From advances in kiosk technology and digital menu boards, continued popularity in augmented and virtual reality to artificial intelligence coming to one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant brands, the digital signage industry had no shortage of attention-grabbing headlines in 2021.

Dec. 28, 2021 | by Kevin Damask — Editor, Digital Signage Today

This year's top stories covered a wide variety of intriguing topics. From advances in kiosk technology and digital menu boards, continued popularity in augmented and virtual reality to artificial intelligence coming to one of the world's largest quick service restaurant brands, the digital signage industry had no shortage of attention-grabbing headlines in 2021.

Take a look at this year's Top 10 headlines.

10. Digital signage vs. kiosks: What's the difference? Digital signage and kiosks used to be two clearly distinct pieces of technology, but that distinction has blurred in recent years. For one, digital signage has increasingly utilized interactive elements such as touchscreens, QR codes and gesture control, and kiosks have done the same with attract looping screens or advertisements.

One example of this is Intersection's Link NYC Wi-Fi kiosks. These kiosks allow users to access Wi-Fi, obtain information and charge their devices, according to Intersection's website. The kiosks also offer digital signage advertisements to meet costs.

Companies, therefore, might have a difficult time deciding whether to deploy kiosks or digital signage with all these blurred lines. As a result, they may ask, "what's the real difference between digital signage and kiosks" and "how do I know which one is best for me?"

In order to answer these questions, Digital Signage Today spoke with Curtis Campbell, senior marketing manager at Hughes Network Systems, a provider of networking technology and services for both kiosks and digital signage. Click here to read the full story.

9. How digital signage solutions can improve in-store marketing Your marketing plan already includes a mix of advertising: TV, online and social media, print, mobile and others. But all of that is focused on marketing to buyers before they enter your store. What about in-store marketing?

Marketing doesn't stop once the customer steps foot into the store. It's then that tools like digital signage can take over marketing duties and add to what your other channels are already doing, complementing the efforts of other channels. Though it's not an exhaustive list, here are some ideas on how to use digital signage in your in-store marketing that will support your entire marketing plan.

Click here to read the full story.

8. Area 15 bar in Vegas wows visitors with AR, VR One of the immersive entertainment sites that has received much media coverage has been the Area 15 location in Las Vegas. Ambitiously launching to guests in September of 2020, the venue is described as an immersive entertainment and event complex, part of a 126,000-square-foot project, comprising unique exhibits, dining, retail and entertainment in a free-to-enter environment. The venue is developed as a collaborative venture between Fisher Brothers and Beneville Studios.

The venue has hopes to offer a new ecosystem for retail, entertainment and hospitality, and is part of a greater business plan that will see an interpretation of the concept, actively looking for other suitable locations in major cities to open this "immersive destination." Entertainment plays a vital part in the thinking behind this new ecosystem and, since opening, a better idea of how these elements will fit into the mix of the evolving concept have been revealed, in what the developers have labelled their "immersive playground."

Click here to read the full story.

7. Digital signage is the future of retail Before 2020 when the keyword of the year was "pandemic," we had already been talking for a long period of time about digital transformation, the apocalypse of retail, omnichannel, customer centric and several other topics that had social networks, conferences, events, and fairs. Taking advantage of the pull, many experts and opportunists began to appear who, using all these terms, tried on the one hand to predict the future of retail and, on the other hand, to provide less technological retail with tools to fight the great digital platforms that we all know, especially Amazon.

After auguring a terrible destination for retail, let's say traditional, the end of shopping malls and "digitally transform or die," the pandemic arrived and took over all the forecasts we've been hearing about it. But wow, it turns out that with the pandemic came security measures, capacity controls and the massive growth of online commerce. With online commerce, the business of logistics and delivery companies grew (even more) and in the end certain sectors saw how not only did their business grow via the online channel, but also in physical establishments, for example, supermarkets.

Click here to read the full story.

6. Digital signage steps into 2021 2020 has been a long and wild year for digital signage, as vendors have suddenly had to deliver social distancing content and deliver touchless interactive solutions. However, it is a new year, so its time for us to look ahead as best to our ability to see what lays on the horizon for 2021.

For example, COVID-19 will likely not go away completely into 2021, and as a result some of the trends that grew during 2020 such as touchless interactivity, temperature screening, virtual receptionist devices and more will grow into massive trends going into 2021.

Digital Signage Today spoke with Tomer Mann, EVP at 22Miles, to learn more about these trends and what we can expect in 2021.

