Case Study: LG Commercial Lite TVs Redefine the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center Experience

The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, NC, wanted to enhance their Belk Theater lobby in a way that would give guests a seamless experience prior to and during theater performances. The goal was to use digital signage displays to promote coming attractions, detail concession stand offerings in real time and also allow guests to keep enjoying the show even if they had to step out of the theater before intermission.

There were challenges for the displays to overcome, including bright ambient created by the sun illuminating the lobby through the building’s all-glass front façade. Plus, the Blumenthal A/V team wanted to install the displays themselves, meaning that easy installation and setup were paramount.

It took only 15 cost-effective LG Commercial Lite TVs to transform the Belk Theater lobby into an environment that entices and engages theatergoers, exactly as planned. Download the case study and learn how.

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Learn How Small Format Displays Can Make a Big Impact

For many consumers, the smartphone has become a powerful information gathering and shopping tool. However, interactive and intuitive small format displays and tablets employed at the point-of-purchase can close the feedback loop and provide more knowledge. An engaged and knowledgeable customer is a powerful ally, and these displays can allow them to make even smarter buying decisions.

Download our Small format displays make a BIG impact eBook and learn how these displays can enable businesses to manage their brand, control messaging and provide outstanding customer engagement compared with other conventional means. You’ll find out why they are here to stay, how and where they can be used and how they can benefit your company.

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The 3 C’s of Experiential Marketing

damaris-toma-blog

 

Damaris Toma

Experiential Marketing Manager LG B2B

 

 

 

How do you stand out against all the noise and competition at some of the largest tradeshows in our business? How can you ensure your customers will give up 3+ hours of their busy day to drive to your roadshow and see the latest products your brand has to offer? And more so, what will keep them coming back, year after year?

The below 3 C’s of Experiential Marketing are three core rules we check ourselves against as we plan our various events throughout the year for LG Commercial Displays.

  • Customer Is Always First: Whether you’re in B2B or B2C, you have to live by this rule, but what does this actually look like in our business?
    • As event marketers, we are lucky enough to see a direct response on our customer’s face as they’re stepping into our booth/event for the first time, learning about our latest technology, or seeing our products in action. We are in the business of impressing them and helping them walk away with more knowledge about our products + solutions than they walked in with. Since they’ve chosen to spend their time with us, we want to make it worthwhile.
  • Collaborate With Your Partners: It’s important in our business to treat our partners as that, partners! Their solutions and offers can enhance our own showcased product & tech and create a better story for the customer/attendee. When we involve and collaborate with our partners, our customers get a fuller picture of what our company can offer.

Change Constantly: We can’t succeed in experiential if we don’t recognize the rapid pace with which our business changes. I heard a great question that stuck with me recently: “What is the ROI of not trying new things?” We can’t grow, evolve, and get better if we don’t take calculated risks. What worked last year won’t necessarily cut it this year, and what gave us success at our recent tradeshow doesn’t always translate into success at our next roadshow. Experiential is a journey, not a destination, so be curious and take risks, and if you have to fail, do it fast and keep learning.

Hospitality: The One Question We Get the Most

“What if it fails?”

Hoteliers want to provide the best experiences for their guests 24/7. And the last thing anybody wants is a room without TV entertainment.

That’s why we believe LG hospitality TVs and digital signage should have the best support possible. And LG’s 5-Star Service program doesn’t disappoint.

Here’s how it works: LG’s 5-Star Service is free and covers hotels in the major metropolitan areas. Once our hotel customer registers for 5-Star Service, we provide an LG-employed technician as a single point of contact that will become a familiar face on the property, and can even be considered an extension of the hotel staff. We are the only manufacturer that has factory-authorized and certified commercial technicians out in the field. For most cases if the hotel has a warranty issue with an LG in-room TV or common-area digital signage they will get an LG service van dispatched within 48 hours. The service technician can make a variety of repairs onsite.

We are also the only company that offers preventive maintenance service, where the technician will make courtesy visits to the hotel on a regular basis to greet the staff, answer questions, check product performance and do whatever is required.

As a backup, LG offers a 1-800 service number in the event the technician is completely booked or the hotel is out of the 5-Star Service area. In that case the local or regional authorized LG service center can often dispatch a technician within 48 to 72 hours, coordinated with LG’s warranty division. If the job calls for a warranty replacement, LG provides a timely turnaround.

Sometimes accidents can happen to guest-room TVs or digital signage displays. We’ve heard some crazy stories and it’s obvious that hotel employees have seen it all. In that case, we support out-of-warranty service at a flat rate of $150 (parts and labor except for module changes).

With LG’s 5-Star Service, hoteliers can relax and enjoy the kind of world-class attention and support they strive to give their guests.

