Digital menu board

Digital Menu BoardsDigital menu boards are helping restaurant operators keep pace or stay ahead

of their competition. The technology allows restaurateurs to incorporate full-motion video into their menu displays, and instantly update content to account for last-minute product and price changes for a single location or

multiple locations, from anywhere in the world. Learn how to choose the right type of display, which content is most effective and how to maximize ROI.

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2© 2012 Networld Media Group | Sponsored by NEC

Contents

Page 3 About the sponsors

Page 4 Introduction

Page 6 Chapter 1 | The benefits of digital menu boards Not just for displaying prices Menu boards move outside

Page 11 Chapter 2 | The components Indoor Outdoor

Page 15 Chapter 3 | Return on investment

Page 18 Chapter 4 | Best practices Make systems redundant Use professional-grade equipment designed for the environment Take extra care outdoors One size doesn’t fit all

Page 22 Chapter 5 | On the horizon Kiosk ordering Ordering by mobile Anonymous video analytics

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About the sponsors

Published by Networld Media Group© 2012 Networld Media GroupWritten by Richard Slawsky, contributing editor, DigitalSignageToday.com.All images courtesy of NEC Display Solutions, unless otherwise noted.Tom Harper, president and publisherJoseph Grove, vice president and executive editor Courtney Bailey, publications editor

NEC Display Solutions innovates, produces and delivers display products and complete digital signage solutions for a wide range of vertical businesses, specialists and lifestyle applications. The company is wholly owned by NEC Corporation, one of the world’s leading providers of Internet, broadband-network and enterprise business solutions, employing more than 150,000 people.

DigitalSignageToday.com, operated by Louisville, Ky.-based Networld Media Group, is the leading online publisher of news and information on the emerging world of digital signage, dynamic messaging and cutting-edge business communication technologies. The content, which is updated every business day and read by professionals around the world, is provided free of charge to readers.


Introduction

By Richard Slawsky Contributing editor,

DigitalSignageToday.com

Digital signage technology is mov-ing into the restaurant industry at a rapid pace. More companies are

looking to this new technology to replace their current menu boards and promo-tional materials inside and outside of their restaurants. Operators are increasingly realizing how effective digital menu boards can be in lifting their bottom line while increasing their overall marketshare.

What can be difficult to determine, how-ever, is how long it will take for a restau-rant to show a return on investment when deploying these digital systems compared to the traditional menu boards that are currently being used. Restaurants also are analyzing how this investment in technolo-gy will aid in meeting the upcoming menu labeling requirements.

Over the years, menu boards in restaurants have assumed many different forms. Some have used chalkboards with daily specials updated in bold swaths of dusty whites, blues and other colors. Others favored plastic letters slid laboriously into place, one after another.

Eventually, what many considered to be state of the art became a backlit panel that allowed for graphics, rotating numbers for prices and convenient slots where whole items could be swapped out at a time.

With all of these solutions, restaurant operators struggled with getting the right information into the right place as well as

making sure that the manual up-dates were done in a timely man-ner. If operators failed to achieve those goals, the business itself was in jeopardy of losing revenue, and the opportunity to promote goods and services would be lost.

Out of this came the introduction of static promotional boards and quarterly menu board replace-ments. However, the opportunity to capture new sales by maximiz-ing daily promotions and specials would remain manual. Further, with a growing focus on different breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, the restaurant would need to either increase the size of the menu board or use two-sided flip boards — both of which possibilities required ad-ditional manual labor.

Evolving computer and display technolo-gies have moved forward in recent years, offering the restaurant industry a modern alternative to old-school modes of commu-nicating products, pricing and promotions. This advancement has come in the form of digital signs. The benefits are numerous and include:

The ability to use automatic dayparting of menu boards.

The ability to remotely update menus and make instant, preprogrammed changes.

Digital menu boards and promotional boards allow messages to be dynamic, clear and interactive, as well as integrate static or full-motion content. This also allows the operator

to incorporate cross promotions with vendors, partners and suppliers.


Centralized control of marketing, promotions and menu board content.

The ability to tie in inventory levels and point of sale (POS) to change marketing and pricing on the fly.

Digital menu boards and promotional boards allow messages to be dynamic, clear and interactive, as well as integrate static or full-motion content. This also allows the operator to incorporate cross promotions with vendors, partners and suppliers.

Ready or not, digital menu boards are quickly becoming a major part of the quick-service and fast casual restaurant environments. In the following pages, take a look at what operators need to consider when deciding whether a digital-menu board system is right for them.

INTRODUCTION


When the founders of the fast casual restaurant chain The Cereal Bowl opened their first

restaurant, digital menu boards were beyond their means. At the time, prices for the emerging technology was simply too high to justify.

Now they say prices of digital menu board systems have fallen to the point where it’s hard to justify not purchasing one.

When the founders launched their concept in Miami in 2006, they deployed static vinyl foam menu boards.

“As a growing brand, we were continu-ously tweaking things here and there,” said Michael Glassman, chief technology officer of The Cereal Bowl. “When you have a static board of any type you are continually replacing parts of it and it gets to be very expensive.”

Today, the company operates three stores and has 44 in development. Digital menu boards are now standard in its operation.

“We’ve always been very tech-savvy, and we wanted to have a menu board that would integrate into other technologies that we had in our restaurants,” Glassman said. “There are so many things you can do with digital menus that you can’t do with static menus.”

For example, if a restaurant is running low on a particular item, the store manager can easily remove it from the menu. Likewise, if a restaurant is overstocked on a par-ticular item, the manager can discount or promote that product to keep it from going to waste.

