![\"Bill](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/BillMeloPhoto.jpg\")
Bill Melo
Vice President of Marketing, Services and Solutions TABS<\/p><\/div>\n
The market size for digital signage is exploding.\u00a0 Dynamic digital displays are more and more a distinct presence virtually anywhere you go from a video wall at your favorite retail outlet to digital menu boards guiding your lunch options to the display ribbons providing game scores and branding at your local sports venue.\u00a0 According to TheEconomist, digital signage will be a $5.2 billion business by 2016 and Intel predicts as many as 22 million digital signs will be in place by next year. As those in Orlando, FL at our annual sales conference \u2013 LEAD 2013 \u2013 last November learned, we recently launched our Ellumina digital signage brand so we are certainly excited about immersing ourselves in this market.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Toshiba is unique in this market because we provide customers with a complete solution to achieve business objectives \u2013 everything from hardware to content creation and management, to installation and even financing.\u00a0 Our portfolio includes indoor and outdoor displays, video walls, kiosks, QSR menu boards, and custom interactive touch displays using best-in-class equipment.\u00a0 We offer content expertise, professional design, worry-free operation, and a single point of accountability from a trusted technology leader<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 From site assessment to content creation, design and implementation, our team works together with each customer to ensure complete satisfaction every step of the way.\u00a0 Once an installation is complete, we offer on-going content management and service agreements to ensure maximum performance and uptime.<\/p>\n Our newest launch \u2013 Virtuoso \u2013 is a line of interactive solutions that deliver engaging and interactive customer experiences via the power of touch.\u00a0 We have a wide variety of packages and templates available to end users in key markets including retail, hospitality, automotive, healthcare, real estate and more.\u00a0 Once a dealer sells a unit to an end user, Toshiba assumes the heavy lifting.\u00a0 A Success Manager works with each client to identify goals and objectives and then creates the system and content to deliver on those.\u00a0 Both the dealer and end user are involved every step of the way, ensuring complete satisfaction to everyone.<\/p>\n Much like selling managed print services, digital signage includes annuity-like opportunities with respect to content creation.\u00a0 Digital signage presents an opportunity for dealers to sell content maintenance packages and service agreements to ensure customers\u2019 content remains relevant, hardware has maximum uptime and business objectives are met.\u00a0 With substantial profit margins available, our dealers are pleased about the potential revenue generated from the sale of digital signage.<\/p>\n 4. \u00a0How will Toshiba assist its dealers in profiting from these opportunities?<\/em><\/p>\n 5. \u00a0What investments do dealers need to make to get into this market?<\/em><\/p>\n Toshiba dealers do not need to invest any dollars to sell our Ellumina line.\u00a0 However, to better assist them in their selling efforts, Toshiba has created a Virtuoso product for dealer demonstration purposes.\u00a0 This interactive kiosk showcases Toshiba\u2019s complete offering including MFPs, software solutions, and digital signage.\u00a0 Dealers may purchase a unit in a variety of sizes and use co-op funds to cover the costs.\u00a0 To help dealers realize an even quicker return on their investment, we include comprehensive demonstrations specific to nearly a dozen different vertical markets.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0 Is Toshiba exclusively utilizing its display products or partnering with other vendors?<\/em><\/p>\n Our main goal is to develop a solution that best suits our customers\u2019 needs.\u00a0 Therefore, we are using both Toshiba display technology and also partnering with an array of other manufacturers to ensure we are providing premier digital signage solutions for companies within virtually any vertical market.<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0 Are there any existing implementations you can discuss?<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, after only one year since beginning our digital signage business, we are already profitable with a number of impressive implementations including Qualcomm Stadium, The Palace at Auburn Hills and Live Nation.\u00a0 Also, before the first pitch is thrown by the Charlotte Knights this spring, our latest digital signage implementation will be on display throughout the team\u2019s newly minted BB&T Ballpark.\u00a0 Perhaps most notably, we are installing the widest scoreboard in minor league baseball for the Chicago White Sox\u2019s Triple-A team.<\/p>\n 8.\u00a0 What are some of the inherent challenges for Toshiba MFP dealers seeking to sell a brand new product line?<\/em><\/p>\n As touched upon earlier, the most challenging aspect of Toshiba dealers selling our Ellumina products includes learning the various nuances \u2013 technical and otherwise \u2013 of the products.<\/p>\n Because of our sensitivity to this challenge, we are developing a strong curriculum around Ellumina while having our internal experts present information on the products to our dealer network in a clear manner through regular webinars, product materials and Exchange \u2013 our online community where questions can be posed and best practices shared.