⏱️ 10min read (10 minutes that could change your life)
Digital signage is considered the ideal replacement for traditional signage such as posters, banners, and standees. It is essentially any screen that can be used to communicate data and information.
There are many cool things that digital signage can do for your business but more importantly there are tangible benefits applicable to practically any business that uses this technology.
Here are 7 reasons why you must use digital signage for your business:
1. Helping people stay safe – now more than ever
Hand sanitisers. Public safety announcements. Weather related information.
Digital signage can play a critical role in public and staff safety which, in 2020’s COVID pandemic, is essential.
The pandemic has blind-sided most businesses but we’re all now very familiar with the impact of it and living our lives with various restrictions and the ever-changing guidelines and health messaging. With information that is changing so quickly, print just isn’t going to cut it.
Digital Signage is a key way to deliver this constantly changing messaging quickly. Be it new guidelines on upcoming lockdown restrictions, new measures around hygiene, providing the latest statistics on infections rates… digital signage provides a clear communication tool to deliver this message safely and rapidly to your staff and customers.
In the UK, it is mandatory for customers to wear face masks and for businesses to provide hand sanitising stations, so why not use hand sanitiser stations with built in digital displays so you can deliver customer health & safety notices at the point of sanitisation?
Why not use high bright window displays to display social distancing and ‘wear a face mask’ messages to customers before they reach the entrance to your stores?
As a business there is an obligation to ensure customers and staff are kept as safe – digital signage can truly help deliver valuable messaging and guidance towards maintaining a safe environment for all.
Away from COVID, digital signage can also be used in other ways to stay safe. It can be used to communicate safety precautions including while ongoing emergency procedures are taking place. An efficient emergency alert notification can be configured for screens within the building. A single alert can change the content to reflect the status of the emergency and then turned off by another. This is another great tool if you want to secure the safety and well-being of valuable staff.
2. Cost
Digital Signage can reduce business costs for internal comms as well as marketing because it dramatically reduces or completely replaces print.
It practically pays for itself through the ability to change messaging and content as much as desired without any need to print/reprint.
You’re also less likely to rely on additional staff (or yourself) to physically take down/change material and replace with the new… only to then realise there is a misspelling and you need to do it all again! (hands up if you’ve done that – yep, over here!)
This doesn’t even include the potential uplift in sales (if that’s your game) from using animated marketing material to promote products or services… which, by the way, can contribute to an increase of 33% additional sales.
Using digital signage and by changing content remotely requires much less manpower (your team can focus on other areas of the business), ultimately saves money and can improve your bottom line.
If you’re not already using digital signage – why not?!
For this one reason alone, as a business you’d be foolish not to be using digital signage.
3. Flexibility
In a world where being adaptive and flexible is critical for business, digital signage offers a lifeline.
Your business is unique and you need to make sure digital signage matches your needs.
Digital signage gives complete flexibility in terms of content, scheduling and hardware.
Being able to pick and mix content types such as images, movies, weather, social feeds etc allows businesses to be creative with their communications and to explore content types vs business objectives in a measurable way – test it, refine it, repeat it.
Scheduling content is so easy and flexible. It can be as easy as choosing a time and day for content to appear and that’s it. Then, let’s imagine just before the content is about change, your circumstances have changed… time to PANIC?! Not this time!
It’s a good job you’re using digital signage.
Now, all you have to do is change the content schedule and push the change live… you can breathe easily again knowing your message is in line with your current situation.
Touch tablets, high bright window displays, outdoor LED billboards, vibrant multi-screen menu boards, hand sanitiser displays and much, much more. You’ve got complete flexibility to choose the right hardware for your requirements at any stage.
4. Digital Signage makes people take action
Digital signage can be bright and dynamic and with the right content is proven to catch the attention of viewers.
These results speak for themselves – digital signage makes people take action.
It can also be used to excite viewers.
Think along the lines of presence sensors to detect someone in a certain area triggering content changes to deliver something more specific, amusing or delightful leaving the viewer transfixed and completely engaged in the experience.
How about a beautiful attraction screen with an item below it encouraging the viewer to pick it up? The person picks it up and the content changes to tell more of the product story.
Using digital signage to enhance the experience in this way can help you shape the customer journey to deliver specific measurable results, as well as reinforce + improve brand perception with the customer.
5. Operational efficiency
Let me ask you a question: You’ve got a promotional message to shout about. You’ve designed a beautiful poster to share the message, now you need to get it out to your 100 offices / stores.
Which option is more efficient?
Option A) Send the poster to a print firm, get 100 copies printed, post one to each store / office and ask that a member of staff to put the poster up and let you know once done.
Option B) Upload the poster to your digital signage CMS, publish the content to all screens in all stores / office locations then receive download confirmation each screen received the content, then view analytic proof of play reports to confirm the poster is playing xxxx number of times a day with a breakdown per device.
If you answered Option B – congratulations my friend, you’re a winner!
It’s clear option B is the most efficient way to distribute promotional material to physical stores / office locations and better yet, you can get proof the content is playing – you KNOW it’s up there running.
Further still, it was taken care of by you – you uploaded it, you published it, you’re viewing the analytics.
You didn’t rely on 100s of other staff members to interrupt their daily workloads to ensure the posters were put up, distracting them from other important tasks… and you didn’t then have to guess or chase for confirmation that they’ve put the posters up wasting even more precious time.
This scenario works even with small number of stores or locations… digital signage makes business operations more efficient.
6. Delivering real-time information
One of the beautiful benefits of digital signage is that you can keep it updated with real-time information automatically. Showing the current weather status or a forecast (people love looking at weather forecasts), then go a step further and customise messages that are linked to weather states, such as: if ‘Sunny’ show ‘sunshine video’ with a sunshine related message or if ‘raining’ show ‘rain video’ with a rain based message etc.
Further types of real-time data could include integration with third-party systems via XML, Excel, JSON or webpage sources. Data can be synced with the digital signage and then when the third-party system data updates, the digital signage does too. This could be for staff sales data, store menu pricing and stock levels, airports flight schedules – practically anything.
7. Aesthetics, ambience and WOW!
New, brings with it a sense of excitement, a sense of freshness, something modern.
