or other times by a content agency or hardware provider. These are departments of content creation, technical assistance or IT development.

As experts in the sector, we want to explain the value of working with companies like us. In Waapiti we have internal departments specialized in strategy, content creation and content adaptation. We have content management and distribution platform and technical assistance to solve any possible issues for each specific project and client’s reality.

Content Strategy
Digital communication

Is it enough to install screens to impress at the point of sale?

digital screens

The screens are already a reality and these are one of the easiest supports to implement. But, can we say that a single screen can impress and/or generate a sensory experience towards the client? The screen is more than the brand communication window. The screen is the digital link in the physical space of the brand’s omnichannel strategy.

It is not enough to install large-format screens or video walls. This is not enough to impress the customer because the client is already used to see screens in different spaces. However, with a good omnichannel and experiential strategy at the point of sale, where the customer can smell, touch and listen, we will surely be able to positively impact him.

What is the unique experience in retail and how we managed to create it

Sensory experience’s word is very used in the point of sale. In retail, we try to connect with the emotional part of the buyers to transmit the values of the brand, always in a creative and innovative way.

The impacts received at the point of sale are innumerable. The buyer is in the middle of a crowded space of posters where he is receiving constant messages. Given this scenario is not strange that the buyer does not know how to process the information well and his experience is not remarkable.

However working the digital content signage strategy from the marketing department, brands will be able to meet the needs of the consumer and invite him to interact, participate and think. Bringing the consumer closer to the product and generate a link, a unique experience that will increase consumers’ loyalty toward brands.

Digital communication
Sensory Marketing

How to create an experiential circuit at the point of sale

interactive catalogue|mirror digital signage

To generate a good experience, different solutions can be proposed in order to create a circuit where we want the customer goes.

1. SHOWCASE. The experience begins outside the store, in the window, at the moment when we create this hook to get customers to go indoors. At this point, we work on the content that impacts, like offers or sales. This is the reason to go in, although the client does not end up buying the hook, he will maybe buy another product of more value.

2. WELCOMING SCENT. Once we have attracted the customer, we have to give a first impression. When the door is crossed, it’s time to stimulate our most developed sense: the smell. A welcoming aroma will help to remember, relax and at the same time introduce the symphony that will make the consumer smiles.

3. DO NOT MISS THE MUSIC. In-store music is one of the most stimulating ways because depending on the rhythm of it, our behavior will be one way or another.

4. INTERACTIVITY. Along the experiential circuit, the consumer should be always stimulated, through different solutions of digital signage as interactive applications that allow them to discover information about specific products, or even integrated sensors that allow segmenting the contents according to each target.

5. SENSORS AND SEGMENTED CONTENT. The consumer increasingly takes more responsibility in making their decisions. He compares, evaluates, comments and finally decides what product likes and if he prefers to buy it on the Internet or in the physical store. Nowadays consumers choose what they want to see and when. Brands don’t have anymore the power to force consumers on what to watch. Given this paradigm, it is logical that the message is increasingly personalized, to the point where the consumer can choose which product he is interested in and when he wants to know about it.

6. BEACONS. Technologies in mobile devices like beacons put into reality the power to go into a store and get recognized by different screens: until the point that screens greet you by your name. It is also possible, using sensors, to recommend products based on gender and what the customer has chosen.

7. MIRROR SCREENS. The inside of a store should be an experiential circuit with some magic things like mirror screens. These can go as unnoticed as if they were one more element of the decoration, however, mirror screens can surprise consumers by showing a concrete message when they approach.

8. INTERACTIVE FITTING ROOMS. Every point in the shop should bring experience, from the most hidden places like fitting rooms. Here, well-integrated screens can influence consumers while they are trying on clothes and even allow them to make the purchase and send them home.

9. QUEUE MANAGEMENT AND ENTERTAINMENT. When customer traffic is considerable, queue management is required. Sometimes long queues make us forget the great experience get a few minutes ago, so we have to entertain customers in a queue.

10. CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION. Finally, the time to say goodbye, in the boxes, plays a very important role, it is just at that moment where brands have to tell the customer to come back, ask them their opinion through an interactive satisfaction app, and remind them following week offers.

Retail

Physical store digitization: how to adapt the web to an interactive catalogue

adapted e-commerce|e-commerce adaptation

Digitization in the omnichannel marketing strategy

When we talk about the digitalization of the point of sale we refer to the implementation of technological tools, first to improve the shopping experience, and secondly, and not least, that customer don’t buy in the online store. The tools implemented in the physical store must be integrated within the omnichannel marketing strategy. That is, what the customer finds in a website must have coherence in the physical store and vice versa.

