Have a Look: LG’s new 88-Inch Ultra Stretch Display

Coming soon: The new 88-inch Ultra Stretch Display (model 88BH7D), delivering over seven feet by nearly two feet of seamless UHD (3,840 x 1,080) content in a new widescreen-format 32:9 ratio.

Rated for 24/7 operation and with a webOS™ interface, this incredible display will make an outstanding menu board or digital banner in all kinds of commercial applications – either as a stand-alone display, layered together for an artistic video wall, or installed in a square pillar to create a 360-degree video column. With 700 nit brightness the image quality is breathtaking, for a truly immersive viewing experience. The 88-inch Ultra Stretch is also available with a touch overlay, making it an excellent choice for wayfinding and retail ‘endless aisle’ applications.

Read Tuesday’s post from Sixteen:Nine where Dave Haynes gets a first peek.

Watch the video from InfoComm 2017

Key Features

LG’s In-Plane Switching (IPS) LCD screen technology provides a true 178-degree wide viewing angle where the image quality is unaffected.

4 Divided Picture-by-Picture (PBP) allows you to divide the screen into as many as four parts, in landscape or portrait installations. It’s a very effective and convenient way to show several ads or pieces of information at the same time.

With the LG SuperSign™ Media Editor, you can easily edit images or video clips of original content to fit the unique 32:9 ratio.

The LAN daisy chain allows you to control and monitor devices, distribute content and even update firmware.

The display supports lateral tiling for 1×4 or 4×1 installations (landscape or portrait), and up to a 4×4 installation with a daisy chain configuration.

Built-in system-on-a-chip (SoC) enables seamless synced playback – eliminating the need to install PCs or media players to drive the content on each display.

Multiple Inputs: HDMI (3), DP, OPS, DVI-D, Analog Audio, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, SD Card

Output: DP, Analog Audio

Get ready to stretch your messaging capabilities even further. We’ll let you know as soon as the new display becomes available.

Today’s Modern Consumer

Laura-Cohen-

 

Laura Cohen is the Sr. Marketing/Communications Manager of the commercial division at LG Electronics USA, Inc.

She grew up in Deerfield, IL and enjoys: working out, snowboarding, cooking… not baking and music.

 


Thanks to technological advances, consumers are demanding ever more from the brands from which they buy: more convenience, more flexibility, and more personalization. Consumers no longer accept being treated like mere data points; they want to be treated as the individuals that they are.

This shift in consumer expectations has made it increasingly difficult for brands to keep up and stay relevant. Gone are the days where sending out a generic email or “liking” a customer comment on Facebook was all that was needed to keep customers happy and coming back to make purchases.

The “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach to marketing just doesn’t cut it anymore. With so many distractions from technology and other brands, it’s important for companies to be relevant, and to show they are taking into account the customer’s current behavior and history of interaction with them before they communicate with the customer.

No one wants to surf the web and be shown an ad for a product they just bought. The goal has shifted from talking at customers to conversing with them. Marketers need to create experiences that meet customer expectations and are meaningful and memorable enough to make them want to interact with their brand over and over. There’s more to marketing than pushing out your brand’s message.

Advances in technology give consumers more access to products and information, but they also give marketers more access to consumers. Don’t get fooled into thinking that marketers are the ones in total control. Consumers are now more empowered than ever.

They’re more informed. Today’s savvy consumer knows to read reviews before making purchase decisions. Along those lines, with just a few clicks, information created by subject‐matter experts (SMEs), allows consumers to thoroughly research a product like never before.

They’re more connected. Connecting with trusted friends, loved ones, and brands used to mean picking up the phone or sending an email. Social networking has made interacting quick and convenient.

They have the world at their fingertips. Literally.

The worldwide internet has opened up a global marketplace for consumers who can now easily choose the brand that meets their needs and expectations. What’s more, they can just as easily choose another one tomorrow should something better come along.

 

Brands and their marketers need to take customer interactions and experiences to a whole new level. With the ability to keep track of every customer interaction and then access that data in real time, brands can provide the highly personalized experiences that take into account the customer’s history of brand interaction and real‐time activity. This leads to a more relevant customer experience and increased customer loyalty. Who doesn’t want more of that?

LG Unveils OLED Wallpaper Hotel TV at HITEC 2017

If you missed the 2017 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference in Toronto, you missed a lot of excitement at the LG booth.