<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0 What does Toshiba\u2019s Ellumina line currently consist of?<\/em><\/p>\n The Ellumina line consists of two platforms, Virtuoso and Experience Manager.<\/p>\n Our Virtuoso platform features interactive displays with touch screen technology.\u00a0 They are designed to enhance the consumer experience while presenting information in a compelling new way to promote products and services.<\/p>\n Best suited for an audience of one or a few, Virtuoso boosts content and user interaction by providing access to information in an intuitive format allowing them to explore, expand and mark-up content, watch videos, play games and more.\u00a0 By combining the latest in interactive and display technologies, it is ideal for such diverse markets as education, real estate, auto dealers, restaurants, shopping centers and the hospitality\/hotel industry.\u00a0 Virtuoso is available in an array of sizes \u2013 from a 23-inch all-in-one PC version up to a 70-inch floor stand display.<\/p>\n Toshiba\u2019s other digital signage platform \u2013 Experience Manager \u2013 is a completely customizable solution for managing networked interactive media applications.\u00a0 Including both live and pre-programmed content in an engaging platform, it delivers targeted content by time, location, and demographic.<\/p>\n Experience Manager is particularly ideal for implementation wherever people congregate, including malls, airports, concert and sports venues, as well as grocery stores and other retail outlets.\u00a0 Capable of incorporating live data, Experience Manager allows companies to quickly change or update information at a moment\u2019s notice.\u00a0 The platform\u2019s cloud solution further enables sophisticated planning, distribution and seamless management of digital content across an entire network of displays.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The document imaging industry business model is continuously evolving from a hardware and hardcopy orientation to the management of all types of content and information.\u00a0 This change in landscape offers new opportunities to provide different kind of solutions and services to the SMB market in a way that is familiar to traditional office equipment dealers: the annuity model. Last November, ENX Magazine attended Toshiba America Business Solutions\u2019 LEAD 2013 annual sales conference and got a first-hand look at how TABS is expanding as a service-led business, most notably through their new digital signage solutions. Their dealer event had great demos of their products, especially the larger units that are perfect for showrooms to demo products to end-users. TABS understood that dealers needed more than just hardware to win the big sales, and came up with a comprehensive solution that will catapult your dealership into the go-to partner for this market.\u00a0\u00a0 So we spoke with Bill Melo, Vice President of Marketing, Services and Solutions, about this intriguing new opportunity. \u00a0Toshiba has placed a major focus on the digital signage market during its recent dealer events. \u00a0Tell us about the digital signage market size and opportunities.\u00a0\u00a0 The market size for digital signage is exploding.\u00a0 Dynamic digital displays are more and more a distinct presence virtually anywhere you go from a video wall at your favorite retail outlet to digital menu boards guiding your lunch options to the display ribbons providing game scores and branding at your local sports venue.\u00a0 According to TheEconomist, digital signage will be a $5.2 billion business by 2016 and Intel predicts as many as 22 million digital signs will be in place by next year. As those in Orlando, FL at our annual sales conference \u2013 LEAD 2013 \u2013 last November learned, we recently launched our Ellumina digital signage brand so we are certainly excited about immersing ourselves in this market.\u00a0\u00a0 Is there anything different Toshiba is offering vis-\u00e0-vis other manufacturers? While conducting our background research on the sector, we concluded that there are several manufacturers offering display hardware.\u00a0 Additionally, we discovered many companies offering software to build and manage your digital signage and a few creating the accompanying content.\u00a0 However, we were hard pressed to find another vendor offering a comprehensive digital signage solution from start to finish. Toshiba is unique in this market because we provide customers with a complete solution to achieve business objectives \u2013 everything from hardware to content creation and management, to installation and even financing.\u00a0 Our portfolio includes indoor and outdoor displays, video walls, kiosks, QSR menu boards, and custom interactive touch displays using best-in-class equipment.\u00a0 We offer content expertise, professional design, worry-free operation, and a single point of accountability from a trusted technology leader.\u00a0 From site assessment to content creation, design and implementation, our team works together with each customer to ensure complete satisfaction every step of the way.\u00a0 Once an installation is complete, we offer on-going content management and service agreements to ensure maximum performance and uptime. \u00a0What do the opportunities in this market mean to Toshiba and its dealers? As the sheer number of prints is diminishing, the advent of digital signage represents an entirely new revenue stream for Toshiba and our dealer partners.