Click here to read the full story.

5. TikTok rolls into DOOH As an industry, DOOH has consistently been on the cutting edge of advertising technology and methods. Innovators in the space have utilized tools ranging from dynamic content based on the weather to AR and VR experiences to draw in potential customers' eyes. They have also engaged with social media integrations, such as integrating Facebook posts, into a display.

One social media app known as TikTok is starting to make waves with DOOH. Founded in 2016, this site focuses on short videos, which makes it a natural companion for DOOH, which needs to make a quick impact.

But how will TikTok transform DOOH? How are short-form videos making an impact already? To learn more about this topic, Digital Signage Today spoke with Norm Chait, director of OOH product for Ubimo, a Quotient brand.

Click here to read the full story.

4. Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Hortons fight sales slump with STRATACACHE digital menu boards As it released less-than-glowing third-quarter financial results today, Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons parent company, Restaurant Brands International, also announced that it will modernize its drive-thru experience at more than 10,000 North American restaurants over the next two years. The company said the new drive-thrus will offer "predictive selling" technology, integration with restaurant loyalty programs and remote, contactless payment, as well. These menu boards will also feature STRATACACHE's Media Engines, according to a news release.

RBI attributed its drop in year-over-year sales largely to declines at Burger King and Tim Hortons, though the company said those losses were partly made up for by gains at Popeyes.

"Looking forward, we are very well-positioned to navigate through a wide range of possible scenarios, especially given the strength of our network of drive-thrus and fast-growing delivery channel," RBI CEO Jose Cil, said in the release. "Despite our continued near-term focus on confronting the challenges presented by this global health crisis, we continue to make progress behind our long-term vision for the business, including modernizing our brands by leveraging the technology capabilities we've built in recent years.

"We are excited to roll out digital drive-thru menu boards to over 10,000 Tim Hortons and Burger King restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, the bulk of which will be installed by the end of next year."

Click here to read the full story:

3. Digital signage future trends: touchless takes charge in 2021 If there is any technology that made a big splash in the digital signage and self-service industry, it's touchless. From gesture control to virtual keyboards, these individual solutions have helped retailers, museums and other businesses adapt to the demands of COVID-19.

For example, the Galt Museum and Archives in Alberta, Canada, needed a way for users to activate touchscreens at exhibits without directly touching any screens, and touchless technology came to its rescue.

"Because of COVID we had to act quickly to find a solution that would activate both video and audio. We chose Videotel Digital's WAVE to Play product and now use it in both our Discovery Hall where visitors can automatically trigger the welcome orientation, as well as for our Kainai Arbor exhibit so visitors can learn more about the exhibit without having to physically touch a screen," Brad Brown, exhibit designer and fabricator, Galt Museum and Archives, said in an email.

Touchless can expand into many different types of solutions, which can vary from simple proximity sensors to more complex tools.

Click here to read the full story.

2. A look at how personal experience will transform the future of retail Brands and retailers are always striving to forge a personal connection with the shopper, but the quest was severely curtailed when a global pandemic hit in early 2020, shutting down stores in both the U.S. and internationally.

In response, retailers amped up use of digital media as brands searched for new ways to engage shoppers, but also methods to measure engagement.

Three retail industry leaders shared insight into those strategies in a Digital Signage Today webinar, "The Future of Retail is Getting Personal" on Sept. 30, sponsored by Intel.

David Roth, CEO of The Store WPP and chairman, BAV Group; Maroun Ishac, director of business development in the retail, banking, hospitality and education division at Intel, and Jay Hutton, co-founder and CEO, VSBLTY, spoke to the present and future of retail marketing.

Click here to read the full story.

1. McDonald's delivers AI at the drive-thru McDonald's is well known for its technology upgrades. From kiosks to drive-thru menus, the fast food giant has always looked for ways to boost the overall customer experience. Now, some McDonald's chains in Sweden are trying out artificial intelligence with its drive-thru digital signage.

McDonald's partnered with Visual Art, a digital signage provider and Binary Brains, a software company to craft a solution that both analyzed drive-thru data and delivered locally adapted menus based on the customer flow.

Digital Signage Today spoke with Anders Apelgren, CEO at Visual Art and Rickard Berthold, Nordic digital commerce lead at McDonald's to learn more about this AI-powered digital signage.

Click here to read the full story.

Kevin Damask is the editor of Digital Signage Today. He has more than 15 years of journalism experience, having covered local news for a variety of print and online publications.

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