LG Steps Out in High Fashion

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It’s not empty marketing speak when we say that LG commercial displays can draw customers into your store. Case in point: Luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney. McCartney’s work is world-renowned, and just last Saturday at the Royal Wedding we saw her standout creations with Oprah Winfrey in pale pink, Amal Clooney’s goldenrod-yellow look, and the lily-white evening reception gown draping Meghan, the new Duchess of Sussex.

To make a splash for the Spring/Summer season, the fashion brand installed a unique digital mosaic window display in 11 stores across the US, Europe and Asia.

As Daniel Sait of Commercial Integrator Europe reports, “To capture the attention of customers before they enter the store, Stella McCartney, entrusted specialist integrator and digital content developers, Freehand, to deliver innovative digital signage displays from manufacturer, LG Electronics.

“Taking a new approach to the standard 2 x 2 or 3 x 3 video walls for this project, a combination of different display sizes are configured into a mosaic formation. The 11 video walls spread across continents comprise of 59 displays from LG’s SM5KD range in sizes 32in – 55in hung in both landscape and portrait.”

So where does LG come into play? Sait continues: “LG was selected due to its consistency of product across international markets, meaning that one sole specification could be applied to each store. The displays were chosen for their high bright design at 450 nits, meaning they perform well in the high ambient light environment of the store windows.”

Read the full story here and check out more case studies to see the real benefits that real businesses are reaping with LG displays.

 

Maximizing Graduates’ Experiences for a Better Return on Investment

Student enrollment has increased but alumni donations have decreased threefold since the 80’s. Students aren’t donating as much as they used to since they aren’t feeling connected to their schools. This is a significant amount of revenue that is being lost. Graduates have a prominent role in revenue just as much as they did when they were enlisted in school – if not, more so.

I once attended a rival school’s basketball game and was in awe of their equipment. The court was huge and the event was memorable because the students were heavily invested in the game. Between the chanting fans and state-of-the-art technology, it was clear that the school was also invested in creating the best experiences for their students.

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Students want amazing experiences and to know that their school is dedicated to investing in those experiences. Displays can help you showcase your next school event and create excitement amongst students while showing outsiders how your school stands out from the rest.

Additional, more students are returning for further studies to get ahead in the competitive job market and schools are competing for the second round. Marketing and connecting with the students while they’re completing their undergraduate degree puts your school at an advantage. If students aren’t creating meaningful connections with their school that prepares them for the corporate world, they won’t attribute their success to your school. Ensure that this doesn’t happen is by investing in your school. The most effective way of creating unique experiences for students is to invest in new technologies that speak to students.

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Investing in displays also allows for a better return on investment – it provides an updated and modern feel that presents the feeling of where students “have to be” to be recognized. Set your school apart from other schools by investing in the tools that matter in the digital landscape of tomorrow. This is one way to ensure students are donating back to schools. Displays can be used as:

•    interactive displays that are used in future workplaces.

•    informative displays to advertise events

•    large screens for sporting events to replay clips during downtime will allow for sporting events to run flawlessly.

Schools must think about students beyond their initial anticipation because their influence extends far beyond their program’s duration and into the workplace.

To maximize your revenue on graduates, make sure your students have the best experiences by which they remember their school as well as convincing them to stay for post-graduate degrees. Schools should be maximizing potential revenue from graduates to ensure a healthy budget for the oncoming years.

Don’t let this opportunity slip away.

How to Retain Students After Enrollment

Recruitment is an expensive process, it often involves traveling, conducting interviews and screenings and more. You invest a lot in making sure that you have the right students for your school and after enrollment, you want to make sure they stay there. Unfortunately, the latest studies show that drop-out rates are on the rise and that 1 in 3 students will drop out in their first year. This is alarming as it means that schools may be losing money on recruiting these students! Ultimately, this means a poorer school environment for everyone involved.

