Waiting in line can be a frustrating process. Whether it’s waiting for the movie theatre to open, the bus to arrive or for a turn on a theme park ride, waiting in line can lead to impatience, frustration and make people decide not to return. Nobody likes waiting, but by utilizing outdoor digital signage systems, it is possible to alleviate this frustration in these sorts of environments.
Often utilized in point of sale indoor locations and areas where people commonly have to wait such as at the pharmacy of doctor’s surgery, digital signage provides a method of alleviating frustration when people are waiting.
By displaying information, entertainment and even advertising, digital signage can alleviate people’s frustrations when they are waiting in line. Screens positioned outside a movie theatre, for instance, can provide those waiting with news on upcoming releases, while theme parks, zoos and other outdoor attractions can alleviate people’s boredom with information on other rides and exhibits.
When people are waiting in line it also provides advertising opportunities. The sorts of locations where people are waiting offer advertisers with a captive audience. Unlike other locations, when people are waiting they ultimately read the screens as they require a distraction. This offers a clear evaluation of audience figured for the advertiser. However, simply bombarding people in a line with repetitive adverts won’t help ease people’s frustrations, so for service locations such as the above, using a mix of information, entertainment and advertising offers the best solution.
Using outdoor digital signage does pose several challenges to the installer, however. Ensuring the screen is able to cope with the elements means providing a weather outdoor digital signage enclosure that also needs to maintain a stable temperature throughout the seasons.
Outdoor digital signage screens need also be tough and able to withstand impacts and not permit any tampering with the screen, to prevent injury and avoid liability.
Another major challenge is coping with the effects of direct sunlight. Most normal screens can become unreadable in bright ambient conditions so high brightness screens are necessary for outdoor digital signage exposed to bright sunlight.
Increasingly, more and more outdoor attractions are installing outdoor digital signage in common areas where people are waiting, not only to help alleviate people’s frustrations, but also to take advantage of the large captive audiences in these locations.
One such example is Six Flags Theme Parks, which has 20 parks across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The company has installed 45-inch plasmas outside many of their major attractions to alleviate boredom and frustration from the guests that are waiting in line. The outdoor digital signage network has also allowed the theme park company to join forces with national advertisers to provide an additional revenue stream.
