The eye-catching big video displays have a true 'wow factor' -- they are all over and throughout the entire CES conference, reports iSuppli. YESCO is a company that brings the majority of these signs to the Vegas strip and around the world.
An example of displays that may soon be replacing billboards on U.S. freeways is a 135-foot YESCO sign that features a 100-foot by 50-foot concave, with a double-faced Light Emitting Diode (LED) message center and a visual moving virtual eraser.
iSuppli predicts that by 2010, 75,000 billboards -- or 15 percent of total billboards in the U.S. -- will be digital displays, up from a mere 500 digital billboards, or 0.1 percent, of all billboards in 2006.
This technology has several names -- digital billboards being one of them -- electronic billboards, dynamic signage, narrow-casting, data casting, electronic display networks, digital in-store merchandising displays, out-of-home media networks, employee TV, captive audience networks or digital media networks.
Regardless of what they are called, this technology offers sophisticated devices that bring incredible value to advertisers. Just looking at the advertising sector, the technology has a Total Available Market (TAM) of about $500 billion, according to iSuppli, and half of which is spent in the United States.
Digital signage is another vehicle for advertisers to reach out to their customers. This is proven fact, because on average it only takes 6 to 10 months for the owner of a large digital sign to see a return on their investment. While at a show like CES, it is imperative to notice how content is being delivered, and how display advertising is no longer static.
Consider the fact that traditional advertising is transitioning to online ads, and note that in 2006 approximately $18 billion was invested in online adverts, according to iSuppli estimates. The upside market opportunity in 2007 is very compelling.
This is the primary reason that I have been experimenting with readily available digital multimedia authoring and editing tools. The cost to produce attractive and engaging digital video has dropped dramatically, so there's no excuse not to get involved. Digital media is now a viable form of promotion for everyone, regardless of the size of the enterprise producing the content.