Digital menu boards allow for easy dayp-arting, Glassman said.

“If we want to promote something in the morning and then promote something different in the midday and let people see what we have, the system allows us to do that,” he said.

And because the company’s growth is oc-curring via franchising, corporate officials wanted a way to maintain control of the brand, even as The Cereal Bowl opens restaurants as far away as Qatar. “We wanted something that we could control the changing of prices and so forth from outside the franchise,” Glassman said. “In terms of brand control a digital menu board system is a no-brainer.”

Static menu boards, such as the one seen above, used to be favored because of their cost-effectiveness. The maintenance and human capital required to keep the board up to date and accurate, however, is leading many operators to consider digital menu boards.

Chapter 1 The benefits of digital menu boards

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Although the most basic use of a digital menu board system is to display a restau-rant’s menu and prices, the boards can be programmed to serve a number of other functions. “Restaurants are able to cross market promotions, programs and services to the consumers while they are in a queue line,” said Richard Ventura, director of sales — vertical solutions for Itasca, Ill.-based NEC Display Solutions of America, a provider of digital signage solutions. “By using the screens for additional services, restaurants are able to educate and inform the custom-ers about new products that are being sold, special promotions and similar items.”

Jeff Levine, founder of the Margate, Fla.-based fast casual restaurant Salad Cre-ations, is testing a digital menu board at one of the chain’s locations in South Florida. “Through the Internet, we can change our message on a daily basis,” Levine said. “It’s a neat tool for us as far as running quarterly promotions and so forth.”

Content includes promoting the various salads the chain sells, as well as new store openings. The company also uses the board to educate new customers about Salad Cre-ations and the restaurant’s ordering process. “We have a whole program running on the menu board that walks you through the steps on how to create your own salad,” Levine said. “We have 40 different salad toppings, and it’s a little intimidating for a first-time customer coming through our door.”

Not just for displaying prices

Rising costs and changing consumer tastes mean that menus and prices aren’t liable to remain stable for any length of time. If the price of a particular ingredient rises dramatically, operators need to have the flexibility to adjust prices accordingly. Res-taurant operators also need the ability to promote products that are in high inven-tory so they can decrease the amount of waste and increase their overall sales.

Maintaining customer interest often means adding a new item to the menu or running a special promotion every few weeks. In those cases, operators need to have the ability to change the menu board quickly and seamlessly.

CHAPTER 1 The benefits of digital menu boards

In addition to displaying prices, digital menu boards can help an operator:

Promote products that are in high inventory

Add new items to the menu

Run special promotions

Cut costs, including printing and shipping menu board inserts

Maintain brand consistency throughout multiple restaurants

Display required nutritional information

Communicate corporate messaging and training materials

Share information and entertainment with clientele in the dining room

Other uses of menu boards


Although a backlit board with plastic inserts may offer those abilities, the results can be less than optimal. Multiply the changes over a number of units and chances are that at least one manager won’t get the memo. That’s not to mention the costs associated with printing and shipping new menu board inserts for each new promotion.

And front-lit signs may be even more difficult to change. While the boards may be set up for easy price changes, they still require printing of new inserts for special promotions.

Those issues simply don’t exist with a digi-tal menu board.

“Digital menu boards supply the added benefit over traditional static boards in that the operators can update the menu at every location in seconds from a central-ized location,” Ventura said.

Because digital menu boards can be updated at a moment’s notice, particu-lar menu items can be highlighted if the restaurant is overstocked, while others can be removed from the menu if stock is run-ning short. Centralized control means that brand messaging remains consistent from store to store.

With menu labeling legislation being enacted across the country, digital menu boards may help make the most effec-tive use of precious real estate. With the requirement of having a food item’s caloric details listed alongside it on the menu board, utilizing digital technology allows a restaurant to seamlessly incorporate this data. Many software providers also have tools that can incorporate data pulls, which will update the caloric details as the restau-rant changes suppliers and recipes.

“When someone goes into a restaurant, they want to have a nice dining experi-ence,” said Tim Tang, a marketing direc-tor with Hughes Network Systems. “They want to see clean walls and a contempo-rary environment. What they don’t want to see is wall-to-wall bumper stickers with different messages, some of them being promotional and some regulatory.”

During off times, menu boards can serve as a secondary asset for the organization. Many restaurants are using them to display training materials and corporate messag-ing. There are opportunities for operators to advertise local businesses, events and supplier messaging to their audience. Some companies have introduced music videos and news feeds into the dining area as well, focusing on infotainment to increase the dwell time of the clientele.

Restaurants generally operate under three dayparts: breakfast, lunch and dinner. The flexibility of a digital menu board system, however, allows for as many dayparts as the operator chooses. “I know stay-at-home moms are going to come in mid-day and they are going to be more health conscious, so I can target them with salads and healthy food messages,” Tang said. “The high school kids are going to be com-ing in after school hours, so I ought to be hitting them with quick snacks and high-energy foods,” he said. “The professionals are going to come in during the evening hours, so I ought to be giving them a blend between the two; something healthy but also something fun to help them relax after a hard day at work.”



Menu boards move outside

If there’s one thing that may have kept restaurants, particularly quick-service restaurants (QSRs), from considering digital menu boards, it’s the perception that outdoor digital boards aren’t reliable and are too expensive. Such a perception is important when as much as 80 percent of a QSR’s business is done at the drive-thru window, and many operate them well past the closing of their dining areas. The drive-thru is a golden opportunity to market to a captive audience and increase sales of higher-margin, low-selling goods that are generally purchased on a whim.

