Fleshing out menu descriptions

As an almost-afterthought, Rob Pasichnyk, Director of Nutritional Services at Providence Health Center in Waco, Texas, integrated dynamic menu signage into his operation while the hospital was undergoing a total rebuild in January of 2008.

“We realized we didn't have anything planned for menu boards three months before the grand opening of our new café. “The architects thought the consultants would handle it and vice versa,” says Pasichnyk, who had already spent $2 million on the renovation.

“I reached out to some friends in the industry to get more information on our best digital signage options. After having spent so much money already, I was reluctant to ask for another $50,000 for a menu board system. But in the long run, it will save us a pretty substantial amount of money and it better aligns with our concept.”

The digital menu boards proved especially helpful when Providence's new operation first opened its doors for business.

“We had a million things going on at once,” says Pasichnyk. “The menu boards not only looked great, but I didn't have to worry about them. They were — and are — seamless and self sustaining.”

As Providence has grown into its digital signage system, Pasichnyk has begun fleshing out menu descriptions and doing such things as sometimes displaying the name of the cook who came up with a dish as a way of giving staff recognition.

“If you put in the initial time and investment, it's a technology that pays off in many ways,” he adds.

Location, Location, Location

Ensuring that these new capabilities support the larger goals of an operation and its branding strategies requires not only technology, but well thought out plans as well.

DigiKnow, the digital signage network by the University of California, Santa Barbara Housing & Residential Services, employs screens located at all four of the school's dining commons, as well as at the front desks of all eight residence halls.

“We put the screens in the most public spaces, where people tend to gather, thus maximizing exposure,” says Jill Horst, Director of Residential Dining Services at UCSB. “It has become a very import marketing tool for our foodservice operation. Because of it, we are able to “talk” to our customers at the moment they may be making key dining and other decisions.”

DigiKnow broadcasts information about events or new initiatives in both Dining and Housing Services. For Dining, that means an opportunity to communicate the department's use of cage-free eggs, fair trade coffee, Nutrition Week initiatives and so on. “We've also started broadcasting photos of students in a smaller secondary region of the screen as added incentive for them to keep an eye on the signage,” says Horst.

Horst and Julie Levangie, Coordinator of Communication & Marketing at UCSB, typically design their messaging in PowerPoint, but say they recently discovered a software utility that converts slideshow presentations with animation into flash video.

“We're just starting to implement it,” says Horst.

Behind the Curtain

Beyond all the aforementioned benefits, digital menu boards can also help solve minor operational problems.

“Before, if we ran out of something, we had to cross it off the menuor tell customers as they ordered that we were out of that item,” says Central Dupage Hospital's Wais. “What that really says to customers is that we haven't planned or ordered correctly.”

Now, if the hospital runs out of an item, it is dropped from or replaced on the menu right away.

“This kind of flexibility keeps the menu looking very clean and intentional, no matter what happens, she says.”

“The way our lines are set up, some students used to try to slip past without paying,” says Buzz Hofford, GM for for Bon Appétit at Seattle University. “We built a really nice piece of furniture to house a greeter board that relays our message of sustainability to students as they enter the café, but it also narrows the entry space.”

Seattle's system is a slideshow presentation that runs on a 20-minute loop and, according to Hofford, students almost never see the same part twice. This keeps the content fresh and interesting.

“It offers some entertainment value,” while they are waiting in line, Hofford says. And in a culture where constant entertainment has become the norm for many, operators can expect that this option will almost certainly become the new frontier that digital signage helps them explore.