That’s because we unveiled the new razor-thin LG OLED Wallpaper Hotel TV. Like our LG OLED Wallpaper commercial display product, the TV can be easily installed in luxury hotel suites using ultra-slim mounting brackets with a magnetic mat to create a truly seamless design that becomes one with the wall without requiring additional construction costs. Its electrical components are housed in the TV’s media box, connected via a super-narrow and flat ribbon cable which allows the TV to lie flush with the wall like a piece of art.

This is the world’s first 65-inch class LG OLED Wallpaper Hotel TV, and it combines LG’s industry-leading hotel TV technology with the sleek aesthetic and unparalleled image quality and wide viewing angle of the award-winning LG SIGNATURE OLED TV W (currently available on the consumer market).

The difference is that the new hotel TV comes equipped with the Pro:Idiom® digital rights management system and flexible LG Pro:Centric® Smart applications platform, which makes navigating LG’s vast content options within the interactive platforms simple and fast.

The LG OLED Wallpaper Hotel TV also supports leading high dynamic range (HDR) formats, including HDR 10, Dolby Vision and HLG. What’s more, the TV’s powerful 4K upscaler enhances the details and colors of non-4K content to near-UHD quality.

And the sound? Fantastic. That’s because the TV is one of the first TVs in the world to incorporate Dolby Atmos audio. Guests will hear surround sound like never before with overhead audio for a theater-like experience in the comfort of their hotel room. If you were at CES 2017 and experienced our Dolby Atmos soundbar demonstration, then you know what it’s like. If not, you need to hear it to believe it.

If you’re a reseller, integrator or luxury hotelier looking for a way to enhance premium suites and provide an unforgettable in-room entertainment experience, the sleek look and amazing performance of the LG OLED Wallpaper Hotel TV offers breathtaking new ways to elevate your brand and engage your guests.

LG OLED Raises the Lotte World Tower Experience Even Higher

At 555 meters/1,821 feet/123 stories tall, Lotte Tower is the world’s fifth tallest building. This skyscraping multiplex in Seoul hosts an observatory, a shopping mall, offices and a hotel, as well as a steady flood of visitors. Over four million people are expected to visit the building for the countless attractions it offers, but there’s a specific spot which is a favorite to all.

That spot is Seoul Sky, home to the world’s highest glass-floored sky deck observatory. To get to Seoul Sky, visitors step onboard Sky Shuttle, the world’s fastest double-deck elevator wrapped in a spectacular video wall made by LG.

Sky Shuttle passengers are treated to a minute-long ride that’s built to thrill, because the elevator is lined top to bottom with 55-inch LG OLED panels, three on each side and six on the ceiling, presenting an amazing high-definition display of the beautiful and ever-changing scenery of Seoul.

LG OLED technology delivers perfect black, infinite contrast and intense, accurate colors—perfect for immersing the passengers in an incredibly vivid experience. And because the LG OLED panels are unbelievably thin and lightweight, they don’t weigh the elevator down or take up room, allowing the Sky Shuttle to carry more people faster.

Down below, the Lotte World Mall attracts visitors with 40, 84-inch wide LG UHD LCD displays. LG’s In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology provides a wide viewing angle where colors remain true-to-life and text reads clearly to attract and engage visitors all throughout the large space.

The Lotte PR room also features LG digital signage, with a 1×6 video wall showing live surrounding scenery from CCTV camera feeds, supplemented with weather details and safety information.

Another place of interest at Lotte World Tower is Signiel Seoul, a premium hotel with breathtaking views of Seoul’s magnificent skyline. LG 60-inch hospitality TVs adorn the guest rooms, mounted on the wall so as to best complement the interior design.

With world-class technological capability and artistic potential, the global landmark Lotte World Tower chose LG to enhance the versatile space. And as LG has noted, the signage you choose has the power to move hearts and minds.

Watch the amazing video here.

Dominos to LG Electronics – Laura Cohen Talks Marketing

Laura-Cohen-

 

Laura Cohen is the Sr. Marketing/Communications Manager of the commercial division at LG Electronics USA, Inc.

She grew up in Deerfield, IL and enjoys: working out, snowboarding, cooking… not baking  and music.

 

Laura’s favorite quote is:

“Dripping in this strange design, none is yours and far less mine. Hold the wheel, read the sign, keep the tires off the line. Just relax, you’re doing fine. Swimming in this real thing I call life. Can I bring a few companions on this ride – Phish

Why did you decide to get into marketing?

I liked that marketing utilizes both sides of the brain; creativity and analytic thought. Also, I enjoy the challenge of solving: “What’s the best way to create a loyal following, and how do you attract new prospects that become loyal?”

