I ran into an article that raised the question of ‘what is the right term’ for the medium, known as digital signage, digital out-of-home (DOOH), digital place-based media, screen media, and by many other names.
The author touched upon a key issue. The lack of identity for the (digital signage) medium causes the following problems:
– When advertisers allocate their media budgets, they don’t have a distinct silo to put the money in when they mean “digital signs”, so the money comes out of all kinds of other buckets: Outdoor, TV, online, experimental, etc.
The medium is hostage to its identity crisis and that prevents it from getting the share of ad spend it deserves.
– Newcomers don’t have a proper search term when they research the industry. They can get the educational materials they need only when they revert to the most commonly used “digital signage.” “Digital signage” is not a perfect term, but it certainly is the most popular search term by far. Advertisers, agencies and trade bodies, however, use an array of other terms, none of which is standardized yet.