Digital Signage allows you to keep changing content, keeping things fresh and keeping your audience engaged. It can also make installs look so much neater – for example getting rid of printed boards or posters taking up lots of space and condensing into a screen that allows you to rotate content and set schedules or rules for when specific content shows.
Using Digital Signage well gives you the power to create a desired ambience, help tell stories without a narrator, shape the mood, it can be in your face or subtle in the background, any which way you want. You have the power to can chop and change content to deliver a desired effect.
Digital Signage can be used as a key part of the interior design and can be used to make installs and experiences truly incredible.
When paired with great content and design, Digital Signage offers a way to WOW people – just take a look at some of these examples of installs that WOW:
Primark, Madrid:
Louis Vuitton, Istanbul:
Salesforce, San Francisco:
The Fashion Gallery, Vienna:
Conclusion
Almost every industry uses digital signage as a way to communicate and it’s easy to understand why. It is an efficient, flexible and effective tool for communication both to staff, customers and potential customers.
The benefits of using digital signage are undeniable and it’s a MUST HAVE business tool.
What’s more, IT IS EASY to get started and it can help transform your business.
So, what are you waiting for?
Take that next positive step.
Get in touch to see how we can help you with utilising digital signage.
Eclipse Digital Media have the great honour to announce that they have been shortlisted for Retail Project of the Year at the AV Awards 2020.
The AV Awards are to reward global AV talent for best practice taken to the next level, recognising those businesses raising the bar and setting new standards we should all strive to achieve.
The Retail Project category is extremely strong so to have make the final shortlist, is a great achievement for Eclipse Digital Media – a true testament to the hard work and dedication the team bring to each and every project.
Retail Project of the Year Finalist
Bobby Moore Bridge Digital Transformation, Wembley Park, London, UK
The project Eclipse Digital have been shortlisted for in the Retail Project of the Year category is the Bobby Moore Bridge Digital Transformation at Wembley Park, London.
The Bridge has been digitally enhanced with LED screens and lighting system all connected to offer a fully integrated digital walkway to and from Wembley Park. The system includes over 100m2 Absen XD6 LED panels in two high-resolution outdoor LED configurations, fitted to the northern and southern parapets of the bridge. Under the bridge, there are a series of LED lights behind diffuse glass panels to create a ‘dot’ effect, in keeping with the original tile artwork at the site, and finally, low resolution LED strips have been spread out across the ceiling in linear rows.
The AV Awards are planned to take place in November where the winners will be announced.
If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above, look no further. We can help!
If you feel your digital signage isn’t having the impact you were hoping for or have a project in mind, we can offer you a free, no obligation, consultation or quote. Below we will go through a few reasons why you may want to consider revamping your digital signage.
Even over the last 5 years, the way your content is managed has changed for the better. It is now so easy to update and manage, whether this be via a USB stick or the cloud, to make sure your target audience gets the relevant information at the correct time.
Cloud based software
Update and manage your content whenever, wherever using the cloud. embed signage is a cloud based software we supply which allows you to log in to your online account from any browser or smart phone to create, update and publish content to your registered devices. Advanced scheduling capabilities can also bet set up depending on time, dates, days, weather conditions, temperature, wind speed and device connectivity guaranteeing relevant content is always on display.
Sign up for a free 28 day trial of the software here.
USB stick
Manually update content by uploading image and video files to a USB stick and inserting this into your display. The files are downloaded and stored onto the displays internal memory, then once the USB has been removed, the files will be shown on a full screen loop.
Quality Content
Your content is the driving force behind your digital signage as this is the aspect that can really grab attention and entice customers in. Engaging content with rich, vivid colours will draw audiences closer where a quality over quantity approach will make them stay.
With the help from Allen Creative, a professional design agency, we can make sure your needs are met and audiences respond!
Bigger, smaller, brighter, thinner and lighter are just a few characteristics that have made hardware cooler (and cheaper in most cases). Most commercial grade displays now come with internal media players, eliminating the need for additional hardware and therefore no additional cost. Multi output media players also make projects cheaper by allowing you to control and show content on multiple displays from a single device.
Bezel-less canvases can be built upto any size thanks to LED panels giving your audience a near-prefect seamless experience that would be difficult to miss, whilst shelf edge and POS displays can be used in smaller areas to make sure nothing is missed.
What can be achieved?
The video below shows what can be effortlessly achieved using some of the latest hardware and embed signage. A lift/place and learn experience allows the customer to interact with the product, and by simply placing it on the shelf gain access to product information.
Wonderful Brands, on behalf of Eleven Australia, used this example to promote some of their products at Salon International held at the ExCel in London.
Google is taking Digital Signage very seriously of late. Their Chrome browser and OS offers multiple digital signage services with a name you know and trust. From media players and devices to digital signage software and its own chrome device management platform, Chrome has every aspect of Digital Signage covered… so let’s take a look at it in a bit more detail:
BENEFITS OF CHROME FOR DIGITAL SIGNAGE
Chrome devices run Chrome OS, which is designed by Google. The digital signage focused devices range from small dongle types to 24/7 commercial grade media players and all in one touch screen solutions, all of which guarantee:
Speed
Starts in seconds and gets faster over time, allowing you to focus on getting things done.
Security
Built in encryption, sandboxing and automatic updates give all chrome devices high quality security.
Reliability
Chrome devices are built from ground up with speed, reliability and simplicity at their core, providing unmatched uptime and security for signage deployments.
CHROME DEVICES FOR DIGITAL SIGNAGE
Chromeboxes
Chromeboxes are sleek, compact devices that are suitable for digital signage and kiosks. We recommend the use of AOPEN Chromeboxes due to their 24/7 design – the only Chromeboxes on the market designed specifically with digital signage in mind.
Chromebases
Chromebases are simple all-in-one touch devices perfect for kiosks or POS displays.
Chromebits
Chromebits allow you to turn any screen into an digital sign. These devices, although not commercial grade, provide a great entry level option to those on a budget that may already have displays in place.