Placing LCD displays outdoors has always been unreliable. Outdoor installation means the organization must deal with unpredictable weather elements (i.e., direct sunlight, wind and precipitation) as well as other hazards, such as animals. There also is the human element: vandals could dam-age the boards and bring the operation to a halt. Lastly, as with indoor deployments, what happens if the LCD or computers fail, causing the menu board to go black?

Those issues can be minimized with the menu board solutions that NEC makes available to the QSR market.

“The digital menu board system we sup-ply for outdoor systems are extremely durable and designed for the rugged drive-thru environments,” said Ventura. “The protective glass on the front of the enclosure is designed to take on the ele-ments and protect our high-bright LCD displays. Further, the enclosure itself is designed to prevent buildup of heat, which can also damage the display. Our partnerships with enclosure companies have allowed NEC to deliver a solution

that is built for the needs of the QSR mar-ket as well as deliver peace of mind for the restaurant operator.”

Scott Koller, president and CEO of Minne-apolis-based Wireless Ronin Technology, a digital signage software provider, was once reluctant to predict that outdoor digital boards would have a place in the drive-thru. But with lower costs, better warranty options and higher manufacturing stan-dards that allow the technology to endure harsh weather elements, he has changed his outlook.

“As many restaurants are incorporating digital menu boards inside their stores, we should also expect them to do the same at drive-thrus within the next six to 12 months,” he said. “You used to not be able to find an outdoor digital menu board with more than a one-year warranty. Consider-ing 60 to 80 percent of QSR clientele use


Choosing a rugged digital menu board for a restaurant’s drive-thru, such as the one from NEC (seen above), is important to ensure that unpredictable weather elements, animals and vandals don’t harm the signage.


the drive-thru, it didn’t make sense to invest $50,000 on equipment that was in the elements and that just had a one-year warranty. Now, most options are at least three years and many are five-year warran-ties; it’s a total game-changer.”

As the cost of the technology drops, its appeal has increased. Because of this, Chip Willcutt, copywriter/marketing specialist at Eden Prairie, Minn.-based QSR technol-ogy provider WAND Corp., believe the move to digital isn’t about “if,” but rather “when,” comparing it to the Apple IIe computer, which sold for more than $2,000 new in 1983.

“Today, a computer can be purchased for under $1,000 with 62,500 times more bytes of RAM,” Wilcutt said. “The future is for optimists with a firm grasp on how fast technology is moving.”

College Station, Texas-based Texas Digi-tal Systems, a provider of digital signage solutions, already has incorporated out-door digital menu boards into its product offering.

“We see extending digital menu boards to the outdoors as a natural progression of the technology,” said Melissa Lewis, mar-keting manager for Texas Digital Systems. “Whether used as a pre-sale tool or for the actual menu board, the technology of digital signage can be very powerful for any QSR brand, regardless of size.”



Indoor

Although indoor digital menu board systems have evolved tremendously over the past few years, the basic layout has remained the same. The major compo-nents of a digital menu board system are hardware (screens and computers/media players), software, content, method of con-nection and implementation.

Hardware. The price of screens and computers is changing quickly. Opera-tors should avoid purchasing a technology that may be out of date in the near future. Although some operators still use plasma screens, LCD screens truly are the way to go. With the content primarily being static, the use of commercial LCD displays have become the norm. Unlike plasma displays, LCDs do not suffer as badly from image burn-in and have a much longer life expectancy. Deployers should make sure the screens and computers are industrial-grade and guaranteed to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The majority of restaurant operators are looking for a solu-tion that will last for up to five years and, in some cases, even longer.

Deployers also should make sure that all screens share the same cabinet design and specifications, ensuring consistent brand-ing and saving on content costs throughout the store and across multiple locations.

Software. Software is used to create, download, manage, schedule and play content, as well as manage proof-of-play reports and confirm when content is played. Many software packages also al-low for remote monitoring of the system’s health and alert service personnel when there is a problem. In many cases, this

will happen before even the store person-nel know there is an issue. Some software companies will offer this functionality over the Internet as part of their package, while others may require external tools to help support the reporting functionality. Several software packages should be tested to see which would serve the operation best and be easiest to use. There are many avail-able, and most major companies license their software to other suppliers. Because no one can know what changes may need to be made after installation of a system, deployers should be sure to get a software program that is adaptable to new technolo-gies and allows for further scalability.

LCD screens have a longer life expectancy and do not suffer from image burn-in, as plasma screens do. However, it’s important to choose an industrial-grade screen that can withstand heavy usage.

Chapter 2 The components

If the content does not engage the customers and motivate them to perform

an action, the value of a digital system will be lost.


Content. Since this is what the customers will see when they enter the restaurant, many industry experts claim that “content is king.” Such an attitude is where many organizations fail. Several digital signage companies offer content design services, but it may be better to look to the restau-rant’s ad agency and internal marketing department for content. When neither is able to support digital signage content, a restaurateur should look to companies that specialize in content creation services. Many companies ask about streaming vid-eo content to the digital menu boards. This is something that is not recommended as it can bog down the network of the store.

The most important thing to remember is that if the content does not engage the cus-tomers and motivate them to perform an ac-tion, the value of a digital system will be lost.

Method of connection. Broadband con-nectivity has proven to be the preferred method within restaurants; however, many stores will still only use dial-up. Some locations also use satellite or cellular con-nectivity. The key point to remember is that it’s important to have the ability to download and control large digital files of content remotely to the media players.

Implementation. There are a number of ways to mount a digital menu board system. Using a professional installation management company is the preferred method. Make sure that the walls and ceilings that the displays will be mounted on are designed to support the weight the digital menu boards will bring.

