Eclipse Digital Media were challenged by Theravada and Krispy Kreme to deliver a unique, one of a kind, doughnut shaped digital LED screen for their Bluewater store upgrade in 2022.
Undertaking this challenge was genuinely exciting and pushed us to think of various creative ways we could deliver such a solution. Calling upon our years of industry expertise and collaborating with key contacts in the LED field we were able to design, develop, supply and install this near 3m donut-shaped digital LED screen for Theravada and Krispy Kreme.
Not without it’s challenges, the Eclipse Digital Media team have worked painstakingly to ensure this custom LED was supplied, installed and maintained with great satifisfaction to the customer.
Mike Tinnion, Head of Creative at Krispy Kreme called this “another digital masterpeice” and we really do agree! It looks sensational but what REALLY makes this so special is the amazing content Krispy Kreme have designed for it… we could watch that all day!
Interested in using LED in your next project? We can offer a range of creative, curved, indoor, outdoor and transparent LED solutions for various industries. Get in touch with one of our experts today to discuss how we can help you on your next project.
The AV Awards are to held annually to recognise best practice, reward innovation and celebrate excellence across the global audio visual industry. Eclipse Digital have been shortlisted for the Digital Menu Boards project we undertook with Prime Burger.
“It is incredible that we have been shortlisted for an award. The other shortlisted entries look sensational so this is a huge compliment to us and our business” Colin Thody – Director, Eclipse Digital Media
AV AWARDS LEISURE & HOSPITALITY PROJECT OF THE YEAR FINALIST – PRIME BURGER
Since switching to Digital Menu Boards, Prime Burger have experience a positive impact on their sales. Sam Steele, Director or Prime Burger highlights some of the key sales stats:
“We’ve seen an increase in like-for-like sales of 50% at ExCel and a lot of that is to do with the screens”
“We have increased sales of milkshakes in one week by 75% at Euston, by putting some great digital video up on the menu screens of all the milkshakes being made”
“Home-made lemonade sales increased by 50% wk/wk at Euston and by 70% wk/wk at St Pancras when the digital menu boards were used to promote the drink”
On Tuesday 29th to Wednesday 30th September the Takeaway Innovation Expo comes to London’s ExCeL exhibition centre. The UK’s only exhibition for growing your takeaway or restaurant business that includes over 85 free seminars and 200 exhibiting suppliers.
Offering end-to-end digital signage solutions Eclipse Digital Media (Stand 130) will be returning this year to showcase solutions to improve and enhance businesses in the food and drink industry. Eclipse Digital will be demonstrating the latest developments in Digital Signage that include:
If you would like to see how your business can benefit from latest digital signage technology come and say hi to Eclipse Digital Media at the show or visit our site for more information.
On 22nd to 25th March, the International Food & Drink Event (IFE) returns to London for one of the UK’s biggest food and drink exhibitions and Eclipse Digital Media will be exhibiting.
With various solutions targeted towards the Food and Drink industry, Eclipse Digital Media revisit IFE after 2013’s event seeing more than 26,000 visitors over the four days. The event again will be held at ExCel London and runs from Sunday to Wednesday.
Eclipse Digital’s stand (S4935) will be showcasing a variety of Digital Signage solutions for food and drink businesses that include:
If you are interested in arranging a meeting with a Digital Signage pro to talk about your business requirements, please contact us in advance to arrange a time and date, alternatively simply visit us throughout the show.
The 13th December is fast approaching and that means the introduction of new EU Regulation changes on communicating food allergen information to consumers on all unpackaged food – is your business ready?
On Tuesday 30th September at 3pm we will be hosting a 20 minute webinar together with the Institute of Hospitality to cover the new law changes, what is expected from your business and how Digital Signage can be used to help your business comply.
What you’ll Learn
The 20 minute webinar will cover:
what is required from all businesses that serve unpackaged food and drink to the public
to understand what digital signage is
how digital signage can be used effectively to comply with the new information requirements
Q&A session at the end
Eclipse Digital Media recently provided a guest article that was featured in the Hospitality Magazine Autumn Edition. The article covered digital signage, menu boards and the food allergy law changes due. Read the article below and be sure to sign up for the webinar being held on Tuesday 30th September to learn more about this topic:
Eclipse Digital Media will be exhibiting at both the Takeaway Innovation Expo (Stand T642) and The Restaurant Show (Stand F109) in September and October respectively. Both exhibitions, being held in London, will provide visitors the opportunity to explore the wealth of solutions available to help improve their food and beverage business and Eclipse Digital will be exhibiting the latest developments in Digital Signage technology and demonstrate how they can be used effectively within the industry.