Using Chrome Device Management, an administrator of a G Suite account can manage and configure more than 200 features and polices on Chrome devices. User, device and network settings can be pre-configured to a Chrome device or remotely configured from the control panel. These settings can be applied to the entire organisation and all of its chrome devices or specific settings can be set for individual devices.
Chrome sign builder is an entry level, basic digital signage app that allows users to schedule and display URL’s.
Web content such as menus, images, YouTube videos, playlists and Google presentations can be scheduled to play for specific times or all day for a set number of days. You configure the builder once in the initial setup and then you proceed to create schedules and specify the URLs for the content.
The Chrome sign builder can be downloaded and installed on any Chrome device or any other computer with a Chrome browser from the Chrome web store.
The Fully Loaded…
embed signage is a cloud based digital signage software with heaps of features. They are also Google Cloud Chrome Technology Partners too, a status only given to businesses that create products that complement, enhance, or extend the reach / functionality of Google Cloud products.
The feature rich software allows users to create multi-zoned, multi-media layouts that can be scheduled to play at certain times of the day, days of the week, specific dates and even weather conditions. Content is published to the devices which download and store it locally for playback. There are also a wide range of free plugins and widgets such as Twitter, RSS and weather that are available to use.
Pair embed signage with an AOPEN Chrome Device and Chrome Device Management gives you a great digital signage package. Not only do you get the advanced features of the embed signage software together with the reliability and speed benefits of the Chrome device but you can also remotely manage and deploy devices in kiosk mode (locked down to the signage application only) incredibly easily and in minutes using the Chrome Device Management – here’s how:
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”
Only a few months left before heading back to University.
It certainly will feel strange going back to full time education, I have become quite preferable to the fast-paced work life.
Always ‘on the go’ here at Eclipse, and the past couple of months have been no different.
Our first venture exhibiting to the Civil Infrastructure and Technology exhibition was an exciting opportunity for us as Eclipse. Showcasing end-to-end Digital Signage solutions to an industry of which could largely benefit. Internal Signage, timetables and site safety boards were a few of the many examples we promoted at the show.
After the 3 or so exhibitions that I have attended, we have made the usually laborious task of stand de/construction, into a well-oiled machine. Setting a personal best for us I reckon!
Visiting the Isle of white on a warm sunny day (vary rare of late) has been a highlight of the past month. Conducting a photoshoot for the Carisbrooke Shipping HQ case study, of their practical yet innovative Digital Signage solution.
Busy busy busy working on the new website. My input on this task has been very rewarding, seeing the website and branding grow, develop and evolve. With any luck we should be live in the next few weeks.
Neuromarketing. This fascinating subject along with consumer psychology will be the topic of my next blog post. How results from studies of fMRI, EEG, eye tracking and behavioural science can be linked into improving Digital Signage content and presentation. Did you know, 90% of all decisions are driven by feelings. Provoking, preferably positive emotions (although negative can also work), can be an extremely powerful tool in increasing recall rates.
If you’ve ever wondered if Digital Signage is worthwhile having in an office / corporate environment then you’ll find one of my recent posts interesting. We explore the numerous ways in which digital signage can be integrated into the office / corporate environment and the positive impact it can have.
Aside from work I have taken my first annual leave since starting here at Eclipse Digital. Iceland being the destination of choice. Without a doubt one of the most beautiful countries I have even been lucky enough to visit. Exploring its vast nothingness.
Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter @EclipseDigiUK to keep on track with all my updates.
Eclipse Digital has an opportunity for a full-time junior developer to join our team. We are a business that is both proactive and reactive to customer needs. Our start up mentality continues to deliver results and as such, we have been responsible for a delivering a variety of digital signage projects that have been experienced by thousands of people nationwide.
Working within our exciting and forward thinking business, and under the guidance of the development team, the successful candidate will be gain exposure to and play an active role in:
Developing bespoke digital signage solutions for a wide range of clients, ranging from data driven information boards to interactive touch screen applications
Working with and testing a range of technologies to deliver these solutions
Dealing directly with clients on projects at all stages of a project from concept through to support
The inner workings of a global cloud-based software as a service solution (used in over 300 cities worldwide)
Skills that are essential for this role are:
HTML + HTML5
CSS + CSS3
PHP
Javascript
jQuery
Skills and experience that would be beneficial but not essential:
Photoshop
WordPress
Laravel
Characteristics of the successful candidate will include:
Good problem solving
Considered, logical thinking
Great communication
Perseverance
If you’re a passionate developer with a desire to push your own knowledge and learning daily, then this position is for you. Working with innovative leading edge technologies alongside extremely skilled developers, the successful candidate has a unique opportunity to grow a variety of developer skill sets through real world projects with real world results.
Interested?
Email your CV including working examples of projects you have developed.
Change inspires creativity. It creates a dynamic and exciting environment in the workplace. Stagnancy occurs when employees lack motivation, do not have targets and the workplace does not excite. Digital Signage can be the bridge to help alleviate some of these problems.
If you’ve ever wondered if Digital Signage is worthwhile having in an office / corporate environment then you’ll find this post interesting. We explore the numerous ways in which digital signage can be integrated into the office / corporate environment and the positive impact it can have.
Improve Productivity with Digital Signage
A study commissioned by Siemens to investigate SMB Communications revealed that the cumulative cost due to productivity losses resulting from communication barriers, per worker, per year is $26,041! (approx. £18,500 at time of posting).
The loss in productivity includes time spent waiting for information, inefficient coordination, and barriers to collaboration. Using digital signage can provide the solution to these pain points and increase the productivity of a businesses workforce.
Let’s look at how digital signage can improve each area:
Waiting for information – this could be many things but let’s say for example it was time spent waiting for the latest sales figures from a department or confirmation if the company had gained that special new client. Both of these pieces of information may take time to work their way through the office grapevine to the relevant people who are waiting on this information before they can action their next task, but place this information onto the digital signage and the message is delivered instantly to the entire workforce (or just the selected department screens of course).
Inefficient coordination – difficulty communicating between team members, maybe this is who is going to be out at a meeting or heading on site to carry out some services work? Again, if you put this information up on digital signage (say a weekly meetings / on site employee chart that is easily updated) then everyone in that department knows exactly who is doing what and when.