Outdoor

Outdoor digital menu boards, on the other hand, are a relatively recent phenomenon. In addition to the components listed for an indoor system, outdoor boards have some special considerations:

Enclosures. Protecting menu boards from the elements is the primary concern of a restaurant operator deploying out-door digital signage. In a QSR drive-thru, screens are exposed to direct sunlight, which causes LCD displays to go black

Solar load is caused by the heat buildup on the surface of the LCD display due to di-rect sunlight. When a display goes isotro-pic, customers are no longer able to read the display and the display will become damaged over time.

Outdoor menu boards need to be protect-ed from other outdoor elements as well. If the enclosure is not properly cooled, the internal electronics will be damaged by excessive heat and humidity. Also, if the enclosure is not properly designed for air flow, there is no opportunity to make sure that the entire cabinet is properly pro-tecting the displays, computers, sensors and other sensitive electronic equipment. Furthermore, if the enclosure is not sealed properly, the cabinet will not be protected from infestation of insects and other pests.

CHAPTER 2 The components

If the enclosure is not properly designed for air flow, there is no opportunity to make sure that the entire cabinet is properly protecting the displays, computers,

sensors and other sensitive electronic equipment.


In addition, the enclosure itself needs to be designed to protect against physical damage and theft. The system needs to be anchored into the ground well enough to absorb an accidental bump from a car or group of rowdy high-school students look-ing to take the menu board home with them.

ITS Enclosures, a manufacturer of out-door enclosures for digital signage screens based in Mt. Pleasant, Penn., has been testing and rolling out a new proprietary cooling system for its ViewStation prod-ucts that has gotten the attention of one of the nation’s largest restaurant chains.

The ViewStation QSR uses a closed-loop cooling system which re-circulates cooled air and exhausts heat to “create an environ-ment” inside each enclosure that keeps the electronics cool even in extreme condi-tions. This is different from air-to-air cooling methods, which take in hot air and blow it on electronics at high speeds in an effort to cool them down.

Displays. Similar to indoor installations, the LCDs that are used for outdoor ap-plications need to be professional-grade quality, designed for continuous operation and have high-brightness capabilities to overcome the high levels of ambient light found outdoors. They also should have some form of ambient light sensor that will adjust their brightness based on the out-door environment. There is no reason for a restaurant to be lighting up their parking lot at late in the evening with its digital menu board.

As technology advances, there are new products coming to market that will aid in increasing the efficiency and bright-ness of outdoor digital menu boards. The

latest technology being looked at is using LED backlights within the LCD displays. Currently, there are some outdoor systems using this technology; however, they are custom systems that are more expensive than off-the-shelf equipment. There also are still concerns with the longevity of the LED lights and how they will be able to meet the needs of a five-year warranty. As advancements in LED design continue, this technology will become more palatable from a cost perspective as well as from a service and support perspective.

Order confirmation system. The order confirmation system is the last opportunity for the QSR operator to not only confirm the customer’s order, but to upsell them as well.

Order confirmation systems offer the opportunity to promote complementary items such as fries or a drink, inform the customer of new menu additions or display


In addition to being bright enough to be read in sunlight, outdoor digital menu boards should sense ambient light and adjust accordingly, so the menu is not overly bright at night.

Rejinshino


promotions. Typically located in the drive-thru and before the menu board, order confirmation systems use a small LCD screen to provide visual feedback of the customer’s order.

Rochester, Minn.-based Subway franchi-see Mary Jeanne Jernberg implemented a drive-thru order confirmation system from Delphi Display Systems at her store and has experienced double-digit sales gains.

The system allows customers to see the list of toppings on their sandwich and reflects their customized order as well as the run-ning total of the order. The system also allows the store to feature any advertised promos as well as community successes, such as a big win by a local school team. “

“They don’t get any of that with a speaker post,” Jernberg said.

Jernberg said the system met her store’s needs for speed and accuracy, and drive-thru sales have increased by as much as 15 percent.



Chapter 3 Return on investment

According to NEC’s Ventura, the investment in a digital menu board system can range from $5,000 per

store for an indoor system to as much as $35,000 or more for a system that includes both indoor and outdoor boards.

Considering that a QSR typically does 70 percent of its business at the drive-thru, out-door boards are an important consideration.

However, there is plenty of evidence that op-erators see an immediate sales lift simply by deploying digital menu boards. Steve Sharon, president of the Naples, Fla.-based digital menu board deployer Vertigo Group, worked with a restaurant operator who wanted to see a certain sales lift in a pilot test before they would commit to deploying digital menu boards throughout the company.

“Their criterion was that if their sales lift was at least 5 percent, they would roll it out throughout their system, and they beat that 5 percent sales lift,” Sharon said. “That seems to be kind of a magic number; if an operator can get a 5 percent sales lift, then they will use it in their system.”

But the return on investment of a digital menu board system goes beyond simply dividing the cost by the sales uplift. There are a number of other factors that need to be added to the equation.

Included in the 2,000-page health care re-form bill passed by Congress in early 2010 was language mandating that chain restau-rants with 20 or more locations will have to display nutritional and caloric information on their menus.

Menu labeling laws are already on the books in New York City, California and several other states.

For companies operating multiple loca-tions in multiple states, digital menu boards may be the answer to managing the costs associated with menu labeling.

“This is where the added benefit of digital menu boards comes into play,” said NEC’s Ventura. “Due to the new labeling require-ments and concerns on fat, sodium and caloric levels, restaurants are being forced to find better ways of communicating this information to the consumer. Further, with the new focus on healthier eating habits, brands are able to use digital menu boards to convey how healthy the food is as well as the freshness of the ingredients. Add in the variability of ingredients and regional foods, by going digital a brand is able to truly deliver multiple menu boards globally while still maintaining their brand message.”