Hotel TVs vs. Consumer TVs: A Matter of Accommodations.

When the time comes for hoteliers to purchase new televisions for the guest rooms, the first inclination might seem obvious—go to the local big-box store and make a big purchase. After all, those TVs have the latest high resolution options and features, and they’d be familiar to guests. Sounds like a plan, right?

Maybe not.

Consumer-grade TVs are not built for use in hotel guest rooms, and can actually create more work and waste more time than their discounts are worth. Today we’ll go over the differences between LG’s commercial-grade hospitality TVs and consumer-grade TVs.

LG is the proven leader in commercial-grade hospitality televisions—TVs built from the inside out for use in hotel guest rooms. We provide the latest Pro:Centric® full HD, 4K and smart hotel TVs in an array of sizes all the way up to 75-inch ultra-slim smart TVs. And for the luxury suites we have the ultimate in-room entertainment with the revolutionary new razor-thin LG OLED Wallpaper hospitality TVs—one of the first TVs in the world to incorporate Dolby Atmos® sound.

On top of that, LG is the only manufacturer to offer a Pro:Centric smart set-top box made for the hospitality industry that enables smart functionality on non-smart LG TVs. Hoteliers now have the ability to upgrade their non-smart LG TVs to better accommodate today’s technology-enabled guests.

Here’s a huge plus for hotels: LG’s hospitality TVs have the built-in capability to support customized applications and guest services through a wide array of system integrators and service partners. And the TVs can be set up all at once, quickly and easily, via the LG Pro:Centric server at the head end, eliminating the need to go from room to room setting up one TV at a time. (Check out last week’s blog where we summarized the advantages of Pro:Centric and the new Pro:Centric Direct platform.)

Now just to be fair, let’s have quick rundown of LG commercial-grade hospitality TVs vs. consumer-grade TVs from the big-box store:

LG Hospitality TVs

  • Includes Pro:Idiom® digital decryption, so no cable/satellite box is required to view premium High Definition channel content
  • Free LG 5-Star Service with 2-year on-site warranty service and preventive maintenance visits
  • TVs include anti-theft systems such as a lock-down swivel base, built-in Kensington slot cable system; credenza hole; lock-down plate with anti-theft mounting hardware
  • Remote management – Provides the ability to set up the TVs all at once via LG’s Pro:Centric server; enables integrators to create an interactive electronic programming guide and interactive welcome screens to highlight property amenities, guest services and more
  • Set start channel and volume limiter
  • Set start volume at power-up
  • Key lock prevents guests from accessing TV menu settings where picture settings can be disrupted
  • Label channels with specific network labels regardless of location in the USA
  • Optional Pro:Centric smart set-top box adds smart functionality to non-smart hospitality TVs

Now, let’s have a look at what hotels get with consumer-grade TVs:

 

Consumer TVs

  • Cable/satellite box is required for viewing
  • 1-year parts / 90 days labor warranty
  • TVs must be carried in for repair
  • No lock down mechanism included
  • Individual room visits required to set up
  • No hospitality features

Need we say more?

Next week we’ll tell you about LG’s industry-leading free 5-Star Service program for hotels.

LG’s New Pro:Centric Direct Goes Over-the-Top

LG’s leading hospitality IPTV platform has been upgraded. It’s called Pro:Centric® Direct and it features an innovative authoring tool with drag and drop widgets as well as new over-the-top (OTT) Internet video streaming of YouTube, Hulu and Crackle. The Pro:Centric Direct platform is available on new LG Smart hotel TVs and allows system integrators virtually unlimited design options for guest user interfaces and welcome screens.

Hoteliers can use the Pro:Centric Direct welcome screen to welcome guests into their rooms, advertise their brand with their logo and colors, promote hotel amenities and local attractions, and run a looping marketing video as the guest arrives in the room. A systems integrator at the head can even add the guest’s name to the welcome screen.

For guests, the welcome screen features an IP interface for two-way communications, so they can place room service orders, make appointments at the spa, interact with the concierge, review their portfolio and check out, all from the TV. They’ll no longer have to search the room for menus and information.

Guests can also stream content from their Android devices via the TV’s built-in Miracast and WiDi. And Pro:Centric Direct enables LG’s system integrator partners to interface their own network servers so guests can pair and stream content from iOS and Chromecast devices as well.

Setting LG hotel TVs couldn’t be easier, as it’s all done at the head end. Put all the available channels into the Pro:Centric server, add the channel labels, volume limiter, key defeat (turns off the menu key on the remote), and the color, tint and brightness settings. Everything the hotel wants for the guest room TVs is downloaded into the server. No more going room by room.

When the guest turns on the TV it downloads all the server settings in about 30 seconds and it’s done. Every TV is exactly the same. With LG Pro:Centric Direct it really is that simple.