As Institute of Hospitality Business Partners, Eclipse Digital Media have carried out major market research to understand the core requirements of food and beverage businesses and have put together various solutions to help those businesses improve workflow, increase positive brand perception and raise sales. Visit us at the exhibitions to benefit from:
Live demonstrations of Cloud based, LAN and USB digital signage solutions
If you would like to visit Eclipse Digital Media and discover the latest digital signage technology available to help drive your business forward, sign up for FREE using the links below:
Every year there is more and more evidence to prove that Digital Menu Boards improve food and beverage businesses and this is not just financially. If you are a business considering implementing a digital menu board solution then you need to find the right solution for your needs… and every business is different.
Download the Digital Menu Boards Guide 2014 to discover:
Hard facts on Digital Menu Board Return on Investment (ROI)
How Digital Menu Boards improve food & beverage businesses
The types of Digital Menu Board solutions available
Details of the new EU Allergy Information Laws
The Digital Menu Boards Guide 2014 is your essential guide to choosing the right solution for your food and beverage business.
Digital Menu Boards provide a cost effective way to easily update and quickly change menu and promotional content. They provide an opportunity to reduce menu printing costs, increased brand awareness, instantly change promotional items and ultimately give businesses the marketing control they need.
Key Features of Digital Menu Boards
Central and local updating of menu boards
Easily and quickly update content – reactive & proactive
Push content to all locations or single
Reduce menu printing costs
Automatically schedule content to appear at certain times of day
Provides a visually stimulating and engaging way to display content
Improve operational efficiency
Increase positive brand perception
Average time to Recoup investment in Digital Menus
Typically it will take a business that invests in Digital Menu Boards will recoup their investment between 9 and 18 months. See the chart below to see the average break even point based on the total amount invested in digital menus.
“From the examinations that we’ve done in restaurant we’ve seen varying results, anywhere from nine months to 18 months” Ernesto Smith, senior director of U.S. merchandising and calendar planning at Burger King
Digital Menu Board ROI
The benefits of Digital Menu Boards are broad; there are the measurable return on investment (ROI) figures of sales uplift and margin per transaction, as well as soft ROI benefits such as reduced perceived waiting times and an increase in customer satisfaction.
Hard ROI benefits of Digital Menu Boards
Average sales uplift of 3%-5%
Average increase of margin per transaction of 2.5%-3%
29.5% of customers find digital menus influential for purchase of a product
1 in 5 people make an unplanned purchase after seeing items featured on digital screens
Example sales uplift figures based on 3%-5%:
Soft ROI benefits of Digital Menu Boards
Increase in positive Brand Perception
52% of customers recall seeing content on digital displays (more than TV, Radio, Online Ads, Magazines, Newspapers and Billboards)
59% of people who come into contact with digital signage want to learn more about the advertised topic
Increase customer turnover by guiding purchases through content
Brighter, eye-catching information that captivates the audience
Instantly update content allowing you to be proactive and reactive to real world events
Improved operational efficiency
Planning a Digital Menu Board Project?
If you’re planning a digital menu board project, speak to us about how we can help you deploy digital menus in your business effectively.
We are very proud to announce we have agreed a partnership with the Institute of Hospitality. The Institute of Hospitality is the professional body for individual managers and aspiring managers working and studying in the hospitality, leisure and tourism (HLT) industry.
The aim of this new twelve-month partnership is to educate the Institute of Hospitality’s members about the digital signage solutions available to help deliver core information to clients and also to showcase how digital signage can be used to help improve operational workflow and raise profits for hospitality businesses.
Colin Thody, Eclipse Digital Media Director, said:
“It seems like a perfect partnership. We have the technical expertise and digital solutions along with many years experience in the industry. We understand the challenges hospitality businesses face and have developed a range of products and services to help tackle many of these.”
Peter Ducker, Chief Executive of the Institute of Hospitality, said:
“Digital signage is playing an increasingly important role within hotels and restaurants, and it is a role that is continually evolving. We are therefore delighted to be working closely with Eclipse Digital Media in order to keep our members informed of the latest benefits and applications of this relatively new technology.”
Members of the Institute of Hospitality will benefit from a variety of educational pieces including digital signage specific webinars and publication of editorial pieces in the Institute of Hospitality’s magazine; Hospitality.
The Institute of Hospitality is managed as an educational charity whose primary purpose is to promote the highest standards of management and education and to assist its members in their professional development.
