THE TOP FIVE CONSIDERATIONS WHEN EVALUATING DIGITAL SIGNAGE SYSTEMS FOR FAST CASUAL & QUICK SERVICE

RESTAURANTS (QSR)
Create a richer customer experience, improve brand compliance and drive lower cost of ownership.

Popstar Networks, Inc. Copyright 2013

THE TOP FIVE CONSIDERATIONS WHEN EVALUATING DIGITAL SIGNAGE SYSTEMS FOR FAST CASUAL & QUICK SERVICE RESTAURANTS (QSR)
INTRODUCTION
Todays fast casual and quick service restaurants (QSRs) face numerous challenges: A tightening economy, leaving consumers with less disposable income Increased competition from existing and new players Greater regulatory pressures to provide the public with nutritional information and better choices Demand for a better in-store experience, faster service And the opportunity to use the latest mobile and social media tools as part of their customer engagement.

Digital signage networks and digital menu boards are increasingly seen as a key component to addressing many of these challenges, giving customers a consistent, comfortable and familiar experience. After initiating digital signage projects, many operators find the hidden complexities of building and deploying such networks and the market to be very confusing, with no shortage of providers promising the right functionality. By focusing on understanding five key areas related to digital signage network deployments, organizations are better prepared to confidently evaluate their options.

SUMMARY
Regardless of network size and number of total locations, it is crucial that fast casual and QSRs consider enterprise-class digital signage systems and partner with a solutions provider demonstrating a proven track record, industry knowledge and a commitment to innovation.

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THE MARKET CHALLENGES

Over the past few years, fast casual and quick service restaurants (QSRs) have faced numerous challenges, including an economic downturn that leaves consumers with less disposable income, price wars between existing competitors, and the entry of many new organizations into the marketplace. Meanwhile, consumers have become better educated about their choices and demand a better in-store experience, faster service and the opportunity to use the latest mobile and social media tools as part of their customer engagement. Many organizations find they are struggling to keep up with these new challenges.

ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES THROUGH DIGITAL SIGNAGE

When digital signage products first came on the market more than a decade ago, they were viewed as a novel alternative to printed signs and menus. Most offered static information on static displays. They were rarely interactive, networked across numerous locations or centrally managed. And they often required costly and time-consuming technical consulting or creative services for the simplest content or price change. There were few if any reporting features and no integration with an organizations website, Point-of-Sale (POS) and other operating systems. This first generation of digital signage was also hampered by hardware costs (commercial displays, PCs, servers, etc.), as well as the challenges of connecting and building the network infrastructure. All this has changed. Todays digital signage systems are much more robust in functionally, while also simplifying or completely eliminating many past issues and obstacles. For QSR and fast casual restaurants, the maturity of digital signage has also meant industryspecific functionality like digital menu boards (DMB) designed with the specific use-case, integration and operational needs of todays corporate and franchise operators already configured in the software platform. Leading QSR and fast casual solutions even go beyond digital menu boards providing a common platform to manage order confirmation, interactive self-service and even the integration of mobile and social media campaigns. These offerings provide the ability to influence revenue lift through a new variety of multi-channel campaigns and cross-promotions, up-selling and suggestive selling, while increasing operational efficiency. Digital signage helps answer many of the challenges associated with brand and regulatory compliance (nutritional information) across multiple locationskey to giving customers a consistent, comfortable and expected experience. In addition, these software systems offer a variety of reporting and analytics, providing insights into network performance, administrative changes and even customer behaviors. The QSR and fast casual industry already recognize the benefits in terms of lower cost of ownership, increased efficiencies and measureable return on investment. And while the benefits are compelling and the systems greatly improved, there is still much to consider when you look at todays top software solutions. Lets discuss the top five considerations when evaluating digital signage software systems for multi-location QSR and fast casual restaurants: 1. Robust & Flexible Content Management 2. Multiple Network & Software Deployment Options 3. Hierarchical User Permissions 4. Integration Options Across The Enterprise 5. Connected Devices & Location Management

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1: ROBUST & FLEXIBLE CONTENT MANAGEMENT