Was there a defining moment when you picked this career?

I was lucky enough to be selected to be an intern at Domino’s when I was in college (U-M, Ann Arbor). Everything about Domino’s was about marketing; the building, the wall colors, the messages and it all just kind of clicked for me.

What marketing initiatives are you working on right now? Anything unique?

We’re starting to get into Augmented Reality (AR) which will open a whole new world for us and our products. The more customers and/or prospects can interact with our products in a real setting; the more they feel that we’re offering the right, best product or solution just for them.

What digital marketing channels have you implemented in order to help grow your business?

Social, digital programmatic, online forums – I see how creating communities really helps expand the conversation. It allows us to listen to what’s on our customers’ or prospects’ minds.

Which specific channels have been most effective for your business?

Online communities, email of course, and our website where we host videos, tips and tools.

How does your company use data to determine marketing strategies?

We segment our files and use metrics to iterate and optimize on a regular basis. This helps us drive better leads down the conversion funnel. The more targeted we are with our data and segments, the stronger results we see.

Which tools does your company use to manage marketing initiatives?

Salesforce, Pardot, TechValidate, Optimost, Omniture

What is the biggest benefit of partnering/working with an agency?

The biggest benefit is the collaborative spirit and an “outside” view. Often, when you are “in” your business you take certain things in messaging or imaging for granted. That outside perspective can bring the focus back.

How do you form great partnerships with your agencies?

A good vendor relationship is all about open and honest communication at all times, mutual respect and the ability to compromise for the good of the project or brand.

What are you most excited about in the marketing industry?

Dynamic, interactive content and the new Augmented/Virtual Reality world we are entering.

Did you experience failure along the way? What did you learn from it?

Failure is part of the marketing “gig.” You learn the most when things don’t go quite right. If you are agile enough, you can iterate and make correction. This is why data and analytics are so important. You constantly test our your hypothesis based on data, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out how you planned it. Certain marketing messages, content pieces, and so on might not resonate as originally thought.

Value-add

Give the readers the best marketing advice you have.

Learn to make decisions and stand by them; don’t waffle. You can always test-fail-learn. Action is better than passivity.

While working on your project, have you come across any interesting bit of knowledge that you’d like to share?

You can’t please everyone or every customer. You don’t need to.

What daily habits do you have that allow you to perform at your peak?

I try to create a daily routine; check project status, check my dashboards, see if fellow team members have any hot issues before I get started on my daily work ahead of me.

Recommend a great marketing book!

Seth Godin, Augusten Bouroughs

 

A sales cycle just became virtual

sales_cycle

Hello B2B Marketers.

We hear it all the time. B2B sales cycles are long and some are longer than most due to the industry, product fit, seasonality and selling notions. Some sales cycles last a few months, some last years until an agreement is reached and an SOW/PO is cut.

At LG B2B, our success is based on sales relationships. Though our brand carries equity in the marketplace, a lot of our solutions are complex, technical in nature and setup, and require patience in the process. Our goal is to ensure that our customers get the right products that serve their needs both now and in the future to drive TCO savings, and that can take time.

But time in sales can be a double edged sword. Finding that right balance is a perplexing task that every company that sells in the B2B space is challenged with. Depending on the solutions, meetings and presentations often turn to hands on product demos and in environment pilots below a full scale buy. This is true at LG where most of our solutions are extremely hard to travel with and require time from the potential customer and sales teams to bring them onsite to walk them through our products. That’s the process of today. This stretches our sales cycles significantly.

A few smart heads came together and decided that something had to change.

Enter AR or Augmented Reality. Through AR itself is nothing new and the tech has existed for years, it has primarily been a consumer play. However, recently within the last year, a handful of companies has started to explore AR in a B2B space. We are proud to be one of them.

As head of digital, my job is to do the best I can to help my sales teams. From branding, awareness, education, lead gen, demand gen, tools etc, I need to ensure that I am arming my sales teams to go close deals faster. I have long been a fan of AR and our marketing team quickly understood the value of introducing AR into the sales cycle. The solution we came up with and plan to roll out this year is very exciting:

  1. Our products are too big to travel but are needed in potential customer environments for size and specs before a “buy” commitment is made. It made complete sense to arm our sales team with an AR app with “visualizes” our products in a customer’s native environment in real time.
  2. Our sales teams will be able to confidently walk into a customer meeting, pitch our solutions in a meeting, walk with the customer to the actual environment, fire up our AR app, “visualize” the right product within that environment, measure and then lock in a visual blueprint ready to be shared with the customer via email. All in the same meeting.
  3. Will this replace the need for product demos or actual units? Not completely. But our goal is to accelerate those sales conversations wherever possible to get to a closed opportunity.

