We’ve been out in the field a lot lately. A large branch merchandising audit project had us visiting client locations as well as many of their competitors. Wow. Kicking the tires of your brick and mortar can be a real eye-opener.

The rapid growth of digital merchandising is evident in many branches. Screens are everywhere, and boy do we mean everywhere. If only there was a little more evidence of a placement strategy behind some of the mountings, we’d be entirely pleased with what we encountered.

But clearly, in most cases, there wasn’t a strategy. It was if the President/CEO type had said “get some of those flat screens in our branches, now!” And like any executive order…it was followed. And followed without any experience or logic guiding the way.

Hands down, the biggest violation of screen placement was having them installed too high. Hugging the ceiling. Stuck in a corner. Placed too far behind the teller line to be visible from the queue line, let alone from the transaction window. It was if the facility folks decided that ceiling mounted screens were the easiest to install and they went out of their way to find a spot with the greatest viewing distance.

Effective digital merchandising placement needs to be at a comfortable line of sight. That height and distance will vary by which particular zone you are installing in…welcome, transaction, relationship, relaxing, community, etc. The point is, if you are going to make an investment in digital signage, you need to plan its placement very carefully – otherwise nobody is going to get your message.