In the QSR and fast casual industries, speed is everything. Locations that use traditional static signage find it hard to react to the fluid demands of both customers and the corporate office as it takes time and money to continuously change and update existing signage for promotions, pricing and menu changes. Most quality digital menu board solutions will solve issues related to menu update delays and costs through embedded/automated content scheduling and day-parting, but many systems fail to overcome other inherent challenges. To change even the simplest item on a digital menu board, some basic digital signage products require an administrator working with creative resources to re-design, render and publish various image and video filesa tedious, resourcesapping process that delays the implementation of new content and hinders compliance with sales, new promotions and other mandates from the corporate office. More contemporary software platforms eliminate these steps and allow users to easily alter any data-driven element dynamically (on-the-fly). From menu items to prices to item descriptions and nutritional information, these content changes can be made instantly across an entire digital signage network, regionally or even at a single location. These systems offer the option to manage such changes independent of POS or through full integration. Either way, the ability to quickly change content is particularly useful for daily specials, inventory changes, price testing and other situations where changes are needed quickly. A digital signage networks intuitive content editor can enable an organization to deploy new or updated content within minutes and to react to both organization-wide trends and location-specific needs in real time. An administrator can decide which regions or location changes are applied providing far greater flexibility than the simple and restrictive on or off choice offered by older digital signage applications. For example, a seasonal dessert that is appropriate for locations on the West Coast but does not apply to the upper Midwest would only be shown in those designated locations. Managing the system no longer requires the assistance of a graphic designer and other personnel. Instead, content owners can make changes on-the-fly, as needed. Branding standards are maintained, while allowing locations appropriate flexibility. Organizations with multiple brands should avoid using systems that require a piecemeal approachtypically managing multiple instances of a software platform for each individual brand. This approach means brands, assets and operations cannot be managed cohesively, and involve a high amount of redundant effort for those managing the systems daily. Instead, look for software systems designed specifically for multiple brand management. These will offer advanced filters, enabling a multi-brand operator to upload content for all brands and locations, and simply use intuitive options that limit what content items play/display for eachall using a single instance of the software. This approach not only saves money on additional software licenses, but also delivers the simplicity and convenience of a one-stop shop for content management, reduces staff involvement and saves time during content creation and management. It also boosts brand compliance and helps organizations meet requirements concerning the display of nutritional information.

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DMB software should also provide reporting tools that allow corporate-level administrators and franchise owners to track who made content changes, when and what actions were taken. They can also monitor almost any other action regarding signage content, such as confirming that content played on time and that limited promotions ended when they should. Additionally, system and data usage numbers are easily retrieved. These options further enhance compliance and give organizations the insight needed to make more informed decisions on pricing, menu items, the timing of promotions and more.

2: MULTIPLE NETWORK & SOFTWARE DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS

To best meet the infrastructure, budgetary and systems management needs of corporate and franchise operations, the next generation of digital signage solutions offers multiple networking and software deployment options. Digital signage deployments typically require persistent broadband network connectivity to effectively handle the data transport needs associated with rich media files and content. Organizations usually rely on existing corporate network infrastructuresdeploying on landline/hardwired broadband systems. These networks are generally reliable, offer predictable bandwidth and security and can be managed by an organizations central IT/IS team. Nearly every corporate or franchise operator already has some type of landline connectivity into each store, though bandwidth capabilities can vary a great dealfrom dial-up to high-speed broadbandbased upon local carrier service availability. Landline installations can provide some other challenges, including: hassles of working with multiple carriers to manage networks across larger geographies; cabling limits within physical buildings; and limits of moving or relocating connected devices. Beyond landline/terrestrial connections, companies are looking more frequently to wireless broadband, which is quickly emerging as a legitimate consideration for digital signage network deployments. A small number of digital signage providers offer a distinct wireless broadband network capability as both an alternative and complement to landline. This wireless broadband capability is highly secure and provides QSR and fast casual organizations with a one-stop shop for their digital signage network deployment including: device activation, management, billing and support. And because digital signage content is delivered via a distinct wireless network, there is less impact to existing corporate network infrastructure. The realities for corporate and franchise operators with multiple locations across multiple markets and geographies is that no one network technology is likely to serve the entire digital signage deployment. This underscores the need to look for software providers that can deploy within and effectively manage a mixed topology networka combination of landline and wireless broadband connectivity. And when it comes to software The evolution of enterprise software has followed a path from on-premise deployments where software is loaded and residing on a server(s) behind your company firewall to cloud-based deployments where the software is available to users via the Web, and both the software and server(s) are remotely located and managed by the software company.

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On-premise enterprise models are typically one-time capital purchases that require annual service and maintenance agreements (SMA) for several years after purchase. Conversely, cloud-based deployments are frequently sold in Software as a Service (SaaS) models, allowing monthly, quarterly or annual subscription payments, usually over multiple-year agreements. Each model has advantages and considerations to evaluate, depending on your organizations preferences around software procurement, use and support. The anticipated growth of your digital signage network is another consideration, which can have a ripple effect on server hardware, network infrastructure, software licensing and support, as well as an impact on your internal IT/IS resources.