Barriers to collaboration – this is the difficulty in arranging collaboration sessions with colleagues. In businesses that have many different departments, that all have their own targets and focus, it can be difficult to collaborate with other departments… but should this collaboration occur the benefits can be substantial. Using digital signage to place messages about departmental networking events or day time collaboration sessions, can be a constant reminder and invitation to go and begin those initial collaboration discussions without individuals having to spend the time arranging personally.
Digital Signage is the answer to improving productivity and communication within the office environment. Not only can you display key planning information to specific faculties/departments but there are many other uses, for example:
Motivate the workforce with inspirational messages
Confidently communicate knowing messages will not end up in the junk folder
Display targets, KPIs and achievements to give colleagues and departments focus and recognition
Encourage fellowship through sharing social and networking event videos and photos
Room Booking Digital Signage
Exploring the labyrinth of rooms trying to find one that is empty can be lethargic and time consuming but by using a digital signage room booking system, this need not be a problem anymore. Providing a booking solution that can integrate into the overall corporate Digital Signage network means the business can operate, manage and maintain all digital signage displays under one deployment. Using either LAN or cloud based room booking signage, businesses can reserve rooms for meetings through built in calendars or through integration with external calendar systems such as Office 365 business accounts.
Hybrid Signage / Presentation Displays
Most meeting rooms include a display of some sort for employees to connect laptops for presentations etc but why not use them for both digital signage and the traditional meeting room display – a hybrid for multiple uses.
By using the right products, businesses can install commercial grade displays that run digital signage content and then when an employee connects a laptop (via HDMI etc) it shows that connection on the display. This could be the entire display or even just a section, leaving the critical digital signage messaging visible for example, technical support’s telephone number and the meeting room ID or notifications about the next fire alarm test.
Knowledge is Power
Live data feeds can be easily integrated into digital signage content through widgets and plugins. Twitter, RSS, Stocks and Weather are just a few of the widgets that can be used to keep employees informed with the ‘outside world’, giving them realtime insight and information.
This can not only spark internal social conversations but more importantly, it can be used to make informed business decisions, from when to order certain products, to managing the business brand reputation.
Wayfinding
Digital Signage wayfinding applications can be used in corporate / office environments in key locations such as building reception areas or even throughout the building walkways to help visitors and staff get to where they need to be, on time. Both non-touch and touch digital signage devices can be used but for maximum assistance, a guided touch application would be best and would also portray the business as a modern, forward thinking brand – a great impression for any new potential clients or employees.
Streaming Live Video
IPTV (streaming video/tv across a network) allows the broadcasting of a live video feed to through a streaming IP address. Live CEO announcements could be streamed via IPTV and displayed directly to the digital signage, company-wide, keeping everyone in-the-know.
Alternatively, you could display an input from a local device / source. This means you could receive a video feed through a HDMI input to the digital signage, allowing devices such as a TV set top box or other media player to be displayed into a portion of the screen, or even the whole of the display.
Saving Lives With Digital Signage
In the event of an emergency, making sure everyone is aware and evacuates accordingly is of the utmost importance. Integrating the emergency systems to trigger content on the digital signage displays may be a great way to go but you could also consider using another touch device to trigger content on the displays. You could instantly display evacuation or safety messages throughout the building at a push of a button on a tablet or smartphone, potentially saving lives.
Not only is Digital Signage great for aiding in emergency situations but it can also be used as a preventative measure. Use certain screens to display advanced evacuation procedures, details of trained first aiders, relevant health and safety messages to comply with Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, advice on wellbeing guidance to help staff stay healthy physically and mentally plus any other key messages relevant to keeping your workforce safe.
Reinforce Company Culture
Your brand is one of your biggest assets. Keep employees and visitors believing in your brand and what it stands for. Announce company events and gatherings, post the latest business insights and employee benefit schemes. Using company-wide signage, you’ll portray a forward thinking, innovative and exciting company to some very important people… your staff.
Delegate to Employees Strengths
Management can delegate user permissions to different users or personnel. For example, only giving access to update the message of the day to the reception staff. This precaution will prevent accidents with the software; resulting in loss of communication and as stated in the beginning, time and money.
Better Together
If you’ve made it this far, you now realise Digital Signage in corporate environments is an extremely powerful and flexible communication tool. We’ve highlighted the many benefits in entails and with our expert experience of delivering digital signage solutions, we’re here to help you begin your journey to a better business. Please contact us here so we can work together to take your company to the next level of corporate communications.
Strategy
Helping to develop our customer engagement process, to guide clients through our proven process and enhance software adoption.
Photography
Visiting sites in which eclipse digital have installed Digital Signage solutions such as Kings Lettings, for promotional shoots.
Preparing for Exhibitions
Between the 12-14 April we will be exhibiting at the Civil Infrastructure & Technology Exhibition at ExCeL London. Showcasing Full service Digital Signage Solutions for industry, and the huge benefits it entails. Hope to see you there!
After talking to friends about how their internships are going, they where surprised to hear about the amount of variety and course related tasks I am undertaking. Unlike some large corporates where very little freedom and related activities are tasked to interns. For this I am grateful.
I will leave you with a (unrelated) thought provoking quote by french philosopher René Descartes.
Cogito ergo sum. I think. Therefore I am.
In short, meaning the fact that we are cognitive beings and are aware of this, must mean we ‘exist’.
Right?
Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter @EclipseDigiUK to keep on track with all my updates.
“Can we use the TVs we already have for Digital Signage?”We get asked this a lot.
For the most part, the simple answer is yes. With an accompanying external media player such as the Intel Compute Stick or a ONELAN Media Player, almost any screen can be turned into a Digital Sign. However there is a significant difference between a consumer TV (one you and I would buy for home) and a commercial grade digital signage display – this post will help you understand the primary differences and why using commercial grade is the best option for professional digital signage.
First thing’s first: A commercial display is NOT a TV. It is a professional grade monitor used for displaying content in a professional commercial environment.
Second thing to note is that Eclipse Digital Media will only recommend the use of commercial grade screens for digital signage projects… and below we’ve outlined why:
Key Reasons To Use Commercial Displays for Digital Signage – not Consumer TVs.
