David Haynes talks about the good, the bad and the ugly in Canadian digital signage

How is Canada faring in the global digital signage industry?  There’s probably no better person to answer that question than David Haynes, digital signage industry blogger, consultant and writer.

“Canada is a leader in just about every respect in digital signage,” says Haynes. “Places like Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and Montreal have some of the very first and most successful digital signage software companies in the world.  I think some of the reasons are that we’re  a small country, people know each other and find out what’s going on with each other a little more easily.”

This cross-pollination of  innovative ideas in the industry is good for growing businesses as well as fostering technological and creative clusters. Where the digital signage industry still occasionally falls short, Haynes says, is on the content side.

“Just because you put a screen in an environment, that doesn’t mean you have an audience,” says Haynes. Long gone are the years where you had a “captive audience network” who, out of sheer boredom, would watch anything. But that hasn’t stopped the flow of bad content from reaching digital signage networks, says Haynes  from his Burlington, Ontario office.

Seven Second Attention Span

There is already enough research to suggest that the average consumer will look at something for no more than seven seconds, and in some cases even less, says Haynes. “Yet we are in a world where people routinely create 15 and 30 seconds and even one-minute long spots for this medium,” he says. “They are insane.”

What Haynes wants to see is more dynamic content that is better suited to today’s audience who already has “an immediate outlet for their boredom” by accessing any information that interests them via their smartphones or tablets.

He finds it ridiculous that elevators, lobbies and gas stations would deliver sports, weather and news on digital signage when people have access to that already via car radios and feeds to their smart phones. Content, for Haynes, should be something that is designed for the digital signage medium and not piggybacked on the old broadcast media formula.

“Just because other people are doing it, doesn’t mean you should, too,” he cautions.

Good content, presented beautifully

Try to avoid the ugly while you’re at it, advises Haynes. One major mistake is when companies overuse motion graphics to create a big effect that can’t be easily absorbed by consumers. “It’s a kaleidoscope,” he says. “When you only have three or four seconds you have to think in terms of a billboard.”

Haynes praises Montreal’s Arsenal Media and Moment Factory for doing exceptional work, albeit for clients with healthy budgets. But these days there are plenty of online video content producers out there willing to produce good content on a reasonable budget, he contends.

From Kitchener, Ontario he cites Christie Digital, “who is the biggest innovator, particularly with their MicroTiles that turned the industry on its ear.” Baanto in Toronto, meanwhile,  excels at interactive touchscreen solutions and overlays.  Haynes says there are plenty more excellent digital signage firms in Canada and in a very non-Canadian way, he is not the least bit apologetic about his enthusiasm.