3: HIERARCHICAL USER PERMISSIONS

In the past, digital signage applications provided very simple user permissions. Usually, these were absolutean individual either had global access and editing privileges or none. However, this put the burden on a single administrator or at best, a small team, and did not allow QSR organizations to give these nuanced responsibilities to the staff members who needed them. All this has changed with digital signage providers responding to their customers need for more flexible user permissions. Now, users can be granted role-based permissions that can be applied to specific people, roles and locations. For example, a company could enable all franchise owners to change menu descriptions for their location(s). Individual users can also be given multiple roles, ensuring they are able to contribute in the ways appropriate for their position. In addition to roles, administrators can assign specific permissions to a users role, which are easily selected from a checklist. For example, a franchise owner may designate that certain location managers are able to change a price and item description, while others in that role can only change dynamic text messages. Permissions can be grouped for simple administration. One group could apply to system-level permissions such as the ability to add, delete, edit or merely view locations, roles and support information. Another could reference channel permissions, whereby each location subscribes to one of several channels offered by the corporate office, ensuring that locations only receive content applicable to them. Channel permissions could include the ability to change content items, alter playlists and define day-parts for digital menus (e.g. breakfast, lunch and dinner). A third group could deal with location-based permissions, including display panel management. Such grouping is easily defined by the system administrator and modified as needed. To view and/or edit the appropriate content items, users easily, yet securely access the digital signage network by entering their username and password credentials via a Web-based form.

4: INTEGRATION OPTIONS ACROSS THE ENTERPRISE

One of the top integration considerations for nearly any QSR and fast causal organization deploying digital signage is with their existing POS. Effective integration reduces the number of data entry points, ensuring greater pricing and item description consistency across the operation and at the location level.

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Many organizations also are dealing with the reality of having manysometimes several dozenPOS systems scattered throughout their corporate and franchise locations. And while POS integration is often a key requirement for digital menu board deployments, the practical realities of integrating multiple POS systems can be daunting, especially with limited resources and competing project priorities. Whether the organization wants to integrate from the start, at some later time, or maybe never, it is crucial to ensure DMB software platforms are capable of both system integration with POS and easy management of pricing/items independent of their POS. In addition to POS, leading digital signage solutions recognize other integration points within QSR and fast casual operations, including digital asset and Web content management systems. Look for systems that can integrate with any CMIS-compliant digital asset management (DAM) system (for example, Alfresco). This allows organizations to work with third-party design or advertising agencies and keep their existing process of the agency uploading content to the DAM. The only change is that the administrator then imports those assets into the digital signage management console. This means organizations dont need to spend time and money training an agency on how to use the digital signage system, or worry about the potential security challenges of granting third-party access to the application.

5: CONNECTED DEVICES & LOCATION MANAGEMENT

The ability to seamlessly manage their digital signage network is a key consideration for QSR and fast casual restaurants. The top systems enable organizations to easily monitor and manage all connected devices (to the individual screen level) to see what is playing in real time. They also offer realtime issue reporting, taking the burden from staff members who may not know that a digital menu or other display is malfunctioning, or be able to describe the problem to the network administrator. Administrators and franchise owners can be alerted immediately via email when there is a problem with any aspect of the digital signage system and the connected hardware components (such as media players and display screens). This information is also summarized in authorized users dashboards. Such features are particularly valuable during hours when a franchise owner is away from his or her location(s), and when system administrators may not be at their desks. Moreover, the digital signage solution may offer built-in redundancies. For example, connecting PC/players to displays via DVI cable with a secondary connection via HDMI ensures that if the DVI cable malfunctions, the system automatically switches to HDMI output. For locations that are not open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the system can be configured to power off or go into sleep mode automatically at a certain time and then to power on or wake up at the appropriate hour, ready for the next business day. This reduces power consumption and therefore utility bills and environmental impact and also eliminates the need for staff members to power displays on and off each day. With such options, the digital signage system can be supported more easily and proactively, with virtually no downtime.

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CONCLUSION
Digital signage networks and digital menu boards are increasingly seen as a key component to addressing many of the challenges of todays QSR and fast casual operators. The right digital signage system can help these organizations be more proactive, offer a better customer experience, and make more timely, informed business decisions. It can also eliminate the costs of traditional signage and improve a companys ability to better track the success of its content delivery to its customers, and make adjustments accordingly. After initiating digital signage projects, many operators find the hidden complexities of building and deploying such networks and the market to be very confusing, with no shortage of providers promising the right functionality. By focusing on understanding the five key areas related to digital signage network deployments, organizations are better prepared to confidently evaluate the market. It is crucial that QSR and fast casual operators considering enterprise-class digital signage systems, seek out software solutions providers with a proven track record, industry knowledge and a commitment to innovation.

ABOUT POPSTAR NETWORKS

Popstar Networks, Inc. empowers businesses to use innovative methods of reaching their audience in a cost-effective way. Popstar Networks, Inc. software and services are the foundation for creating rich media experiences for your audiences, reinforcing brand and influencing behavior to increase revenue. Founded in 2003, Popstar has been on the cutting edge of media advancements incorporating interactive media, multiple displays and high performance digital signage into superior audience experiences. Our digital media management platform offers modern, web-based content management and monitoring of digital signage, kiosks and other forms of connected media. In addition, Popstar offers a variety of system planning and design services to ensure that customers get the most out of their investment. Based in Olathe, Kansas and Seattle, Washington, Popstar continues to grow innovation in connected media solutions that enable customers to increase their revenue stream through impactful, effective media delivery.

www.popstarnetworks.com tel 888.476.7782 25055 w valley pkwy suite 120 olathe, kansas 66061

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