Built for long, continuous operation (16/7 to 24/7)
Large variety of brightness rating available
On / off scheduling functionality
Disable sleep mode
Enhanced manufacturer warranty
Screen burn protection
Higher operating temperature threshold
Landscape and Portrait orientation
Ultra slim bezel video wall options
Touch overlay options
Built in Media Player options
Below are the listed benefits in more detail.
Longer continuous operation
Most Commercial displays are built for 24/7/365 operation with higher quality and more durable parts. Commercial screens are designed to last longer than consumer T.V’s, even with the increased hours of operation.
Brightness
Consumer displays are typically set around 250 nits brightness. This makes them difficult to view in bright environments and absolutely pointless in direct sunlight used as a window display. Specific commercial displays are designed for high-bright conditions with brightness ratings of up to from 700 (for bright internal areas) up to 3000 nits (for window and outdoor environments). These displays also pack a punch with wide viewing angles and high contrast ratings; giving you a reliable professional display to suit the installation environment.
Power on / off Scheduling
Most commercial displays can be scheduled to turn on and off automatically reducing the need for human intervention. Using the commercial screen power on / off schedules, critically ensures your signage is actually turned on rather than leaving it to someone to turn on manually each day.
Sleep mode
No need to worry about loss of sales or custom due to your display going to sleep after a certain amount of time. Commercial displays can be configured to always stay on and only turn off only when you physically need to do so. Consumer TVs typically do not have the ability to disable sleep mode as this is a default preventative measure to ensure the displays are not left on for prolonged periods when in an idle state.
Enhanced Warranty
Unlike the typical one year manufacturer warranty that comes with all consumer displays, the majority of commercial displays with 3 year on site warranty. Did you also know that if you were to use a consumer TV for professional or commercial use, the warranty becomes void or limited? Many manufacturers of commercial grade displays provide a 24 hour on site replacement service for hardware failures under warranty – just another benefit to choosing commercial over consumer TVs.
Still not convinced that commercial displays are worth paying more for than consumer TVs? Ok, we’ll continue…
Orientation
Most commercial signage displays can be used in both landscape and portrait orientations. Components within consumer TVs are specifically designed to be used in Landscape oreintation only. Also, many commercial displays have near symmetrical bezels specifically for aesthetics when mounted in portrait, not like a consumer tv simply turned on it’s side.
Screen burn protection
Anti-burn and cooling features on commercial screens mean there is no need to worry about static content being on your screen for too long and causing permanent burn damage.
Touch Overlay
Some commercial displays come with ability to add a touch overlay, avoiding the need to purchase a whole new screen at a later date. This added feature makes a cost effective solution for turning a professional display into a touch device, greatly increasing its functionality. We’re yet to see a touch consumer TV (although it’s doesn’t look too far away)
Videowalls
If you want to make one big display from many smaller displays, you’re going to need commercial grade, video wall displays. These type of displays are designed with ultra thin bezels making them ideal for a near-seamless video wall. Another option for large video walls are LED panels that fit together to make as large a display as required- the sort that is used for outdoor advertising or around football pitches.
Built in Media Player
Displays such as Samsung’s Smart Signage Platform have built in media players and are suitable for most types of content playback, evading the need for an external media player. This does not only save space but makes for a cost effective solution. Even by using a cheaper consumer TV, there is still a need for an external device to deliver the content which can be add up.
As you can see, commercial grade displays are not t.v’s – they are a professional monitor used specifically for professional digital signage projects.
Can your business afford to miss out on the benefits of commercial grade?
If you’re thinking about upgrading your displays, TVs or starting a fresh digital signage project, please contact us so we can work with you to recommend and specify the right digital displays for your project.
Are there any other reasons you can think of to choose commercial displays over consumer TVs? Share your views in the comments below.
Digital signage reduces perceived waiting time by 33%. It also seems to have time-bending properties in general. I find it hard to believe i’ve been working with Eclipse for over 4 months now. Always learning and developing not only in marketing but in multiple disciplines.
Since my last post I have been busy!
Exhibiting at both the restaurant show and the takeaway expo promoting digital signage solutions for restaurants & fast casual diners. A completely new experience for myself that at first seemed slightly ominous but in turn helped me to develop my client-facing skills (and stand break down skills).
I’ve walked 16km or nearly 20k steps according to my Apple Watch, in one day, visiting numerous locations where Eclipse Digital have installed digital signage. Then putting my creative photography skills to the test for use in case studies and general promotion – more of this to follow but here’s a sneak peak for now:
Learning Google Adwords in more detail, working out Click through rates, Cost per Acquisition, Cost per clicks and the figures needed to make a ROI. All of this whilst researching and developing a campaign.
Analysing and seeing that my digital marketing activities are having an actual impact in terms of being shared to tens of thousands of people is truly satisfying. Helping to build a brand is exciting!
I expect that this will be my last post of 2015 but I’m sure I’ll be back in the new year writing regular updates throughout my work placement. Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter @EclipseDigiUK to keep on track with all my updates.
Updating your digital signage content regularly is key to keeping your audience engaged with your screens. Seasonal change is the perfect excuse to spice up your digital displays, whether it be holidays, national days or even time changes. Stay ‘current’. Leaving content unchanged for long periods only results in your the audience disengaging and as a brand you begin to loose the impact of a very powerful communication tool.
A little change, creativity and care can go a long way in the eyes of the audience.
Content changes do not have to be dramatic and they do not have to be done on the day of an event. Using digital signage software with scheduling functionality means you can pre-schedule certain content to play at relevant times, days or date(s). Below we’ve highlighted just some of the simple changes you can make to keep your content seasonally fresh.
Keep fresh with simple changes, such as:
Holiday greetings – these don’t have to affect the your normal content although content adaption generally seems seamless. Simply schedule the greeting to play every so often.
Seasonal sale offers or promotions are a great way to grab customer attention to seasonal or sale items. There is also a significant halo effect on the family of brands when advertising a product on digital signage. A sales increase of nearly 7x and an overall category increase of 11x that of the featured product has been recorded (Burke, 2009*).