13th December 2014 – if you’re in the food industry this is a date you should have firmly in your diary! For those that aren’t sure as to the significance of that date, it’s the date that the new food information for consumer laws (EU FIC) will be introduced into the UK that will require food businesses to provide allergy information on any food sold unpackaged, for example in catering outlets, deli counters, bakeries and sandwich bars.
These new Food Allergy law changes will be enforced in 2014 to comply with the new EU FIR 1169/2011 law on the provision of food information to consumers. Evidence suggests that most food allergy incidents can be traced back to non-prepacked food, therefore information on potential allergens should always be provided to the consumer and as such businesses now need to comply with the regulation changes by December 2014.
So what’s changing in 2014?
To comply with the new Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU FIC) legislation, food businesses will need to provide information to consumers about the allergenic ingredients in the foods they sell. This means that if there is a food product which contains or uses an ingredient or processing aid derived from one of the 14 substances or products listed below, regardless of the level of use, businesses will need to provide this information to consumers unless the ingredient or processing aid is no longer present in the food in neither its original or altered form.
These 14 substances or products are:
Cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut or their hybridised strains)
Crustaceans
Peanut
Egg
Fish
Lupin
Milk
Molluscs
Nuts (almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew, pecan nut, Brazil nut, pistachio nut and Macadamia nut
Soybean
Sesame
Celery
Mustard
Sulphur dioxide (>10mg/kg or 10mL/L in ready to eat or reconstituted products)
All mandatory allergen ingredients information (Article 9 (1) (c)) should be available and easily accessible for the consumer. It is NOT acceptable to simply say “all of our dishes contain / may contain traces of allergens”, you MUST detail every allergen for each menu item individually. Read more about the technical requirements of the Food Information Regulations.
Advice from the Food Standards Agency suggests that “All mandatory allergen information should be available and be easily accessible to the consumer.”
This has already and will continue to cause, many food business owners headache’s with yet more food information needing to be declared to the customer. In a fast paced environment it can be very difficult to ensure this information will be communicated effectively and not to break the law but thankfully there are some tools that can help alleviated some of this stress and concern as well actually improve other areas the business too – and one of those tools is Digital Menu Boards.
Why Digital Menu Boards?
Speed
The speed at which businesses can update menu information using digital menu boards is a substantial advantage. Depending on the digital menu board solution, changes can be made almost instantly.
Variation
Displaying different menu content at different times of day can be achieved easily using scheduling functionalities for various digital menu board solutions. This provides creative flexibility to not overcrowd your menus with all of your items and their information but segment them into different periods.
Adaptive
The new regulation requires a large amount of information to be declared to the customer. By using digital menu boards, it is possible to restructure your menu designs an unlimited number of times to incorporate all of this information.
Future Proof
This is the latest round of food information declaration law changes but who’s to say that it is not going to change again? By using digital menu boards, your hardware or “real estate” is installed and all you need to do is update the content meaning, no matter what information your business will be required to declare in future, you can meet those requirements much more effectively, both in terms of time and money.
There are many more benefits to implementing digital menu boards for your food business away, from the food information side, for example, digital menu boards can also help to reduced perceived customer waiting times, increase average order values, reduce menu printing costs and increase customer satisfaction amongst others.
How to use Digital Menu Boards to comply with food labelling laws:
There are several ways businesses can communicate nutritional and allergen information to customers using digital menu boards and below we have highlighted a couple of areas to help provide inspiration:
Touch screen
Listing your items in an ‘overview’ format and then touch each item to expand into more detailed information about the item including nutritional and allergen content. Here is a quick example of how this could potentially be applied:
Video content
Create animated video content using programs like After Effects, Final Cut and Windows Movie Maker to highlight products and their labelling detail. This will keep customers engaged, watching the content animate but also communicate the labelling information required by law.
Static Image or Text
Generate your menu board information by layering images and/or text fields to display the full labelling information required for each item. This would work well for menus with low number of items. If your business needs to reduce the number of items on a menu due to the amount of information needed to display, then use scheduling functions and playlisting to rotate content. This will help retain a creative impact and still deliver the important information.
Scrolling Text
Introduce a scrolling text bar at the top or bottom of your digital menu layout to scroll through the list of allergen information related to specific products. Make sure that you identify the products with allergenic information are clearly marked (perhaps graphically with icons) to draw customers’ attention to the allergen information scrolling.
What Types of Digital Menu Board are there?
There are several types of digital menu boards and it is certainly not a “one size fits all” product. Below we have outlined some of the varieties available however you can also download the Eclipse Digital Media Guide to Digital Menu Boards 2013. Look out for the 2014 guide due for release in the coming months and will include further digital menu board products.