To address this issue, it’s important to fully diagnose it. The top concerns for first-year students who drop out are feelings of disconnection with their school and worries about their classes. After the lengthy process of applying to, visiting and enrolling in a school, these students end up feeling lost in a sea of thousands. This is a sad situation for all involved. However, it can be improved by fostering a more positive and open relationship between the student and school. To do so, communicating with students in a medium they are familiar with is essential and can be done in a passive, friendly manner by using digital displays.

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These displays can be used to promote extra-curricular activities and other events through which students to become more involved on campus. Students who are involved in clubs are less likely to drop out because they hold relationships outside of academics and are generally happier.

Digital displays can also be used inside the classroom. A common first-year experience is going to your first large class (>300 people) and not being able to properly hear the lecturer or copy down notes. This can lead students to feel dejected and isolated. Large digital displays could make these notes crystal clear for all students so that this feeling doesn’t occur. These students are also then more likely to seek help from faculty when they need it.

It’s important that schools try to aid their students and provide a supportive atmosphere where they can succeed. Investment in digital displays helps create this atmosphere and brings students closer together. In the end this means that increased student satisfaction and more revenue for the school.

Highly mobile job? Drop the weight and pick up performance.

Highly mobile business professionals and content creators operate in a fast-paced, unpredictable landscape where they could find themselves working just about anywhere, anytime. An advantage for such environments is a laptop with a super-lightweight grab-and-go design, the durability to handle some bumps and bangs, and a battery to tackle a busier day than yesterday. On top of that, the processing power to multitask effortlessly wouldn’t hurt.

Enter the business edition LG gram laptops.

These slim, sleek gram (short for kilogram) laptops are powered by 8th Generation Intel® Core i5 or i7 Processors and run Windows 10 Professional (64 bit). They’re lighter than air and purpose-built for business.

With one of the lightest laptop weights on the market today and a strong yet flexible all-metal body, the 14- and 15.6-inch LG grams can fit seamlessly into the day-to-day life of pros on the go.

The 14-inch grams weigh a mere 2.14 lbs., and the 15.6-inchers tip the scales at only 2.4 lbs. Their metal alloy bodies are crafted from advanced nano carbon, a cutting-edge material developed by LG, and magnesium, commonly used in electric cars to make the body frame up to 20 percent stronger. It’s a combination that provides strength and resistance to external shock for increased durability.

Both gram versions are equipped with quick-charging 60-watt batteries, offering up to 16.9 hours and 13.4 hours on a full charge, respectively. Mobile professionals are now free to crunch numbers, meet deadlines or stream while traveling, long after others have quit.

With such a slim, lightweight design and large battery you might think LG grams had to give up something. Ports perhaps? Not so. The 15.6-inch grams house a standard HDMI port, USB 2.0 port, two USB 3.0 ports, a USB Type-C port and a Micro-SD slot. From that array, 14-inch grams eliminate only the USB 2.0 port. There’s no need to carry a bunch of plug adapters.

The picture quality is sweet. The Full HD (1920 x 1080) LCD displays feature LG’s renowned IPS screen technology, the same technology used in LG TVs, desktop monitors and commercial displays. IPS delivers accurate, vivid colors and crisp, clear images from virtually any angle.

Other plusses include a backlit keyboard with adjustable brightness, daylight mode for a clear view at an outdoor café, reader mode to reduce eye fatigue, fingerprint ID for security and dual channel DDR4 memory for speed.

These LG grams work hard, but they play hard too. To that end, DTS Headphone: X processing provides thrilling, nuanced surround sound through the headphone jack. It delivers the expansive effect of 11.1 channels of audio without the need for an elaborate speaker system. Headphones are not included, but any will do.

The LG gram business edition laptops with Windows 10 Professional are available through authorized LG resellers. Business or pleasure? How about both. Get a closer look at the line here.

High mobility can bring unexpected bumps and drops. How does LG gram hold up?