Visual decoration to core design elements of your content can also help keep the signage up-to-date. This, in turn lets your customers and staff know the company is actively developing and delivering relevant content. Change stops content becoming stagnant and therefore draws more attention to the displays as consumers notice the new changes.
Get Creative. Changes don’t have to be huge. Subtle changes to the company logo or footer will not go unnoticed, such as a moustache for movember or a poppy for remembrance day. These small changes can help to show a caring and philanthropic company. Bigger changes such as font styles, colours and background images can create more of an impact when deployed with some careful thought.
Current affairs and events such as halloween, valentine’s, easter, remembrance sunday, world health day etc are some more examples of how to keep your signage fresh.
A four step strategy to keeping Digital Signage content fresh:
Create a schedule outlining the days / events you wish to make content changes for.
Create all necessary content in advance.
Schedule that content on your digital signage software in advance.
Repeat this process.
How do you keep content fresh? Share your tips and tricks by leaving a comment below.
Nearly 3 months in, still alive. What a great experience it has been so far. I have learnt a great deal since starting work at Eclipse and have gained practical experience in numerous Marketing and Business related disciplines.
To name a few:
Digital Marketing in general
Social Media Marketing – Building brand awareness through customer interaction and providing suitable content to the unique platform
Inbound Marketing – To gain and keep consumers coming back for more, amazing content is the key.
SEO – I have learnt numerous ways in which to boost rankings in search engines. It is quite an art to maximise your presence.
Content Creation – Enhancing my knowledge of the Adobe suite including After effects, Illustrator and Photoshop work
WordPress development – Creating new pages, posts and content, implementing new plug-ins and leaning Short code/HTML/CSS
E-mail Marketing – Maximising click through and opening rates with the use of A/B testing, segmenting and content variations
Analytics – Recognising areas of improvement and testing new ways to improve them
Tea and Coffee making – Arguably the most important according to my colleagues
I will be writing regular updates on our blog throughout my work placement which will be posted on our social media pages for our followers to read. Don’t want to miss out? Follow us on Twitter @EclipseDigiUK
From Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th October The Restaurant Show comes to London’s Olympia exhibition centre. The definitive platform for the restaurant and food service market.
Offering end-to-end digital signage solutions Eclipse Digital Media (GH50) will be returning this year to showcase solutions to improve and enhance businesses in the restaurant 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.
This month we warmly welcomed Elliot Dale to Eclipse Digital Media. He has joined us on a work placement from Kingston University, where he is currently studying a BSc(Hons) Degree in Marketing Management. During his time here, Elliot will be contributing to our Marketing team in various ways and will be writing regular updates on his time spent with us learning about the Digital Signage industry and marketing in general.
To kick things off, we wanted to get to know him a bit better so what better way than a introductory blog post / interview! We asked Elliot a few questions and have included them on this post (which Elliot is helping to compile) so we can all learn a bit more about our new Intern.
Full Name: Elliot Michael Dale Age: 21 Currently studying: Marketing Management
Why did you choose Eclipse Digital for your work placement?
I chose Eclipse for my year in industry as I felt it offered a fantastic opportunity to gain lots of experience in not only my area of study, but in an innovative and exciting company and industry.
Did you know anything about Digital Signage before starting here?
I understood the basic concept behind Digital Signage but did not understand the impact it can have, and does have, on numerous industries.
How was your first day at Eclipse Digital?
My first day at Eclipse Digital was slightly nerve-racking as expected on starting any new job, but I quickly felt welcomed and part of the team.
What areas of Marketing interest you the most?
I have a fascination with a plethora of the marketing related disciplines including digital, SEO, positioning and branding.
What do you hope to hope to achieve during your time at Eclipse Digital?
I hope to broaden my knowledge and continue to gain real world experience in marketing. I also look forward to seeing how my work will have a positive impact on the company.
Anything extra, you’d like people to know about you?
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.
Elliot will be writing regular updates on our blog throughout his work placement and will be posted on our social media pages for our followers to read. Don’t want to miss out? Follow us on Twitter @EclipseDigiUK.
‘Tis the season to be jolly! With Christmas just around the corner we want to share with you our operating hours over the christmas period:
24th December 2014 to 1st January 2015 inclusive the Eclipse Digital Media office will be closed.
Thank you to everyone that has worked with us throughout 2014, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Eclipse Digital Media.
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 had the pleasure of attending ISE 2014 and joined digital signage hardware manufacturers ONELAN on their stand. Eclipse were invited to showcase their latest digital signage content and demonstrate the various ways they can integrate devices to create interactive digital signage solutions.
First up to showcase was a restaurant digital signage concept that integrates:
Android tablet touch order application
Ticket / receipt printer
Front of house, advertising display
Kitchen area, current order display
Back of house marketing / sales statistics
The process for the concept is: User places an order on the tablet, this order prints a receipt / ticket for them. The order is displayed on the kitchen monitor and also automatically updates the back office latest statistics table. The lowest selling item in the sales table automatically triggers an advert front of house to try and up-sell the item. This set up can be completely customised to the customer requirements but as a showcase of integration and interactivity, this piece shows how Eclipse Digital Media can bring together various devices and data to deliver solutions based on customer specific requirements. Take a look at ONELAN’s pre-sales engineer, Łukasz Górasiński, demonstrating this proof of concept on ONELAN’s stand at ISE 2014:
The second piece being showcased on the ONELAN stand was an interactive touch application that changes content on various displays based on IP commands to ONELAN digital signage media players. This solution can be used to create a variety of interactive discover points in many environments including museums, exhibitions and schools.
It’s a new year and with that normally comes a fresh wave of changes – join the gym, eat healthier, carry out a random act of kindness every day, improve those processes at work that have been bugging you, making the tea at least once a day (Ty, take note of that one) and so on. It is an opportunity to embark on the year ahead with a beaming freshness to achieve a better you, both at home and at work, so why settle for just ‘alright’, why not strive for ‘excellence’? As with everything, you have a choice and here’s one simple process to help you make your choices… answer the following question: Are you happy? If you are – keep doing what you’re doing… If you’re not – change something! A simple question that can make a big impact. Now we want to ask you another question:
Are you happy with your digital signage?