Adapting the website to an interactive catalog

During the omnichannel strategy, we should be able to carry out mainly tasks as adapting the website to a digital tool, like an interactive catalogue, that usually we could find in a physical store or showroom. The website must be adapted because consumers needs are not the same in the online as in the physical store. Irrelevant aspects of the online will become essential in the offline. Such as where to find a product into the store; or the pick-up place, wants the client to pick it up in a box and take away with himself, or does he prefers to be sent it directly to his house?

Some aspects, such as those we have mentioned, require that the tactile tools will be adapted to consumers current needs. Just as the functionalities of a PC are often not the same as those found on a smartphone or tablet, in the case of digital catalogues at the point of sale, the same thing happens.

Can I use a responsive website at the point of sale?

Sometimes, even if a website is responsive, create an interactive catalogue requires to be designed from scratch and developed with the consumer in mind, thinking always about their buying process. It’s important to know that it’s not necessary to re-create everything from scratch. These tools can still be linked to an existing ERP, but from the point of view of graphic design, they should be rethought. For this reason, one of the key aspects that are sometimes forgotten is to design the application with user-friendliness.

Thinking about consumer usability

The ease of navigation is fundamental to generate a good experience and that consumers end up purchasing. For this reason, it is necessary to think about the target for which it is focused, sometimes we tend to think that all we are digital natives. We forget that an application at the point of sale should be able to be consulted by people of different ages, this is why it must be very intuitive.

Retail

Physical store digitalisation: how to improve the shopping experience

Physical digitalization

One of the biggest challenges for retailers is how to beat that group of consumers, the so-called showroomers and RTB clients (Research, Testing and Buying). The first ones, visit the point of sale to see the product and then make the purchase online, or even in another store. The second group, visit the point of sale, try the product and end up purchasing online. How can we deal with showroomers?

Creating an environment within the point of sale, that helps consumers to have a tactile, social and sensorial experience, and thus, retain them and make into a positive experience that becomes a sale.

Create a sensory space to improve the experience

One of the solutions to improve this shopping experience is the digitalisation of the point of sale. Digitalisation the physical space of sale consists mainly of implementing technology through digital tools to bring the brand to the consumer and to be able to interact with their products or services. With the implementation of tools that stimulate the senses, the customer will approach the product and will interact, unlike what results in the online store.

How to digitise the point of sale

This space should not only attract, excite and invite the consumer to test, but must provide him confidence and freedom when making purchasing decisions. Consequently, the digitalisation will have a win-win effect, since the environment will also give advantage to the brand who, through different technologies, will be able to obtain more information and data of its target to continue improving its experience.

Some of the technologies that are already being used

The technologies implemented to improve the shopping experience are different depending on the purpose of each vertical. Some examples are:

  • Digital signage systems on shopping carts to inform customers with promotions,
  • QR codes to provide additional product information
  • RFID to identify mass products and purchase them
  • Content segmented by temperature or time
  • Catalogues or interactive menuboards to make the purchase in the establishment without going through the cash queues
  • Augmented reality mirrors that allow you to see how a makeup is left for you.
Content Strategy

Digital template’s creation and management in directories

html templates digital directories

The transition from static to digital is becoming more frequent. Digital signage screens in waiting rooms or receptions of health care centers is already a reality. Therefore, in these centers is more common to see floors and doctor’s directories in digital format.

The health care sector is adapting to these new technologies every day. They have overcome the digital barrier. But the problem of content updating sometimes remains latent. There are screens installed, but how are these contents created and managed quickly and efficiently?

Digital signage platforms such as Waapiti are becoming increasingly popular. Thanks to them, marketing and communication departments improve their distribution and remote content update processes. But many departments still face a challenge: how to speed up daily content creation.

How to create and update daily content on screens

Digital signage tools such as Waapiti, make it easy to edit daily content through HTML templates. This type of content is available on the Waapiti’s web-based platform and has been created according to each client’s needs. In the health care sector, for example, templates simplify the updating of digital directories.

Digital content management through HTML templates

Clinica Nuestra Señora del Remei’s project is an example of content management through templates. A 2 vertical screens video wall has been implemented in reception, where two different HTML templates are combined: one of them showing floors and departments; and another for the doctor’s directory. Clinica del Remei’s marketing department can edit these content from Waapiti platform, in addition to combining these templates with other content such as videos or images, and finally, apply the changes that are going to be seen immediately on the screens.