Slated to launch on Android and IOS phones and tablets in the latter half of 2017, I am super excited to integrate AR into my selling stack. A mentor once told me “find the path of least resistance to the first dollar”. This program certainly amplifies that.

If you have questions about AR or process flow, feel free to ping me.

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES: Hospitality Industry Success is Technology-Enabled


Lyle Bunn

LYLE BUNN

Digital Media Strategy Architect, BUNN
Lyle@LyleBunn.com
Lyle Bunn is an independent analyst, advisor and educator providing digital place-based signage expertise to end users in the planning, design, sourcing and optimization of their initiatives. He has published more than 300 articles, whitepapers and “how to” guides and helped to train over 10,000 end user and supply professionals. See www.LyleBunn.com.

 

The focus was on customer experience during the annual hospitality industry technology exposition and conference (HITEC) in Toronto June 2017. Reservation systems, guest connectivity, visual media and analytics were at the top of the priority list toward increased guest satisfaction and business success.

New technologies are seen as key to helping hotel and hospitality facilities attract and meet the growing demands of the empowered consumer.

The experience journey in hospitality that includes dream, plan, book, travel and share is somewhat similar to the product purchase in retail in which consumers discover, compare, reserve, try, buy and share, so it is no coincidence that hospitality and retail are examining similar customer experience solutions.

Kurt Weinsheimer, SVP, Property Solutions at Sojern said during a conference session on technology disruption “Hospitality has undergone the same kinds of changes in price transparency and consumer sourcing options that retailers are experiencing.”

“We should not be schizophrenic about customer self-service such as cell phone as room key, as there is still plenty of room for service in the hospitality industry” said one hospitality insider who had attended the conference in each of more than twenty years of its annual operation.

Brian Clark, Partner at Hudson Crossing advised hospitality providers to “identify those technologies that meet consumer demands, including mobile and ease of payments that solve time and convenience expectations, and personalization capabilities that use CRM data to deliver relevant, informed offers”. His advice applies to a range of technologies.

Connectivity is at the top of the guest requirements list.“We understand that fast and reliable Wi-Fi is at the top of the list of services for hotel guests,” said Matthew FitzGerald, Director of Hospitality Sales Engineering at Ruckus. “As guests bring more and more devices that connect to the Wi-Fi network and the number of applications, such as TV casting increase, the demands on the Wi-Fi network will also increase. Multi-gigabit Wi-Fi is an ideal solution that will help hotels meet the increased network demands these devices and applications place on the network.”

“Seamless does not exist,” said Rob Miller of CCI Systems, noting, “It is about the quality and elegance of the tailoring as elements are integrated. Fitzgerald added, “Transparency in end user access is the key issue, whether it is cellular, Wi-Fi, LTE, or radio frequencies that are emerging in the consumer telecom spectrum”.

Text to guest was a subject of many discussions. Jennifer Green of Hyatt said, “All communications must be undertaken with the intention of caring for the guest. Text messages provide an excellent forum to capture sentiment based on key words that are used.

Raman (R.P.) Rama, VP & CTO/CIO at JHM Hotels added, “Text messaging is the next wave of customer experience. Call centers do not improve CX when scripts are inadequate or there is no ability to provide service outside the prescribed frame of response. Text messages are considered more like telephone conversations than emails by consumers, and every message and interaction presents the personality of the brand, so digital engagement has to have rules and principles just as other interactions and communications do. Text messages should be as courteous, contextually relevant and as person as possible. Texting tends to be a more personal type of communications, so the operator has to use full words, correct spelling and be aware that a permanent record of the interaction is being established, and may be used against the facility”.

Analytics were also top of mind for delegates. Brian Clark of the hospitality consultancy Hudson Crossing declared “Data is providing advantage to some and leaving others in the dust. Those who use data to gain advantage are in a position to make offers based on a predicted outcome”.

Brent McKay, the CEO and Founder of Bulzi Media Inc. is bringing extraordinary levels of customer awareness with focus on the hospitality sector. “By merging robust consumer datasets with our mobile intelligence platform we can tell operators much, much more than they currently know about their customers, and this can enable highly targeted ad campaigns, customized offers and mobile marketing.”

Providers of visual media were prominent at HITEC17.