 

How to Maximize Sales through Student Involvement

Universities and colleges are facing tight budgets and rising operational costs. At the same time, schools no longer enjoy the monopoly over student’s wallets that they once did.  Businesses are encroaching on campuses and are actively marketing to students.  Gone are the days of students eating at the school cafeteria seven days a week and purchasing stationery primarily at the school store. In this environment, it can be risky to rely solely on state funding, endowments and tuition. To compete, you must update your marketing toolkit.

One of the major reasons that businesses are so effectively able to get students to purchase their products is their use of modern technology to communicate with students and build relationships. Unfortunately, many schools are still relying on outdated communication methods such as posters, flyers, emails and newspaper publications for these purposes. In the digital era, these tools simply don’t work for students. Partially due to this, many students today don’t feel a deep connection with their school – ultimately meaning they are less likely to attend ticketed school events, buy school gear, etc.Blog3-Image1

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In fact, this was my personal experience with university as I would just go to classes and then would immediately leave afterward to one of my two-part time jobs. I wasn’t part of any club activities and never socialized at school eateries. Although I tried to find out, I never knew when sporting events were going on because the information wasn’t online and easily accessible. Plus, when I was hungry, I did a quick Google search to see what was open.

Unfortunately, my experience is not unique, and I saw many of my peers in the same situation. This is a shame because community building is an essential part of the school experience. To build this community, you need to go digital. Technology is the only way to communicate with students in a way they are familiar with and can respond to. Luckily, you have a big advantage over the business you are competing against – the students are already physically at the school for classes. You just need to effectively reach out to them. A great way in which you can do this is by incorporating digital displays.

These displays can be placed throughout your campus; both outside and inside buildings. They can:

  • Show up to date information on the latest school events which will create interest and inform students who regularly walk through campus for classes only. Indeed, students who don’t participate in school activities present a market of wasted potential, and often it’s simply because they don’t know what is going on. Ensuring that your student body is aware of on-going events is a surefire way of maximizing returns on investments in events.
  • Feature beautiful images and videos highlighting the abundant stores that are available to students right on campus. If students are aware of these alternatives, they are much less likely to go off-campus as there is an undeniable convenience of shopping on campus. Why would a student take the bus to a fast food store, when school cafeterias with delicious looking food are so readily accessible? In fact, not only will this increase foot traffic, but ultra-wide displays will provide students with the ability to see the menu even in long queues – ensuring that long lines don’t get stuck due to students not knowing what to order.Blog3-Image2

  • Incorporate software solutions which can collect valuable data on student buyer habits. This data can then be used to drive other ventures by letting you know what works and what doesn’t. This allows you to constantly optimize your campaigns so that you can get better and better returns on your investment

Universities and colleges are places of learning, but they are also so much more. They are communities, businesses, and centers of research. By incorporating digital displays, you can help ensure that your school remains financially stable while also bringing student closer together. It’s a win-win!

How to Attract International/Out of State Students

Keeping a university running is very expensive and universities are continually fighting to raise funds to provide top education for their students. Universities today need to walk the fine line between keeping tuition affordable while balancing increasing operational costs. There are several ways in which this issue can be addressed; a particularly enticing source of revenue is the higher tuition paid by out-of-state students.

Today, more international and out-of-state students than ever are coming to the United States. These students spend, on average 2-3 times more than the average domestic student. This revenue can directly benefit universities. Most universities are aware of this, but they often don’t properly market their schools to this valuable group.

Marketing to students in other states or other countries comes with unique challenges as investing parents may evaluate everything from classrooms to nearby coffee shops. For some families, planning and researching what schools their children will begin before they learn to walk. To them, enrolling in the right school will involve nearly 20 years of planning, savings, and investments. The entirety of the family’s savings and reputation can ride on a student’s success at a school abroad – sometimes even selling homes to ensure they can afford their child’s education. For them, this is not just about choosing a school; it is the opportunity to escape from a hard life of poverty.

With so much at stake and the advent of the new digital age, many students and parents are researching online to see what the campus looks like before they even set foot in the country. In many cases, this research is done in languages other than English.