Yes! Great news, keep doing what you’re doing.
No? Maybe it’s time to change something?
There is no doubt that digital signage is an effective way to communicate, be it internally to employees about corporate messages or externally to pupils and parents at a school for example, but often individuals fail to take ownership of the day to day operation and sadly, the business digital signage falls victim to neglect. Now being a new year, you might be thinking “let’s sort out our digital signage once and for all, I want to get it working exactly how I want it” but alas, the person who originally took care of the project has left the business or now has too much on their plate to even begin looking at helping you… So what do you do? Well, as you’d expect by reading this, we can help you.
It’s true, we are an approved ONELAN reseller and advanced content design partnerbut we are much more than that… We don’t simply sell digital signage media players to our new and existing customers and leave them to it, we also provide a range of support including training sessions, digital signage network configuration, content creation and integration, advanced monitoring and maintenance services and much more for ONELAN digital signage systems. We’ve already helped the likes of Hounslow County Council and The Dock, Southampton Solent University transform their existing ONELAN digital signage into a fully operation solution that now exceeds their expectations, allowing them to utilise the abundance of features to communicate their messages.
Forgive us for being bold, but we believe that we can help any ONELAN digital signage user maximise their digital signage and we are inviting those people to have a completely free digital signage consultation to explore the ways that we can enable you to get exactly what you need from your digital signage.
Here’s just some of the ways in which we can help: Overview
Training sessions to enable you to understand and competently use the system in house
So, what’s your answer? Are you happy with your digital signage? Is it time for a digital signage refresh? If the time is now, we encourage you to contact us to see if our expert knowledge can help you optimise your ONELAN digital signage for the years ahead.
It’s that merry time of year and we wanted to let you know that our office will be closed from Monday 23rd December to Wednesday 1st January inclusive.
Our staff will have limited access to emails during this period and in urgent cases, will be contactable on their mobiles.
We wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year!
Here’s to 2014.
All the team at Eclipse Digital Media
Digital Signage has thousands of uses and as it penetrates our daily lives, businesses need to embrace the ways in which it can help deliver both business and consumer needs – but what’s the right type of digital signage for you? Well, there are several types of digital signage but there are two core signage types that Eclipse Digital Media offer; These are USB updated, all in one digital signage and fully networked digital signage solutions.
Below we have outlined the core differences between the USB and Networked digital signage solutions and hope that this provides you with a guide to making the right decision for your business when choosing a digital signage solution.
USB Updated Digital Signage
The digital signage media player is built into the display device and content is updated via a USB stick. Take a look at the video below to see them in action:
Quick & simple set up – turn power on, upload content and content playback beginst
Cons:
Limited to single zone content
Limited to image, movie and audio content
Manual updating – not ideal if you have multiple screens
Networked Digital Signage
The digital signage media player is controlled via a computer network (internet or intranet) and connected to an AV display via HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort or VGA. There are various options of digital signage media player and we have many available on our online shop: www.eclipsedigitalmedia.co.uk/product-category/digital-signage-media-players.
Display multi media and multi zone content – more creative options
Publish content to a network of digital signage from one location – great for multi screen and multi location networks
Advanced scheduling features – schedule playback of content form entire layouts down to individual items in a zone
Fully scaleable – as your business grows simply add more players to your digital signage network
Cons:
Higher CAPEX cost – based on variable hardware options
More complex set up required – networking configuration and layout distribution needs to be configured
Not normally an all in one – hardware and screens sold separately
Digital Signage Winner
For small businesses that only need small quantities of screens for basic advertising requirements – USB Updated Digital Signage wins.
Why? Because of the cheaper cost, all in one solution, ease of set up and how simple they are to update.
For larger businesses with multiple locations requiring various content and creative options – Networked Digital Signage wins.
Why? Because of the flexibility and scalability of the system. Although some more advanced configuration is required at set up, having the ability to schedule content, create multi zone and multi media layouts and have different content displaying at different signage locations provides businesses with a comprehensive digital signage solution to match their needs and ambitions.
ONELAN are a UK based digital signage manufacturer and have thousands of their products being used worldwide for a range of digital signage applications including The Science Museum, London and Dubai Duty Free.
Their extensive product range provides various levels of digital signage players that can be used for the most basic of digital signage applications right the way through to sophisticated content management and distribution servers for digital signage networks up to 1000 players.
Below we have outlined the various media players that ONELAN offer and some of the core differences between them. We have grouped the players into the following categories:
Content Management Server
NTB Publisher
NTB High-end Subscriber – For high-end digital signage applications
NTB Mid-range Subscriber – For mid-range digital signage applications
NTB Entry-level Subscriber – For entry-level digital signage applications
To see the full product specifications of each player and to purchase any of the ONELAN digital signage media players listed below, please visit our online shop.
ONELAN Content Management Server Products
The ONELAN Content Management System (CMS) provides users a business tool that makes creating, publishing and managing content easy and robust. It is a sophisticated planning, design, distribution and management appliance for multichannel digital signage networks of up to 1000 players.
The ONELAN Publisher can be used as a standalone digital signage media player or to manage and publish channels of content to network of up to 10 subscriber media players.
ONELAN High End Subscriber Digital Signage Media Players
ONELAN Subscribers poll content from a channel distributed via a CMS or Publisher and plays back on the connected AV display. There are various levels of Subscriber digital signage players that can be used for different applications. Below are the high-end subscriber models:
ONELAN Mid-Range Subscriber Digital Signage Media Players
ONELAN Subscribers poll content from a channel distributed via a CMS or Publisher and plays back on the connected AV display. There are various levels of Subscriber digital signage players that can be used for different applications. Below are the mid-range subscriber models:
*Upgrade available for NTB 760 and NTB 660 models to Publishers with additional license
ONELAN Entry-Level Subscriber Digital Signage Media Players
ONELAN Subscribers poll content from a channel distributed via a CMS or Publisher and plays back on the connected AV display. There are various levels of Subscriber digital signage players that can be used for different applications. Below are the entry-level subscriber models:
You’ll hear this notation time and time again in the Digital Signage world – content is king!