With requirements for the displaying of nutritional information changing on a regular basis, not to mention menu price changes dictated by fluctuating commod-ity costs, an operator needs to calculate the cost of changing a static menu board several times a year versus the one-time cost of a digital menu board system.

Menu boards can also serve as an additional revenue stream through vendor partnerships.

“Chains are able to cross market multiple product partners and strategic partners within the confines of the store environ-ment,” Ventura said. “This can include marketing suppliers of soda, bread and condiments, as well as strategic marketing partners such as the NFL and NBA. Res-taurants have that unique benefit in that they can increase revenue by marketing their products, goods and services while also being able to sell advertising space to multiple partners and brands. In the end,


CHAPTER 3 Return on investment

the consumer wins by getting information on products and services; the brands win in increasing their advertising and exposure; and the restaurant wins by increasing sales and bringing in new forms of revenue.”

“A less obvious benefit of a digital menu board system is that with print signage a restaurant needs to make sure that the right message is placed at the right time and right location,” Ventura said. “Generally you are at the mercy of an hourly employee who may have little interest in the job. The result can be lost sales due to the custom-ers not being made aware of a promotion or lost money because the restaurant is still advertising a promotional item that was no longer available. In the end, this could be a lose-lose situation for the store.”

In addition, there is the cost of printing and shipping the print material to the store.

“If a promotion was scheduled to start on a particular date, how do you know the ma-terials were put out properly, and if it was scheduled to end on a particular date, how do you know it was pulled down?” Ventura said. “With digital menu boards you can control promotions from the corporate office. You are also able to modify prices, promotions, bundles, etc. without having to step into a store. Being able to roll out those promotions at the flip of a switch can mean huge savings on both hard and soft costs.”

Case Study: Pei Wei Asian Diner

signage sometimes took up to a month and a half before the restaurant would see a change.

“There were two major drivers for us to switch to digital technology,” said Terry Haley, brand director for Pei Wei. “The first was to lower barriers to increasing menu innovation and pricing flexibility, including the expense and time required to print new menus. The second was to open up a channel to communicate with our guests in an environment where they are most open to Pei Wei messaging ... our restaurants.”

Headquarters: Scottsdale, Ariz.

Challenge: Replace static signage with LCD displays for menu boards and promotional content

Solution: 46” NEC MultiSync LCD4620-2-IT

Pei Wei Asian Diner is a more casual take on parent company P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, with a menu that includes wok-seared, contemporary dishes from five Asian countries and a strong dedication to quality and attention to detail. Established in 2001, this rapidly expanding franchise has more than 150 locations in more than 15 states. In 2007, Pei Wei was named Sandelman & Associate’s Highest Rated Fast Casual Chain, as well as Nation’s Restaurant News Hot Concept in 2003.

Before incorporating digital signage, Pei Wei utilized printed menu panels that worked as one big static sheet to display menu items. Not only did it drain finances, but adding new dishes resulted in expensive printing fees. The static


CHAPTER 3 Return on investment

Additionally, Pei Wei wanted the ability to build awareness of general brand facts, announce national menu/concept initiatives relative to consumers and merchandise local activities. The ability to do these things in a timely matter was even more crucial for Pei Wei.

Pei Wei wanted to work with a display company that offered three key components: durable products, high-definition screens and a network of partners to help build an integrated solution comprised of both hardware and software. Knowing that NEC is a leader in commercial-grade, large-format displays and has a variety of digital signage partners made the decision easy for Pei Wei.

“NEC built our confidence with this new endeavor because this is their specialty, and therefore we fully trusted them to make a solution that would truly work for Pei Wei,” said Haley. “They really helped us get the project moving in the direction we needed it to go.”

After two months of running demo tests in early 2009 with three NEC displays and a three-month pilot test in Arizona, Pei Wei went national with their digital signage in June and finished their deployment in October. Altogether, Pei Wei purchased 486 displays, three units at each of its 162 nationwide locations. The displays are installed in portrait mode near the entrance of the dine-in area of each restaurant.

Several departments were involved in the deployment of Pei Wei’s new digital signage. Maria Johnson, director of facilities management for Pei Wei, handled the scheduling and coordination, shipping logistics and restaurant design, an incredibly crucial part to the installation puzzle. Not only did Pei Wei want consistency for the brand, it also had to make sure that each location had a smooth transition from static signage to digital menu boards.

“Designing a universal plan that suited every location became a huge task,” said Johnson. “We discussed the challenges and came up with a concept for the demo. Using suggestions from that point on, we were able to create a long-term solution that allowed us to retrofit the existing cabinetry of all our locations. We also incorporated screen protection to secure the displays in the event customers mistake the menu boards for interactive signage.”

Carrie Siegfried, user experience designer for Pei Wei, and Marjorie Mangone, the company’s graphic designer, provided the creative services required to run the new digital signage content, which uses Flash files with RiseVision software, saving time and helping to lower costs. Siegfried built content for the trial digital menu boards during the initial testing in January and has continually made changes since then. Mangone laid out the initial menu items for each display using merchandising zones, which are now created in Adobe After Effects.

“Initially, we worked solely with Flash animation, which was somewhat limiting, but since our demo testing we’ve had huge improvements in the content we are able to run,” said Siegfried. “An advantage of NEC’s displays that is incredibly beneficial for our purposes is their ability to let us manage everything remotely, which comes into play for me in scheduling content. I’m able to set up templates in a playlist and work on them while the displays are running.”