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These are substantial challenges, but they also present valuable opportunities for those universities who are willing to put in the effort to stand out. Universities can appeal to parents by implemented affordable yet cutting-edge technology such as digital displays. These displays can

 

•    Show emergency alerts to students in times of crisis. Parents are naturally worried about their children, and this fear can heighten when their children are going far from home. These displays will signal to parents that your school cares about the safety of their loved ones.

•    Show navigational maps which help students find buildings, empty students rooms and more. Parents may be concerned that their children will get lost in the large and unfamiliar environment of the school and this will help assuage those concerns.

•    Easily integrate with content management solutions to display content in multiple languages. This signals to parents that you provide an inviting campus which welcomes students from diverse backgrounds.

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International and out of state students can also add a lot to your school aside from increased revenue. They can provide a unique perspective and help enliven your campus. If you can demonstrate to these students and their parents that you understand their concerns and have taken the step of investing in the technology to help them feel at home, your school can reap the substantial rewards.

 

Opportunities Abound for Digital Signage in Education

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For resellers and systems integrators working with educational facilities, the opportunities for networked commercial display installations extend far beyond the classroom. Because commercial displays offer a variety of innovative form factors and interactive functions, there are plenty of places across most campuses where digital signage can grab attention and improve day-to-day operations.

Campus Entrance

Digital signage can keep students, their families and faculty informed and updated with upcoming events, closures and more. Outdoor and semi-outdoor displays plus window-facing indoor displays enhance the school’s image and increase engagement year-round.

Lobby/Reception

Video walls and UHD interactive displays can greet visitors with a breathtaking view and show them the way around. From single-map displays to touch screens with apps for off-loading directions, wayfinding solutions can be as simple or as complex as needed.

Hallways and Classroom Entrances

Stretched and razor-thin displays in the hallways can provide pertinent information before class, campus news and announcements, and instant alerts with instructions in case of emergency. Common-area digital signage increases student/faculty/visitor awareness and improves administrative effectiveness.

Administrative Office

UHD multi-touch signage enables the office to be highly organized, efficiently separating information for students and faculty via kiosk. Easy centralized content management ensures a quick response to daily requests, updates and alerts.

Library

Stretched and standard digital signage inside and outside the library can increase student foot traffic and facilitate management of resources and real-time content. Study areas equipped with cloud-based zero client virtual computers ensure that online research is secure.

Auditorium/Lecture Hall

Captivating 4K UHD video walls provide mega-screen lesson support and entertainment with outstanding image quality and can also be used to promote upcoming events. Our online Video Wall Configurator makes it easy to visualize the best solution for the space.

Student Lounge

Commercial-grade TVs provide UHD entertainment with the advantages of durability, long-term reliability, real-time messaging, and a lockout feature to prevent unauthorized access to menu settings and feature sets.

Conference Room

Educational facilities can create automated videoconferencing rooms for tele-education using Crestron Connected® certified and Cisco Spark® Room Kit compatible displays, and easily communicate with students and schools worldwide.

Cafeteria

Schools can keep cafeteria lines moving via stretched displays and menu boards showing daily specials, nutritional information and high-resolution images to whet appetites. Content can be quickly updated from a central location.

Court and Field

Massive indoor and outdoor direct-view LED displays can provide a state-of-the-art college sports experience for the court and field.

Need Inspiration? Have a Look

Check out our Higher Education LookBook and see how commercial displays can blend into the environment, enhance the environment or become the environment, campus-wide.

How Upgrading your Campus Tour Will Attract Students

First impressions are made within the first ten seconds, and campus tours are no exception. These tours have the potential to be recruitment powerhouses which captivate students and make parents feel secure. Unfortunately, few universities take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and nearly every campus tour looks the same. There is a guide who takes prospective students around the school and points out the library, classrooms, dormitories and sports fields.  Every school seems to follow this formula, but you don’t have to be just one of the crowd.