Having a stable and reliable digital signage system in place provides a you with a solid foundation to deliver your digital signage, however the final piece of the puzzle is one of the most important parts… delivering the right content.
Gone are the days of ‘PowerPoint’ digital signage – it simply doesn’t cut it anymore. As digital signage becomes more prevalent in our day to day lives, users expect to be able to do more with it and viewers expect to be captivated by it. Digital signage platforms such as the ONELAN solution we offer, allows users to deliver multiple media types, in multi-zone layouts including HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, Images, Movies, RSS, Text and Audio. With these tools at your disposal it opens a whole world of creativity and allows you to experiment with new content ideas to see what works with your audience. Below we have outlined a few key areas that we feel contribute to generating exciting and interesting digital signage:
Graphically Layered Digital Signage
You’ve got all the right kit to deliver your engaging digital signage content but all you do is slap a few scrolling text fields on the screen with solid background colours. This is still going to deliver your message, however as with all design, it pays to spend a bit of time graphically designing your layouts. Using professional designers, either in house or from agencies such as ourselves, you can design elements of your digital signage (image / movie format) and layer them to bring your digital signage content to life.
By thinking about what information you want to display on your digital signage layout and sketching some ideas on to a piece of paper before you start, can really help refine your content before you even begin to build it. Once you have a sketched version of your layout, then you can start to think about the best way to graphically bring this to life and begin to layer content at the design stage to maximise the impact.
The CAE digital signage content example to the right, shows how you can bring simple information to life by incorporating different design elements into digital signage. The background is a movie file of clouds moving through the sky, the world clocks and simulator status table is designed in a digital flight board style, image borders are used to enclose the live TV and live traffic map data, a solid blue block to define the RSS feed and transparent backgrounds are used for the text fields so they sit on top of the animated background.
Integrate External Data to your Digital Signage
Being able to use HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery content on ONELAN digital signage means it is possible to use some of the latest web design techniques to display content. ONELAN also offer a software program known as Data Collection Engine (DCE), which allows external sources such as Excel, Outlook Calendars, XML and SQL to automatically send data to the digital signage media players. Using these tools it is possible to take external data sources such as latest sales data or pricing information and convert it into a glossy interactive piece of content for your digital signage.
Below are some examples of how Eclipse Digital Media have used these tools to extract external data through DCE and delivered to digital signage in a dynamic and professional way, using a graphically layered design, HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery:
Scheduled & Location based Digital Signage Content
Delivering your content to the right audience in the right location at the right time… an imperative part of digital signage communications. Scheduling content to appear on certain days and certain times of the day is nothing new but it is an essential part of delivering the right digital signage content. By using functions on your digital signage, you can segment you content and target messages effectively, which can help increase sales in retail environments and provide informative messages to your target audience when it will have maximum impact.
Taking scheduling of content a step further, by having the ability deliver messages per location allows you to segment your digital signage content even further. This can be very useful for digital signage networks where the core content & design remain the same however certain content is only applicable to certain locations. Using something called Player Local Information (PLI) on the ONELAN digital signage media players it is possible to ‘tag’ each media player and then specify content to only play if a relevant tag is recognised.
Going back to HTML and web techniques, it is also possible to deliver digital signage content based on location through things like the weather or indeed the temperature of a location. Below is an example Eclipse Digital Media have specifically developed to use on ONELAN digital signage. It allows users to input the postcode of a location and then set rules to activate different content based on the temperature for that location.
To conclude, we cannot stress enough how important it is to get your content right on your digital signage. Spend extra time on the design elements and think about what you can do to enhance your content to both captivated your audience, while still delivering your key objective.
If you would like any further information about any of the digital signage content design services Eclipse Digital Media offer, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The challenge was set a few months back… ride from London to Brighton to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. On Sunday 16th June, Colin, Drew & Ty of Eclipse Digital completed that challenge!
54 miles, starting from Clapham Common ending on Brighton beach, was always going to be difficult and it certainly lived up to our expectations. The first 16 miles took 3 hours to achieve due to heavy traffic and shortly after (around the 20 mile mark), Colin, Drew and Ty got separated tackling Turner’s Hill. After some confusion and searching Drew & Ty decided to cycle on without who was not to be seen again until the end. It turned out that Colin had managed to get through the check point at the top of Turner’s Hill just before other riders (inc Drew & Ty) were stopped.
Cramp & The Ditchling Beacon:
After pressing on and building a steady pace, about 40 miles in, Drew encountered his first ever experience of severe cramp, with his left quad ceasing up, prompting a 5 minute medical break. Leading up to Ditchling Beacon aka ‘The Beast’, Drew & Ty went on full attack to try and beat it… Drew suffered another attack of severe cramp, this time on both quads, leaving his stuck on the side of the hill with two locked quads – ouch! Ty on the other hand, pressed on and managed to Beat The Beacon! Reaching the mighty summit by cycling the entire 1.55km, 135m incline hill. Colin who arrived at The Beast around 20 minutes early, gave it a solid effort making his way to the ‘400m to go’ mark, where he was inturupted by a slow rider infront that caused him to loose balance and place a foot on the ground, unfortunately he was unable to cycle up from there. After the beast, it’s a steady 7 mile journey, mostly downhill to the finish.
Due to the stop / start nature of the event, due to the shear volume of cyclists and the unfortunate few who came off their bikes, it took the Eclipse Digital team a total of 7 hours to reach Brighton from London. Feeling slightly drained from the experience, there was only one thing that had to be done… Ribs, Chicken and Beer, a great way to round off a great day!
The Eclipse Digital Media Just Giving donations page is still open for those of you that may wish to contribute, is so, please do here: www.justgiving.com/eclipse-digital
On Sunday 16th June 2013, Eclipse Digital will be cycling from London to Brighton in aid of the British Heart Foundation.
We wanted a challenge, both mental and physical, in order to raise money for charity and the gauling 54 miles, cycling from London to Brighton seemed like a perfect task. None of us have ever done the ride before so any tips for experienced riders are appreciated!
If you would like to support us and the British Heart Foundation, please make a donation (however big or small) via the Eclipse Digital Just Giving page.