“The digital menu boards allow us to customize to exactly what we need, whether it’s a small initiative or a nationwide promotion, and we’re able to do so without printing costs each time we make a change,” said Haley. “NEC’s displays provide us with a lot of flexibility, which we need for our operation. Working with them has simplified the process for us and enabled us to truly work to our full potential.”


Quick-service restaurants have always been known for their dy-namic environments. Orders

are taken quickly, payment is made, and the food is prepared, wrapped, bagged and handed over all in less than a minute or two (ideally). It’s a fast-paced, ever-changing world. With one notable exception: the menu boards.

Many QSRs are still using the same ba-sic, static menu concepts that have been around since a certain milkshake machine salesman opened his first hamburger stand. Even that is changing now, though, with the move to digital menu boards. Unlike the printed materials that have to be designed, produced and delivered from corporate to the stores — a process that can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month — digital menu boards allow QSRs to react instantly to market pres-sures, easily comply with caloric labeling regulations that vary from state to state (not to mention the new federal mandate for restaurants with 20 or more locations), allow for dayparting of menu items and pricing and feature particular food and/or promotional items on a rotating basis.

With all that going for them, it would seem like deploying digital menu boards should be as easy as asking, “Would you like fries with that?” Yet there’s more to it than hanging a display where a static board used to be. Following are three things resellers need to keep in mind when bidding for and designing a digital menu board project.

Make systems redundant

The menu board is the information life-line between customers and the QSR.

If screens suddenly go blank, the whole operation comes to a standstill. That’s bad enough inside the restaurant. But in the drive-thru, which represents 70 percent of QSR revenue, it can be a disaster.

In a standard installation, every menu board is connected to a PC. But what if that PC has a problem? It’s important to have a back-up on every board, with a failover that activates instantly should a problem arise. Make sure that the media players also are designed so that they can support the type of content the opera-tor wishes to run. Just because today he doesn’t want to run video doesn’t mean tomorrow he won’t.

The same is true for the signs themselves. If one digital menu board in a four-board display goes out, the content and software needs to be dynamic enough to shift criti-cal information immediately to the three remaining boards. It may not be ideal, but it will keep things running.

Digital menu boards can save a QSR money and react more quickly to market pressures, but it’s important to use the proper equipment and carefully plan the installation to ensure success.

Chapter 4 Best practices*This section written by Rich Ventura, North American sales manager of vertical solutions for NEC Display Solutions. He can be reached at [email protected]


Everyone is concerned with keeping costs down, especially in competitive bid situ-ations, but redundancy is not the place to cut costs. Be sure to have a plan in place, and during the bidding process, explain to the owner why it’s important.

Use professional-grade equipment designed for the environment

The interiors of QSRs tend to be hot, greasy and even dusty places with lots of airborne contaminants flying around. This “hostile” environment can wreak havoc on the electronics and other components if the screen isn’t built to take it.

When choosing a display to place in a restaurant, look for products with a sealed module design to prevent particles from getting in and contaminating the LCD. They also should be able to withstand tem-perature extremes, particularly heat, while operating around the clock. That’s not something that can be found at the local big box retailer.

Another advantage to using professional-grade equipment is the ability to lock out video ports, such as an HDMI port. QSRs don’t want their employees playing video games or watching movies on their expen-sive digital menu boards. Yet that’s what some will do if the capability exists.

When selecting products, be sure that unused or undesired ports are disabled or inaccessible to prevent unauthorized use. That also applies to controls such as power, channel or volume. The more tampering can be prevented, and control of the opera-tion kept in the back room, the less likely it is that the operator will be called in during

the height of dinner hour for some emer-gency maintenance.

Take extra care outdoors

One of the keys to a successful outdoor deployment is selecting the right enclosure in which to place the menu board. It needs to be weatherproof, built to withstand a 98-mile-per-hour fastball, and anchored so solidly that if anyone tried to uproot one, then they’d be more likely to tear the bumper off their car than pull the sign out. It also needs to be able to keep the screen readable, even in direct sunlight. Yet those aren’t the only considerations to keep in mind.

LCD signs generate a lot of heat on their own, and during the summer, conditions only get worse. The sign must have ad-

CHAPTER 4 Best practices

The inside of a restaurant can wreak havoc on a digital sign, so it’s important to use professional-grade equipment.

It’s important to have a back-up on every board, with a failover that activates instantly should a problem arise.


equate cooling for outdoor use, and the en-closure should be well-ventilated and able to dissipate heat quickly. During the winter, those same screens may be subjected to extreme cold, and so must be able to with-stand those temperatures without cracking.

Then there are the bugs. Not the com-puter-type — although those should be minimized as well — but actual, physical insects. Here again, a sealed system keeps digital menu boards from turning into large, expensive bug zappers.

Customer expectations are that the out-door menu board will operate flawlessly on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a week basis for five years. Taking these steps will help meet those expectations.

One size doesn’t fit all

Different QSRs have different require-ments for their menu boards. Some want to include promotional or “keep the cus-tomers occupied during the rush” video. Others don’t. Some have more limited menus and need fewer boards and/or less space. Some of the more advanced may even want to use them to encourage customers to send a text for a coupon for a free food item, or vote on a new beverage flavor. One size (or configuration) doesn’t fit all those needs. Understand what cus-tomers want to do, and it’s easier to make a more targeted recommendation.

Digital menu boards are the present and future of the QSR industry. That creates tremendous opportunities for resellers who can deliver quality installations.

Don’t just give customers what they think they want. Look beyond price and sell them what they need. It’s the best bet for long-term success.



