Movie Theater Digital Signage: The DEEL Difference

• Introduction
• Why Your Current Movie Theater Digital Signage Solution is Missing the Mark
• The DEEL Difference
• See the DEEL Difference in Action
• Conclusion

Introduction

Having the right signage in your movie theaters can have a massive impact on their success. In such a visually stimulating environment, your business needs to engage and delight customers at every turn. The difference between “good” and “great” movie theater digital signage could be the difference between your customers spending their time and money at your theaters instead of the competition. So, how can you make sure you are getting the most out of the signage in your theaters? Partnering with DEEL Media is a great place to start. Let’s discuss how your signage may be coming up short, and how we can help your theaters transform their digital signage.

Why Your Current Movie Theater Digital Signage Solution is Missing the Mark

Installing highly engaging, easy-to-manage digital signage in your theaters is a challenge that not many providers can solve effectively. The vast majority of providers in the movie theater industry fall short in the following areas:

Lack of Content Design Expertise: Many theaters make the mistake of partnering with a digital signage partner that is unable to aid the design aspect of a signage rollout. If you work with a provider that merely installs signage and sends you on your way, your business is left with the task of designing on-screen content. This can pose a challenge if your team does not have specialized design talent in-house.

For your signage to have the desired impact, the visuals need to be stellar. Using unfit imagery, especially for items like food, can actually have a reverse effect and harm sales. No one wants to look at old or fake-looking food on a digital menu board. If the items on your menu do not look appetizing, your customers are going to be far less likely to purchase them, and your signage will fail to drive the revenue you are looking for. A great digital menu board can have a tremendous impact on concession sales. Don’t miss out on revenue because of bad creatives.

Motion graphics can also be tremendously difficult to implement effectively if your business lacks experience in designing digital signage content. There is a time and place for motion graphics, and they should be an incredibly valuable tool in your signage arsenal. However, too much motion can confuse and disorient your customers, and too little motion can be a sign that you aren’t using your signage to its full potential. After all, what is the point of having digital signage if you are going to display only static imagery? If your team has to design signage content without experience, it will be difficult to strike the right balance and get the most out of your signage initiative.

Running a successful cinema is hard enough. As you consider your next digital signage partner, ensure you partner with a provider that can assist with the content design aspect of your signage initiative, in addition to providing software and installation services.

Poor Support and Service: Most businesses do not consider the impact of customer support when they select their signage partner and may end up regretting their decision if their provider does not place emphasis on fast turnaround times. Your theaters must be able to react quickly to any technical difficulties or glitches that may arise in your signage. When your theater submits a support request to its signage partner, that request needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Many providers in the industry hang their hats on two-day support turnarounds. In many cases, that is simply not good enough. Seamless support ensures maximum uptime for your signage, and as a result, maximum productivity for your theaters.

Lackluster Content Management:  Most digital signage content management platforms are simply not robust enough to support the needs of most movie theaters. A frequent trap we see theaters fall into is using the signage content management solution that comes free alongside its ticketing solution. Although your business’s signage management solution will be free, access to a very limited feature set will ultimately hinder your business’s digital signage initiatives. Content management systems that are frequently used in the movie theater industry tend to be so unwieldy and inefficient that theaters standardize signage between locations, which severely limits productivity and the ability to act on unique targeting opportunities. Your theaters should never have to sacrifice customization for the sake of efficiency. Every theater you manage is different. Your movie theater digital signage should reflect the differences in your theaters and their unique customer bases. Anything less should be considered a failure.

Your signage content management platform must also be powerful enough to keep pace with all of the different factors that may impact what you choose to display on your signage, from day of the week, to season, and more. Granularly customizing signage based on specific criteria empowers your theaters to engage and delight customers based on their current needs, such as a new movie release or an upcoming holiday. This not only keeps your theaters looking fresh, but it also provides you with the opportunity to seamlessly implement any assets a studio may provide to your theaters to promote an upcoming release.

