Kansas City Country Club Plaza – PHOTO CREDIT-© Wallaceweeks | Dreamstime.com
Art moves us, inspires us, and motivates us to think, act, and maybe even change our perspective. That’s why Fox Web Creations is delighted to be situated near Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza district, where art and artist are so plentiful, that with a bit of imagination, one could sense what Paris’ Montmartre may have been like in its heyday.
After all, name me a Kansas Citian who hasn’t heard of the Plaza Art Fair, the renowned Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and just adjacent to it, the Kansas City Art Institute, which is just a few blocks down the road from UMKC College of Arts. Visitors to this district can even find a store dedicated to graffiti art supplies!
The list goes on and on, but I’m guessing that if you are not familiar with these inspiring institutions, you must be a stranger to Kansas City and are reading this from elsewhere. Most first-time visitors learn of these attractions about as fast as they eat Kansas City BBQ.
Of course, the entire KC region is known for a creatively spirited “Kan-do” attitude. To say the least, we appreciate the arts, from wherever they originate. They are primarily the reason we do what we do.
Comcast Center Lobby PHOTO CREDIT- The Crafty Canvas
As a case in point, I would like you to consider what it looks like to put art in the form of digital media to work for your brand. If you are not inspired just yet, please read on as I share architectural design ideas that could make your company more attractive to anyone, and I mean everybody—from stakeholders to employees, to customers and the public-at-large.
In the world of marketing, everything you do, say, print, publish, build, create and sell is your brand. When you walk into an Apple store, are you in doubt as to where you are? Does not the modern minimalist design of the interior focus all of your attention on the products—contrasting the uber-slim gadgets against starkness—leaving nothing else to consider but the obvious? I would suggest that the interior design—as absent as it may intentionally be—is helping to lead people to a focused experience that may not even be part of one’s conscious mind.
With this thought in mind, let’s consider the concept of techorating. No, I didn’t just make that word up. According to DigitalSignageToday.com’s editor Christopher Hall, “Back in 2008, LG Electronics coined the term “techorating”, a fusion of technology and decorating, using tech to create or be an element of interior design and decor.”
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – PHOTO CREDIT-Nix+Gerber Studios
Techorating done well will lead to a quality experience, even aesthetic, that could convey something positive about your brand. It can engage people to experience your brand. It can move people to want your brand. It can inspire people to talk about your brand. And yes, it could spark the buying process at some point, but that’s not the intent of techorating; otherwise, it would be called advertising.
Techorating, broken down to its essence, is considered an art form that just happens to use a digital canvas to creatively exhibit content that stimulates the senses, which can arouse and influence behavior. Although this art form typically adorns commercial buildings instead of museums, it is prominently displayed in the most public places, such as a lobby, visitor center, gallery, cafeteria or on main floors. Techorating can influence the ambiance of your building by the way it is integrated into the environment. It may be woven into the very fabric of your building’s design, or it may be integrated as a complement to your building’s design—all of which reinforces and extends your core brand image.
So, how does techorating differentiate your brand? It can attract audiences who may for the first time experience your brand on an emotional level, inspiring them to engage with the experience.
Brookfield NY Visitor Center – PHOTO CREDIT – Union Design LLC
The use of dynamic and digital media becomes the expression of the brand while accelerating the levels of awareness and engagement. Engagement through the digital display element of a techorating project can add significantly to the achievement of communication goals while also adding to the overall return on investment.
How do I know all of this? Well, before becoming a partner at Fox Web Creations last year, I was the director of marketing and product development for a leading Kansas City-based digital signage firm. I was on the front lines of the emerging digital signage industry for 18 years, and I was involved in getting this new communication format aligned with business goals.
My aim in this blog is to share with business owners and managers key pieces of marketing information, practices, and technology that can move your business out of the foxhole and into the hunt. If you would like to read more how techorating and its cousin (digital signage) could make a positive contribution to your business, visit our digital signage webpage.
Lobby Video Wall – PHOTO CREDIT- ALMO ProAV