Online / Cloud Based Digital Signage Content Management Systems:
Using the embed signage online digital signage platform you can easily create and distribute menu board content to wide variety of connected media players including touch content to tablets and smartphones. The online cloud solution provides great creative flexibility to create various content types and schedule them to appear on specific devices at specific times.
USB Updated All In One Digital Displays:
Built in media players, capable of playing looped full screen content of images or movies. Sizes range from 7” to 55” displays. See embed signage usb digital menu boards for more information.
Need some Digital Menu Board advice?
With the new changes, now is the right time to act! Discover how digital menu boards can help your food business, not only meet the ever increasing demands of legislation, but also help to improve your operational efficiency, brand perception and sales.
If your business needs some advice on what digital menu board solution is right for you, please get in touch with your questions or leave a comment below and we’ll be happy to help where we can.
Don’t leave it too late… remember – 13th December 2014
Eclipse Digital Media are very happy to announce a new partnership with leasing company Axis Leasing. Axis Leasing is one of the UK’s most experienced independent IT finance providers, offering innovative financial solutions for a wide range of assets and ICT.
“This new partnership allows us to provide any customer the option to lease their digital solution for a period of 3 years and then choose to buy at the end. Providing our customers with even more ways to manage their costs has been high on our agenda for some time and now partnering with Axis Leasing has enabled us to give more flexibility to our clients.” Colin Thody – Eclipse Digital Media Director
Leasing prices available to Eclipse Digital Media customers via Axis Leasing:
*Lease deal through Axis Leasing. Prices purely representational and may vary. Based on 3 year lease, all rates quoted exclude VAT, subject to Credit Approval, EOE and Bank Administration Charge.
The event is designed to give casual dining, quick service and takeaway restaurants all the tools they need to grow and to develop their businesses and digital signage is a key part to that.
At the Expo there is a digital signage workshop where visitors can get a hands on approach to using and understanding digital signage. Away from that, we will be on stand T330 to provide live demonstrations and to talk to visitors about their digital signage requirements.
On T330 we will be showcasing the latest digital signage content and technology using ONELAN digital signage hardware, Samsung Displays, Datapath X4, Tablets and ELO touch amongst other things. We strive to provide end-to-end digital signage solutions and pride ourselves on creating professional, engaging and unique digital signage content including:
Digital Menu Boards
Weather Activated Content
Sales Data Dashboards
Interactive Touch Solutions
And much, much more…
Our core digital signage services cover all aspects of a digital signage project, giving you a single, reliable provider to deliver your solution effectively:
Digital Menu Boards are constantly evolving and there are many beneficial digital menu board solutions available to suit almost every restaurant, cafe, coffee shop, take away, pub and all other food outlets. Eclipse Digital Media have been working hard to pull together a comprehensive guide of suitable digital menu board solutions from the independent store right the way to a multi-location global franchise.
The Digital Menu Boards Guide 2013 details the various options Eclipse Digital Media offer and provides you a direct comparison of the options available so you can to weigh up your options.
If you are considering implementing a digital menu board solution for your food outlet, download our Digital Menu Board Guide first to discover the options that could be suitable for you.
Eclipse Digital Media have been selected to present at ONELAN’s Key Partner Conference 2013.
The Key Partner Conference is a dedicated two day event where ONELAN resellers and partners from all over the world gather to learn about the new developments ONELAN has to offer and share each others knowledge on how to provide enhanced digital signage solutions.
Eclipse Digital Media will be presenting alongside ONELAN on two topics:
The International Food and Drink Event 2013 (IFE13) has finished for another year. This exhibition, held at ExCel London, comes around every two years and this was the first time Eclipse Digital Media and ONELAN had been a part of it. At the exhibition we took a stand in the General Food hall and showcased our embed signage Digital Menu Board solutions that can be updated using an excel spreadsheet. At IFE we also showed how touch screen content can be used in a food & drink focused retail environment using digital posters.
We met many independent cafe’s, coffee shops, health food restaurants, pubs and some larger restaurant organisations, that showed great interest in our solutions. Most of the visitors we met expressed a view to be forward thinking, stand out from the competition and to have the flexibility needed to make changes to their menu at short notice, for which our solution is perfectly suited. We also discussed with people the various ways in which you can trigger content using embed signage digital menu boards with things like the local weather and using touch screen activations for specific layouts.