\u00a0 And while everyone at our corporate office was excited about the initiative, we had to ensure we created an offering that our dealers could easily sell, manage, and service.\u00a0\u00a0 And I believe we\u2019ve done just that. Our newest launch \u2013 Virtuoso \u2013 is a line of interactive solutions that deliver engaging and interactive customer experiences via the power of touch.\u00a0 We have a wide variety of packages and templates available to end users in key markets including retail, hospitality, automotive, healthcare, real estate and more.\u00a0 Once a dealer sells a unit to an end user, Toshiba assumes the heavy lifting.\u00a0 A Success Manager works with each client to identify goals and objectives and then creates the system and content to deliver on those.\u00a0 Both the dealer and end user are involved every step of the way, ensuring complete satisfaction to everyone. Much like selling managed print services, digital signage includes annuity-like opportunities with respect to content creation.\u00a0 Digital signage presents an opportunity for dealers to sell content maintenance packages and service agreements to ensure customers\u2019 content remains relevant, hardware has maximum uptime and business objectives are met.\u00a0 With substantial profit margins available, our dealers are pleased about the potential revenue generated from the sale of digital signage. 4. \u00a0How will Toshiba assist its dealers in profiting from these opportunities? As MPS required a learning curve when it was launched a decade ago, our partners will need time to learn technical and other nuances of digital signage.\u00a0 For that reason, Toshiba has created a comprehensive and dedicated digital signage group to assist dealers in their prospecting and sales activities.\u00a0 Once we engage with a client, our team jumps to action while performing all of the necessary functions such as site assessments, solution design, content creation, implementation and more, working collaboratively with both the dealer and end user to ensure all goals are met.\u00a0 Toshiba has an online community where questions can be posed and best practices can be shared, etc.\u00a0 We will also launch a digital signage curriculum for our dealers to become proficient in all areas relating to the business. 5. \u00a0What investments do dealers need to make to get into this market? Toshiba dealers do not need to invest any dollars to sell our Ellumina line.\u00a0 However, to better assist them in their selling efforts, Toshiba has created a Virtuoso product for dealer demonstration purposes.\u00a0 This interactive kiosk showcases Toshiba\u2019s complete offering including MFPs, software solutions, and digital signage.\u00a0 Dealers may purchase a unit in a variety of sizes and use co-op funds to cover the costs.\u00a0 To help dealers realize an even quicker return on their investment, we include comprehensive demonstrations specific to nearly a dozen different vertical markets. 6.\u00a0 Is Toshiba exclusively utilizing its display products or partnering with other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1649,1814],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8824"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8824"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8833,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8824\/revisions\/8833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nWhile conducting our background research on the sector, we concluded that there are several manufacturers offering display hardware.\u00a0 Additionally, we discovered many companies offering software to build and manage your digital signage and a few creating the accompanying content.\u00a0 However, we were hard pressed to find another vendor offering a comprehensive digital signage solution from start to finish.<\/p>\n\n
\nAs the sheer number of prints is diminishing, the advent of digital signage represents an entirely new revenue stream for Toshiba and our dealer partners.\u00a0 And while everyone at our corporate office was excited about the initiative, we had to ensure we created an offering that our dealers could easily sell, manage, and service.\u00a0\u00a0 And I believe we\u2019ve done just that.<\/p>\n![\"Vituosophoto1\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Vituosophoto11.jpg\")
As MPS required a learning curve when it was launched a decade ago, our partners will need time to learn technical and other nuances of digital signage.\u00a0 For that reason, Toshiba has created a comprehensive and dedicated digital signage group to assist dealers in their prospecting and sales activities.\u00a0 Once we engage with a client, our team jumps to action while performing all of the necessary functions such as site assessments, solution design, content creation, implementation and more, working collaboratively with both the dealer and end user to ensure all goals are met.\u00a0 Toshiba has an online community where questions can be posed and best practices can be shared, etc.\u00a0 We will also launch a digital signage curriculum for our dealers to become proficient in all areas relating to the business.<\/p>\n![\"SDChargersPhoto1\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/SDChargersPhoto11.jpg\")
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