If you want your campus to stand out so that you can attract the best and brightest, you need to show prospective students – and their parents – that you can fulfill all their needs and answer their key questions and concerns.

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Beginning post-secondary can be scary, even for top students. They often have questions such as:

•    The campus is so much bigger than my high school – how will I learn my way around?

•    I am leaving my friends behind – Will I be able to make new ones?

•    What do I do if I am struggling with the material

Providing answers to these important questions – which many students think about but don’t vocalize – will greatly put students at ease and give them a better feeling about your school. Of course, answering student’s concerns is only half the battle. Parents still hold a substantial amount of sway in their children’s decisions – especially if they are paying the bills!  Parents often have a different set of concerns to be addressed.  They are worried about issues like: student safety, healthy food options, and academic quality. Addressing these issues early is the best way to convince prospective students and their parents that your school is the right place for them to spend the next four years of their life.

When preparing answers to these questions, it’s important to remember that you need to impress and speak to students in their language to have your recruitment investments pay-off. Millennials have grown up with technology and have high expectations for its integration. In 2017, 80 percent of all students at a university or college in America had a smartphone, and many grew up with the latest devices at their fingertips. This group is unlikely to fall in love with a school which has broken technology, or worse, a lack thereof.

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An investment in technology can make both students and parents more comfortable – and ultimately increase your ROI. There are a number of ways by which you can incorporate cutting-edge technology into your campus tour:

•    Replacing typical cafeteria menus with outdoor displays that advertise fresh, healthy eating options

•    Implementing beautiful large display screens in select lecture halls instead of traditional projectors

•    Installing new campus displays outside of classrooms featuring interactive maps which help student orient themselves on campus and find buildings and available study rooms

•    Having glossy ultra-wide screens that display weather warnings, upcoming events, and school alerts to bolster communications between students and faculty.

Showcasing these solutions signal to prospective students that your school is investing in technologies that are part of tomorrow’s digital landscape. Students want to go to a school that impresses them and that they can be proud of. Such displays also impress on parents that the school has a focus on learning – not on frat houses and party environments.

It’s time to take your campus tour to the next level.

Remember, these students are arriving with the sole purpose of judging your school to decide where they will spend the next period of their lives, and you won’t get a second chance to impress them.

Make it count!

LG Technology Scores rAVe Awards at DSE 2018

We’re pleased to announce that LG commercial display technology was awarded Best of DSE 2018 by rAVe [Publications] in three categories.

According to rAVe, “We sent reporters to EVERY booth/stand at DSE 2018 and we selected the TOP products in every possible product category for our 2018 Best of DSE Awards. No other publication — or entity for that matter — goes to every booth at the DSE show and sees every new product demo’d or launched at DSE in Las Vegas annually — so these are THE BEST of THE BEST.”

Here are our award-winners:

Best New Technology: LG Color Transparent LED.

This self-adhesive transparent film can be easily installed on any glass surface and is ideal for indoor and window-facing areas such as storefront windows, where it can attract the attention of passersby without obstructing the view of the products inside or blocking light from entering the store. See it in action earlier this year at ISE:

 

Best New Touch Technology: LG TC3D Series with 40 Points of Touch

In 55-, 67- and 75-inch sizes, these displays enable up to 40 points of touch interaction and feature LG’s embedded SoC (System-on-a-Chip) processing power. They easily accommodate third-party software applications and can excel in corporate environments where collaboration capability is a must. 

Best New Portable Kiosk: LG-MRI BoldVu

Powered by Intel®, the LG-MRI (Manufacturing Resources International) BoldVu® Outdoor Kiosk is a 10-year performance-guaranteed solution that delivers 3,500 or 6,000 nits of luminance with thermal management, works with third-party peripherals from Intel and provides crisp, vivid images in applications where visibility and visual integrity are paramount.

We are very proud to have been chosen by rAVe for these prestigious awards, and we congratulate all the award winners. Read the full story here.

We’ll see you at InfoComm. Prepare to be amazed.