Videos and Images from IFE 13, ExCel London
You can check out some images on our IFE 13 Pinterest Board and below are a couple of videos of Eclipse Digital and ONELAN at IFE 2013:
Digital Menu Boards updated using Excel – Cafe, Coffee Shop, Fast Food/QSR and Sushi Restaurant examples:
Interactive Touch Screen Digital Menu Board & Retail Digital Poster:
We attended RBTE for the first time this year, invited by Samsung and ONELAN to exhibit with them. It was a fantastic exhibition to be part of, not only for showcasing our products and services but for experiencing the latest technology trends in the retail marketplace. During the exhibition we met lots of businesses interested in pushing new technology into their stores and we were humbled by the praise our content and embed signage solution received from those businesses, as well as our peers.
If you are involved in the retail industry, RBTE 2014 seems like a date to put in the diary now!
Here are a few pics from Eclipse Digital’s participation at RBTE 2013 held in Earl’s Court, London:
IFE 2011 attracted 28,135 attendees from 83 countries and over 1,200 exhibitors. All sectors within retail, foodservice, wholesale, distribution and import, manufacturing and export markets were fully represented at the exhibition.
We will be in the General Food hall on stand S6170 and will be showing various multi screen menu board layouts including QSR, sushi and coffee shop. We will also be showing an interactive touch screen menu board that includes table reservation functionality in both gastro pub and sports bar layouts along with interactive, retail focused, food promotion content. All of the digital media content on show is developed in-house and can be updated using an Excel spreadsheet, which makes for extremely easy updating.
Eclipse Digital staff will be on hand all week to demonstrate the EMBED digital menu board solution and content and welcome any meeting requests from attendees. If you’re interested in pre-booking a meeting on our stand to see our products, please contact us or drop us a tweet.
Retail Business Technology Expo (RBTE), held at Earls Court, London on 12th & 13th March, is a must visit event for European retail, e-tail, hospitality and leisure operators. 2012 saw over 6,000 visitors at the exhibition and 2013 is expected to exceed this figure.
On the ONELAN exhibition stand, 681, we will be showcasing our digital menu board solution; embed signage, powered by ONELAN digital media players and DCE software. The menu board set up will include three screen QSR style menu board plus a touch screen menu board with table reservation functionality. All of this content can be updated instantly using Excel.
Then on the Samsung’s stand, 844, we will be demonstrating our interactive touch screen content that provides visitors with a way to discover the products and solutions available on the Samsung stand.
If you’re going to RBTE this year, drop by the Samsung or ONELAN stands to see an Eclipse Digital representative and to see our digital media content in action. Also send us a Tweet with your feedback during the show.
Black Box Network Services; a US based leading communications system integrator, will be showcasing digital menu boards at Digital Signage Expo (DSE) 2013. They will be using ONELAN digital signage media players to showcase menu board content developed by Eclipse Digital Media and will include a three screen QSR style menu board along with a portrait interactive touch screen menu board that includes table reservation functionality. All of this content is completely editable using Excel which is unique feature for the embed signage digital menu board solution.
Black Box National Sales Manager, Gorge Borden, will be on stand 645 to showcase the digital menu board solution and demonstrate how easy it is to edit the content including food images, descriptions and prices, nutritional icons, fonts and where items appear on screen amongst others.
Digital Signage Expo is a trade show dedicated to digital signage, interactive technology, and Out-of-Home networks and attracts over 5,000 attendees each year with an international audience of approximately 25%. We are extremely proud to have Black Box showcase our digital menu board content on ONELAN’s digital media players at DSE and welcome any questions visitors to DSE may have about the content and entire digital menu board solution.
Are you going to DSE 2013? Send us a tweet with your feedback on our content and show in general.
A collaborative survey from April 2012 carried out by QSRweb.com, fastcasual.com, digitalsignagetoday.com and NEC revealed the top benefits of Digital Menu Board Systems – here are the results:
Centralised control of menu board content – 67.9%
Better pricing flexibility – 49.1%
Lower cost to make menu changes – 49.1%
Increased customer satisfaction – 47.2%
Increased sales of promotional items – 37.7%
Improved operational efficiency – 37.1%
Better compliance with labelling laws – 22.6%
High order averages – 20.8%
Increased sales of higher margin items – 18.9%
Improved order accuracy – 17%
Increased foot fall – 15.1%
Higher margin per transaction – 9.4%
Average time to recoup investment in Digital Menu Board Systems:
0-6 months = 11.5%
7-12 months = 30.8%
13-18 months = 26.9%
19-24 months = 19.2%
24+ months = 11.5%
That’s a total of 88.5% of businesses that have recouped their investment in less than 2 years.
Online / Cloud Based Digital Signage Content Management Systems:
