Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh has undergone an incredible digital transformation, partnering with Signagelive digital signage and the Digital Messaging Company to effectively grow its customer engagement. Powered by Signagelive, a leader in cloud-based digital signage, its network of 19 screens and tablets have captivated visitors, enhancing the customer experience with striking, and efficient, real-time communications. The 37-inch stretch screens, 50 and 55-inch regular displays, 50-inch totem, and 11-inch tablets provided by Digital Messaging Company are located across the site’s key areas, including the cafes in the John Hope Gateway and West Terrace, as well as the East Gate.
Since its launch in March 2024, the digital signage project has had a transformative impact, bringing, in the words of Caroline Bacigalupo, Head of Business Operations, the “customer experience to life.” Modernising and seamlessly complementing the exquisite venue, the installation has not only provided the platform and drive for cafe, event and third party promotional activity, but also served as a go-to source for helpful visitor information.
The challenge
The Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh had previously been using paper-based point of sale for its customer communications. This was slow and inefficient to update, making it difficult for staff to keep up with the constant flow of customer messaging needed. Moreover, paper-based communications were also unsustainable, requiring continuous print-runs for each notification. The lead times alone restricted what was possible, rendering it challenging to promote any unexpected venue update.
This need to engage and inform customers – to connect with them in real-time throughout the customer journey – was the inspiration behind the Royal Botanical Garden’s switch to digital signage. Signagelive was cherry-picked for the project, offering the possibility for immediate, real-time communications, thanks to its world-class, cloud-based software.
Digital Messaging Company’s content management service gives the Royal Botanical Garden the flexibility to update on-screen messaging across its estate, either in real-time, or in advance. The end-to-end digital signage solution implemented by Digital Messaging Company (from scoping, hardware supply and installation to day-to-day content management) has opened up many more opportunities to improve and personalise visitors’ experience.
Campaigns
Its network has become the lynchpin of every customer campaign, including the on-site cafes’ Plant to Plate initiative. Offering the perfect platform for contextual marketing, this Signagelive-powered solution has enabled the Royal Botanical Garden to connect each stage in the customer journey. With digital signage installed directly above the hot plate stations in its cafes, it can give customers real-time information about the dishes in front of them. Most pertinently, the screens are used to highlight the fact that 75% of the dishes’ ingredients have been made using the gardens’ produce. This perfectly completes customers’ visitor journey by giving them a literal taste and sample of what they have just observed growing in the gardens.
Featuring eye-catching infotainment, the digital signage also allows for the display of additional facts, such as, for example, the seasonality of the ingredients, and the dishes on offer.
Advertising
Additionally, this Signagelive-powered digital signage has provided a versatile advertising channel that allows the venue to promote a greater range of offers and events. The platform supports smooth and flawless transitions between campaigns, allowing the cafe digital signage to feature dishes, alongside menu deals, as well as third-party special offers. With further displays located just outside John Hopkins’ West Entrance, the digital signage is perfectly placed to tempt more customers through its cafe doors with the latest menu recommendations.
Time and money-saving solution
This Signagelive content management system (CMS) has also streamlined operations. Designed for user-friendliness, it has proven easy for staff to adopt and use, coming packed full of time-saving functionality. For example, to ensure the on-screen content is always relevant and up-to-date, the software allows both the end and start times of any campaign to be pre-selected, automatically removing on-screen material as soon as its run-time is over. Additionally, content can be checked in the mornings, and quickly edited by staff – even if it has already gone live – to reflect any last-minute changes or additional updates.
The software’s seamless compatibility with media players, such as BrightSign has also helped, enabling the Royal Botanical Garden to save time and money. Instead of having to buy an entirely new range of displays, the team has been able to use some of their existing screens by running them on BrightSign.
Moreover, streamlining on-site operations, the Signagelive-powered system has alleviated pressure on staff by allowing many of the most common queries to be preempted – and answered on-screen. Serving as an invaluable information hub, the signage features visitor information, along with interactive wayfinding guidance via the tablets.
Of the Royal Botanical Garden installation, Tim Baker, Signagelive Marketing Manager said: “We’re excited to be a part of such an incredible project. This installation signposts the value cloud-based signage can add, enabling companies and venues to immerse customers in every stage of the visitor experience with a more immediate and personalised style of communication. With our cloud-based platform, we’re constantly adding new features, so customers can continually evolve and enhance their digital signage. The Royal Botanical Garden has already reaped the benefits of the system, but with more functionality now available, we can’t wait to see how they build on this success, with features, such as data analytics.”
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