“As the industry leader in hotel TVs, LG is pleased to showcase our latest innovations at HITEC 2017. In keeping with the proliferation of high quality images, Ultra HD content and innovative design within the TV industry, LG’s latest hotel TVs enable hoteliers to provide guests the state-of-the-art viewing experiences they’ve become accustomed to in their homes,” said Garry Wicka, head of marketing at LG Electronics USA Business Solutions. “Seamless guest experiences are a priority to LG, which is why our latest 4K hotel TVs feature LG’s Pro:Centric and Pro:Idiom content management systems, as well as LG’s webOS smart TV platform so that scanning content and questing service applications is as easy as the click of a button.

“Our latest technologies from the world’s thinnest hotel TV — the LG OLED Wallpaper Hotel TV — to the new LG STB-5500 Pro:Centric Smart set-top-box with a powerful 4K upscaler, enable hoteliers to provide guests premium in-room experiences that maximize their ability to relax and travel with ease” Said Wicka.

Hospitality TV leader LG Electronics USA Business Solutions is launching an advanced new content management system for hotels called Pro:Centric® Direct that features an innovative authoring tool using drag and drop widgets as well as new over-the-top Internet video streaming and casting services. The upgraded Pro:Centric Direct platform allows system integrators virtually unlimited design options for guest user interfaces while providing them access to new streaming services in partnership with system integrators.

“With the LG Pro:Centric Direct platform, integrators now have even more freedom to create customized layouts aligned to each hotelier’s specific brand standards for delivery of entertainment services and compendium information to hotel guests,” said Mike Kosla, vice president, hospitality, LG Electronics USA Business Solutions. “This new platform is unparalleled in its ability to interact directly with guests, making any hotel stay feel personalized while providing the guests’ access to a variety of entertainment options, including video streaming from mobile devices.”1

Amazon outlined their success in what they call “skills” to their Alexa voice interface platform. The 15,000 skills are akin to mobile apps but are subject matter specific to the Alexa platform which combines automated speech recognition (ASR) and natural language understanding (NLU). Amazon wishes to offer Alexa to manage devices in the guest room (lighting, curtains, etc.) but does not go further in describing guest benefit or how Amazon benefits. It is suggested that Alexa, as with interactive digital signage and kiosks now available underpinned by a clear business model, could serve as an automated concierge to respond to frequently asked questions.

22 Miles showcased digital concierge options along with visual wayfinding and the ability to push on-location and other relevant stay information to a mobile device. “We are getting more requests for mobile as a phase one function than ever before” said Tomer Mann, SVP, Global Sales of 22 Miles. Mann added, “we are seeing more demand from a range of corporations beyond the hospitality industry. I think hospitality is just starting to understand the need for mobile as a main functional guest experience as indicated by several large brands approaching us at HITEC looking for such a mobile strategy as they are in a proof of concept phase. They want to integrate the wayfinding, but also consider proximity based beacons or Wi-Fi integrations to help guests navigate or be introduced to in-house promotions or specials while walking close to a restaurant,
spa or other decision points”.

Jim Vair, President of Capital Networks Limited described how the firm’s roots in broadcast and cable television, along with its tools and experience help hotel owners create and manage their own custom in-room television channels. “These channels provide a useful resource for hotel guests by presenting local information, data driven content, local TV listings and local entertainment listings” Vair said, adding “Capital Networks is also promoting the use of advanced technologies (NFC and beacons) with in-room television channels to engage the guests’ mobile device and entice the guest back out of their room to use various hotel facilities and partnered local attractions”.

Regarding public facing media, the travelling public is quite accustomed to digital signage and getting useful information from screens all-throughout their journey. Within the hotel, digital signage is a tool to promote hotel amenities, meeting room schedules, flight information and loyalty programs. These same screens are an excellent opportunity to promote, upsell, cross-sell and build loyalty with customers. Touch screen and engagement with mobile devices (NFC and beacons) provide a new level of service to meet the needs guests.

In conclusion, the empowered consumer is adding pressure to pricing and reservation systems, to improvements to the guest experience and to visit connectivity and other service. The hospitality industry is therefore challenged with improved technology planning, assessment, sourcing, integration and investment validation.

HITEC, the world’s largest hospitality technology shows are planned for Dubai, UA (Nov 14-15) and Amsterdam (April 11-13, 2018). Watch for HITEC18 North
America information at https://www.hftp.org/hitec/.


1
Press release by LG published at http://www.digitalsignageconnection.com/lg-­‐unveils-­‐procentric-­‐direct-­‐hospitality-­‐management-­‐system