Digital Signage Survey Indicates Upswing
Digital Signage Expo (DSE) recently announced the results of its Quarterly Business Barometer Survey for the fourth quarter of 2010.
Digital Signage Expo (DSE) recently announced the results of its Quarterly Business Barometer Survey for the fourth quarter of 2010.
After a modest third quarter, during which the economic recovery in the United States and other countries began to pick up steam again, 97 percent of all survey participants in North America still remained positive about the future of the digital out-of-home industry, according to the group, representing no significant overall change from Q3 2010.
For Q4 2010, 63 percent of respondents indicated they felt “very positive,” which represents a 5-point improvement over Q3, said DSE. According to the study 34 percent said they were “somewhat positive” about the industry’s future.
As in past quarters, according to DSE, those most positive about the future of the DOOH industry varied across each of the three main groups of respondents, which included technology and content providers (58 percent “very positive”), advertising and marketing professionals (63 percent “very positive”), and end users and network operators (70 percent “very positive”).
“After a difficult second quarter and modest third quarter, respondents to the DSE Q4 2010 Business Barometer started to appear more upbeat about the future of the industry,” said Richard Lebovitz, editorial director for digitalsignageexpo.net, in a statement. “The general outlook for the economy improved, as did the prospects for the industry, as the positive forecasts from each stakeholder group represented in the survey indicate.”
In Q4 2010, 51 percent of end users and network operators reported that their actual DOOH advertising revenues were higher than in Q3 2010—a 4 percent increase over the previous quarter, according to the report. Looking ahead, 7 percent more projected that their advertising revenues in Q1 2011 would be higher than the percentage who forecast an increase for Q4 2010.
Technology and content providers predicted that the hottest growth categories for DOOH during the next 12 months would include retail (55 percent), healthcare (42 percent), restaurants (39 percent), education (32 percent), and transportation (30 percent). However, the number of new installations reported during the fourth quarter declined, with 44 percents of respondents indicating their installs were higher in Q4 versus 51 percent in Q3, the study found. Respondents also reported a corresponding decline in total screens involved in those installations, with only 38 percent of respondents reporting a higher percentage compared to 44 percent the previous quarter.
