How Technology Has Lowered Costs and Helped Drive Sales with Digital Signage

Does anyone remember Blockbuster Video? Yes, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, there was this chain of stores where you’d go grab a movie (or three) to view at home.  Totalling more than 7,000 locations at its peak in the mid 1990s with estimated traffic at 90 million people per month, it was a significant retailer.

What does this have to do with MOTOTV you ask?  Well, I was the one who put together the video loop that ran on the small TVs in the upper corners of every Blockbuster store.   And when I say loop, I mean it.  Blockbuster TV was delivered on VHS tapes to the stores, and yes, the managers had to rewind and play it over and over and over again.  It started as a monthly program to combat the problem of the stores playing The Exorcist or other R-rated movies, which didn’t go over with the family-friendly branding.  We did move to DVD delivery, which was set to automatically replay making it easier on the stores, and we also updated it every two weeks vs. monthly. 

But how the Content Strategy evolved is the fun and important part of this story. The small studio where I edited Blockbuster TV just happened to be next to the Blockbuster Research department, which was very large. I was curious if Blockbuster TV was having any impact on sales, so we started to test it.  I’d let them know what content was running and we’d get rental data on a monthly basis, then compare it to previous months and even year over year.  And wow, the average increase was roughly 7%. 

I ventured into the stores and discovered very quickly that nobody was there to watch the tiny 28” tube TVs in the upper corners of the store.  Most people went directly to the New Release wall to hopefully grab the latest blockbuster movie for their date or family night.  What I did discover was Blockbuster TV was driven by the audio – that is what got people’s attention.  So we started to add voice overs to the trailers, especially to promote the star power in the new releases, and we also added the name of the movie and where it was in the store on the screen for when people did look up.  More research showed it moved the needle even more, to an average of 15.6%. 

I brought this data to my boss, who at the time was the VP of Advertising (and eventually became CMO), Brian Woods.  Super smart guy, he immediately built it into our marketing strategy.  One example was when the deals with the Hollywood Studios changed, we changed the Content Strategy of Blockbuster TV.  Blockbuster was sick of paying the full price for the movies (around $90) and started a rev-share deal, basically giving the studios a cut of the rental pie.  But those movies on the shelves in the middle of the store that most people bypassed?  Pure profit as they were paid for, so we started to promote those by playing off a new release.  For instance, when Tom Cruise came out with a new movie, we’d do a feature on all of his old movies that were gathering dust on the shelves.  And it worked, mainly with the power of audio.  Another example is when I put the Bill Murray clip from Caddyshack, “It’s in the hole.” Every time it would go up more than 60%.  Mind-blowing.  When we switched to DVD, we were able to do more control tests, comparing stores who got a different version of Blockbuster TV, which verified the data that Blockbuster TV was indeed driving sales.

We then set a media value on the network and sold partnerships with Coca-Cola, Buick and many other brands, adding their messages on Blockbuster TV. This generated some decent revenue that went directly into marketing.  It was truly a fun ride with an amazing brand and leadership under Wayne Huizenga’s team.  And it was one of the reasons we started MOTOTV.  My co-founder (Chris Mosera) and I were producing a race documentary for RedBull via our production arm, Garage Films, when we had the idea of putting it on the screens at a local powersports store, Fay Myers Motorcycle World in Colorado.  And it’s been a blockbuster.  The technology has improved to say the least!  We’re now able to change out the content instantly, adding videos from the brands that the store sells, while also giving the individual stores the ability to add their own messages, promotions, social media feeds, inventory and Google Reviews to their playlists.  We make it simple so you can focus on running your store.

But the biggest difference is that the visual aspect of our networks are now the main factor contrasted to the audio for Blockbuster TV.  Large LCD TVs are so inexpensive now, it’s a no-brainer to put these throughout your store and let your customers know about it. With a solid Content Strategy (that should focus on bold animated graphics to tell the story), you instantly have additional sales people at the point of sale that never call in sick or take lunch breaks. 

Give us a shout and we’ll show you how MOTOTV can drive sales for your stores and brand via an effective Content Strategy.  And we can also chat about some great old movies.

Gary Halpin  

Co-Founder, MOTOTV Networks