The ability to manage all of your signage from one location is also incredibly important, as it reduces confusion and enables a more streamlined management process. From concession boards, to LED banners, to video walls, to the box office, all of your digital signage should be managed in one place, with an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple to swap out creatives across multiple theaters.

Lastly, your theater’s signage content management solution should be able to support special events, like lobby takeovers, and drive synchronized content to every screen. These functionalities ensure all your signage is working as one to drive home a specific desired action or message. With moviegoers' enthusiasm rising and more people returning to theaters after the pandemic, creating the best possible guest experience is essential. Special events like takeovers help make trips to the movie theater more memorable.

No Consultative Expertise: Not only should your movie theater signage partner have a wealth of experience in the cinema space, but they should also possess the knowledge and initiative to act as a trusted consultant on everything signage-related. You should be able to reach out to your signage partner and ask their opinion on anything in the world of digital signage, from content, to installation, to hardware, and get an informed, thoughtful response.

One common mistake we see quite frequently is theaters undertaking DIY signage projects and buying consumer-grade screens. Eventually, these screens fail, and because there is no warranty in a commercial environment, the theater often buys other screens that do not match their original installation, creating a hodgepodge of different screens in their theater. Your signage partner should be able to caution you against making any uninformed or suboptimal signage decisions that can cause headaches not only for your business, but for your customers as well.

However, the onus is not just on your provider, it’s incumbent on your business to do the research necessary to ensure your provider takes the success of your signage as seriously as you do. Conduct detailed research into any providers you are considering partnering with, and ask the companies you speak with for references. You can learn a lot about a provider from what their customers have to say. Don’t neglect this step when conducting research on potential partners, or you risk partnering with a provider with a track record that is not as polished as it may seem.

Be Wary of Promises: Another trend we’ve seen in the industry is signage providers promising that a business will be able to cover the expense of their signage solution with ad revenue generated from selling placements on the digital signage. Although there is certainly a place for selling space on your digital signage to generate revenue, this promise of ROI often goes unfulfilled and can leave your theaters stuck with a substandard content management solution and minimal ad revenue.

Focus on selecting the best signage solution for managing your theaters and promoting their products and offerings. Although a promise of ad revenue may be tempting, it can steer your business away from a more robust solution that will enable you to generate considerably more revenue by better promoting itself.

The DEEL Difference

So, what makes DEEL Media so different from the other players in the space?

Our Commitment to Customer Service: At DEEL Media, we understand how important it is that your business gets the attention it needs when it needs it. We are proud to offer industry-leading support response times of 15 minutes, ensuring that your theater gets the help it needs as quickly as possible.

Our Experience: Although we work with titans of several industries including Pizza Hut and Universal Studios, we have specifically robust experience in the movie theater space, having completed several large-scale installations and implementations for Regal and Showcase Cinemas, and several other exhibitors. Learn more about one of our recent Regal installation projects here!

In our 15 years of experience working with some of the most recognized brands on the planet, we’ve learned a thing or two about what successful digital signage looks like. We’d love to bring that experience to bear for you.

Our Carbon™ CMS: Meet Carbon™, a robust digital signage content management system designed specifically with the needs of movie theaters in mind. Carbon™ has all of the tools your business needs to manage movie theater digital signage across all of your locations with the click of a button. From unlimited dayparting to synchronized lobby takeovers, Carbon™ makes managing your theater signage as intuitive as possible, ensuring you have no restrictions on your ability to customize your signage displays at all of your locations. Carbon™ also seamlessly integrates with ticketing systems like Vista, RTS, and others to ensure your signage is intimately connected to your sales data. Learn more about Carbon™ and how it can help streamline your signage management here.

We Are a Complete Solution: The value of working with a provider like DEEL Media is that we do not simply hand you signage hardware or software and send you on your way. We are a trusted partner with the know-how to work hand-in-hand with your business to help it overcome all of its signage challenges. If you have a signage-related problem, we have an answer, whether that is in the realm of anything from content design to installation.