The hidden costs of installation

When employed properly, digital signage can deliver highly targeted messaging to customers, providing a greater return on investment than more traditional signage. However, if not planned properly, an installation can cost businesses more money than originally planned.

Proper placement of screens is a vital part of a successful digital menu board deployment. But, placing digital signage is not that simple. A poorly placed screen can mean its message is lost.

When placing a screen, consider the following factors.

Visibility. If a customer can’t see the screen, the digital signage won’t be effective. While that seems obvious, there is more to visibility than meets the eye.

“There might be window glare or light glare or glare from other units, and all of those things need to be countered,” said Mike Litteral, who works in the technical department of Oakland, Calif.-based Lucasey Manufacturing Corp., a provider of mounting solutions for digital signage.

Power. Once the screens are in place, they’ll need to be connected to a power source. If there isn’t a power source nearby, one will need to be installed, which creates an additional expense.

“It sounds like it’s pretty easy, but people often fail to consider the electrical portion,” said Tim O’Connor, professional services sales manager for the National Service Center, a digital signage installer based in Greenville, S.C.

Wall type. When mounting the digital signage, the type of wall holding the hardware needs to be considered. What type of wall will the screen be attached to? How sturdy is the wall? Will metal studs be hit when drilling begins?

Once the holes are drilled, the proper mounts must be installed, ideally ones that allow for a 15- to 25-degree angle to improve visibility for customers.

Environment. Location is important, but so is the environment around the screen. Heat damages

displays, so the screens cannot be placed in any area where the temperature will exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Extreme variations in temperature also can have an impact on screen performance.

“A screen might need some type of weatherization so it can withstand the environment in Florida, California, Wyoming, Denver or wherever it happens to be,” Litteral said.

Cabling. Delivering content from the media to the screen requires cabling. However, businesses often find that their cabling is not sufficient and they need to spend more money than expected.

“The cost of adding the necessary cabling and A/V transport devices is often overlooked in the planning phases,” said Matt Schmitt, CEO of Dallas-based Reflect Systems, a digital signage provider.

The amount of cabling required depends on where the media player is placed. To keep media players safe, many deployers place them in back rooms, a sizable distance from the screens.

Such a placement requires extensive cabling or an extender, which allows for greater separation between the media player and the screen by allowing the signal to be transmitted over a greater distance.

Physical installation. Although it may be tempting to try a do-it-yourself installation, there are several variables that make choosing a professional installer a better choice. Often, a screen may look light enough to be lifted single-handedly. Screens can be deceptively heavy, however, and do-it-yourself installation can result in injury, either to the person or the screen. A professional installation team will be able to safely lift the screen.

Also, screens need to be easily visible to customers, but not accessible to them. When customers have access to a screen, it leaves the signage vulnerable to damage. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, customers who have access to the screen can damage the hardware, cause the screen to fall from its mount or disrupt content.



Kiosk ordering

Self-service technology has done a bang-up job helping people get cash when they are strapped, check in at airports and ho-tels when they travel, ring up carts full of groceries when the cupboards are bare and assist with myriad other tasks of various complexity.

Consumers across just about every vertical have come to know and love the benefits provided by kiosks.

So why aren’t they being used more to sell hamburgers and salads, Cokes and slices of pizza?

Perhaps one of the reasons for the slow adoption is that the foodservice indus-try prides itself on service. But here’s the hard truth: Service at many restaurants, at QSRs in particular, often is nothing to brag about. Look at the hotel industry: Service is very important to hoteliers, and yet Hyatt, Hilton, Embassy Suites and others are using kiosks for self-check-in and self-check-out.

There are several reasons why kiosks — es-pecially in the QSR, fast casual and carry-out pizzeria segments — could change the face of the restaurant industry.

Line-busting? Check. Upselling? Check. Customers don’t mind filling and refilling their own drinks, so why not automate a routine ordering process?

Here some of the most significant benefits of kiosks in a foodservice setting:

Improves order accuracy. When a cus-tomer places an order on a kiosk, they use the touch screen interface to custom-build their order (e.g., no lettuce, extra ketchup, etc.). Once the order is entered and paid for, a ticket goes to the kitchen, where the food is prepared. At the same time the cus-tomer is given a ticket to be used to pick up her food at the counter when it is ready.

While that process eliminates the pos-sibility of human communication errors and dramatically reduces the number of inaccurate orders, it does not eliminate incorrect orders entirely. However, even when an order is incorrect, the kiosks make things easier on the restaurant. If an error was made in a face-to-face order, a customer may become angry and blame the staff for placing the order incorrectly. But when a self-service kiosk is used, the mistake is undoubtedly the customer’s fault (unless the kitchen failed to make it properly), and customers are less likely to leave angry as a result.

While restaurants have been slow to adopt self-service technology, it can im-prove order accuracy, shorten perceived wait times and increase check totals.

Chapter 5 On the horizon


Allows for more efficient use of employees. Installing kiosks at Danny & Clyde’s, a sandwich franchise in the New Orleans area, initially was a matter of necessity.

In the fall of 2005, when the area was reel-ing from the devastation caused by Hur-ricane Katrina, the store’s management wanted to reopen the local franchises as quickly as possible, but there was one big problem: staffing. Many employees had relocated after the disaster.

“We got [the kiosks] after Katrina because we didn’t have employees,” said Strother.

Even cities that aren’t dealing with situa-tions as challenging as Katrina have staff-ing problems.

“The number of jobs to fill is increasing, and the age 16 to 25 labor pool is decreas-ing,” said Clyde Dishman, industry market-ing director for hospitality at NCR Corp., a global technology company.

