In the spirit of David Letterman’s top ten list, this week we bring you the three most common and problematic digital merchandising screens we see on an everyday basis:

1. The screen is turned off.

Dead. Blank. Dark. Nothing to look at. What is that? Why would they put a television there? What a waste of money.

2. The screen has an error message.

Is anybody paying attention? Is anyone looking here? What are all of those file folders? That’s not my account information on there is it?

3. The screen is playing a television network.

I wonder why they have Oprah on this television? Hmmm, that’s an interesting guest. Wait, what’s up with that Big Bank television commercial? Why, that’s a better rate than what I’m getting here. I’m out of here.

Are we being a little absurd? Don’t think so. We really do see these scenarios all the time (we even have the pictures to prove it). You spend good money on the digital signage infrastructure. You’ve got to pay attention to the functionality and content. Otherwise, they will never get your message.