In addition, fast-food restaurants typically have high rates of employee turnover.

“It’s really hard to retain employees,” said Karen Sammon, president for software solutions at New Hartford, N.Y.-based ParTech Inc. “On average, a crew person stays three months.”

Shortens perceived wait time. For fast food restaurants, speed in processing orders is absolutely essential. Customers patronize those restaurants specifically be-cause they want their food served quickly.

It is up for debate how much self-service kiosks actually increase order-process speed. However, it’s said that perception is

reality, and the important thing with kiosks is that customers often perceive that they are faster than a counter order-taker.

“It’s really a line-buster,” said Madeleine Pantalone, vice president of marketing at San Diego, Calif.-based EMN8, a provider of self-service solutions to QSRs and fast casual restaurants. “Speeding up service and eliminating lines is crucial for fast food restaurants. Many lose business during breakfast and lunch because customers see a long line in the restaurant during these peak hours and decide it’s not worth the wait. They take their business elsewhere.”

Increases check average. Upselling is something all fast food restaurants preach to their employees. Employees are trained to ask customers if they want a larger drink, fries and so forth. But with the human component involved, that doesn’t always happen. In the heat of a lunch rush, employees can forget to ask, or they can choose not to ask. Customers may roll their eyes at the upselling and view it as a waste of time.

Just as with order accuracy, any number of things can go wrong with upselling when it’s done on a person-to-person basis. Up-selling is one thing self-service kiosks do especially well.

According to Jonpaul Leskie, president of Geneva Enterprises and a Hardee’s fran-chisee, the average ticket price increases by 18 percent when orders are placed at a kiosk, as opposed to the counter. At his

CHAPTER 5 On the horizon

The important thing with kiosks is that customers often perceive that they are faster than a counter order-taker.


Hardee’s restaurants, Leskie noted an aver-age increase of $1.82 per check.

When an employee tries to upsell, cus-tomers often find it to be pushy. A cus-tomer may refuse an in-person upsell because something about the employee rubs him the wrong way or just because he feels pressured. Just as customers perceive self-service to be faster because of the inherent choice, they don’t mind upsell from a kiosk because they don’t feel it’s being forced on them.

Ordering by mobile

While text ordering on cell phones may still seem like a novelty, it’s one of the fastest-growing new segments in the fast casual restaurant industry. Considering the number of cell phones and restaurants na-tionwide, and the increased need for speed and convenience, the growing popularity of text messaging makes sense.

According to Noah Glass, founder and chief executive officer of text-ordering pro-vider GoMobo, the market is large. GoMo-bo services Dunkin’ Donuts, Papa John’s, Popeyes, Quiznos, Subway and others.

“We believe the market for text-ordering in the United States is in the range of 250,000 to 500,000 restaurants,” he said. “Mobile phones are the most ubiquitous technology product in history, with over 233 million active mo-bile phone accounts in the U.S. alone.”

Over the past several years, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Domino’s have all launched text messaging ordering,

And the growing popularity of smart-phones has added an additional dimension

to mobile ordering. In fact, having a pres-ence in the Apple “App Store” has become almost as important as having a brick-an-mortar location.

“As more of our customers are integrat-ing the iPhone and iPod touch into their everyday lives, Pizza Hut wants to be right there with them,” said Brian Niccol, chief marketing officer with Pizza Hut. “As a longtime category leader in innovation, creating an App Store application is just one more way we are helping customers place orders in a way that best fits their mobile lifestyle.”


As more customers are using smartphones, they are looking to restaurants to integrate mobile in the ordering process.

iStock


Anonymous video analytics

Although TV and radio have Nielsen rat-ings and print has circulation numbers, there hasn’t been a similar measurement tool for digital signs. It’s certainly easy to count passing traffic, but not everyone passing a sign takes a look.

As digital signs become increasingly com-monplace, network operators are incor-porating a solution known as anonymous video analytics (AVA) to more effectively measure the audience viewing a sign.

Traditional audience measurement tech-niques for digital signage have usually involved teams of people who physically count the numbers of passersby. Although such techniques may have their place, the scope of the information they can generate is limited.

“For example, if you take a metro area like Phoenix where there is a population of two or three million people, using traditional sampling methodology you might get feedback on a few households in the entire metropolitan area,” said Jose Avalos, digital signage director with Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corp.

Anonymous video analytics technology, on the other hand, has the capability to count virtually every viewer of a particular sign, 24 hours a day.

When a person looks at a digital sign outfitted with AVA, the system generates a computer log file about the incident. Infor-mation contained in that log file includes the time that person started looking and when they stopped looking, along with de-mographic information generation about that viewer generated by the AVA software.

“With this type of data, each individual record perhaps doesn’t have that much meaning, but when you take a look at tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of records, this drives great meaning because we can start to see some patterns and trends evolve,” said Haroon Mirza, director of business development with Markham, Ontario, Canada-based CognoVision Solu-tions, Inc.

For digital menu boards in a restaurant, AVA could help determine what types of content are most effective in attracting eyeballs. AVA can also be linked to a media player for real-time ad selection. It can also help in the overall design of the menu board with product placement.

“Lets say you are playing a 15- or 30-second advertising spot and in the last few seconds you can see that the audience in front of the display is 70 percent female, so right before I play my next ad I am going to pull an ad meant for the female audience in order to increase the relevancy,” Mirza said. “Es-sentially what that entails is being able to respond in real time to understand the au-dience that is currently in front of a display.”


Anonymous video analytics technology has the capability to count virtually

every viewer of a particular sign, 24 hours a day.

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