Captivating Your Audience One Storefront at a Time

You're listening to retail refined, a market scale podcast with me, Melissa Gonzalez. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of retail refined, a market scale podcast with your host, me, Melissa Gonzales. Today, we have Daniel black, CEO and founder of glass media. Daniel is a Silicon Valley native, often referred to as an entrepreneurial rebel for choosing to launch his technology company, glass media in Dallas, Texas. Since moving to Dallas in 2013 Daniel has quickly become an integral part of the startup community ecosystem. Last year in 2019 Daniel was awarded the technology and innovation award by riptech ventures, a leading venture accelerator focused in retail technology. Daniel, Thanks so much for being with us today. My pleasure. Thank you. Daniel, why don't you kick off the conversation with telling us a little bit about glass media? Yeah, absolutely. So I founded the company 5 and 1/2 years ago, and our number one goal was to really find a way to drive foot traffic for retailers. If you look at the ways retailers have really tried to communicate from their storefront, most of them have either used paper posters, which have been around for hundreds of years, or they've taken low level digital signage and just kind of thrown it in their windows. So for us, we realized there had to be a better way. And over the years, whether it was projection or the latest in Ultra hybrid LED technology, really figured out unique ways that our own brand to revitalize the storefront. And captivate people that are walking by and ultimately turn them into customers. Digital signage is a very fragmented industry made up of mostly digital signage integrators. And the problem is they often piecemeal off the shelf solutions, call them turnkey and try to push them into retail environments. And the problem is, a lot of times they're not on brand. And so we've morphed into an end in solution provider over the years where we handle everything from the hardware to the software to the support, and just found that to be a really successful formula for us and our clients. And you continue to evolve, which is great. You know what stood out to me, as you said, we're trying to find a way to drive foot traffic. What I think of with you is your driving engagement as well. So as you talk about this end to end solution, can you talk about that side of it as well? Yeah, absolutely. So especially today when mobile traffic is down. The example, I like to give is Northpark mall here in Dallas, Texas, is one of the top performing malls in the country. And on a good year, they get 27 million visitors or 72,000 visitors a day. What's more important today is with more traffic being down, it's really about creating that emotional connection with the consumer. Even if you used to have 1,000 people a month coming to your store. And now you have 100 for us, it's really about that brand connection, that brand affinity. And there's a number of different ways to do that. So for us, it's not all our solutions are purely visual in terms of interactivity. There's a number of ways we're leveraging, like you said, touchless engagement, whether it be through voice your smartphone gesture of ways to help consumers interact with signage, make it a little fun game of the experience a little bit. That's really what we're focused on now, and that's really coming from our client. So, you know, with the fallout from covid, we've definitely pivoted, adapted in a number of different ways. And are seeing some early successes in some of our new deployment. So tell us a little bit as you're talking on these new deployments, because, I mean, in the time you've started your company, the world's changed. So much for all of us. Sure how do you extend the possibilities of contactless storytelling? Because that's really the direction everybody's going to feel more comfortable and safe with covid. But but we want to make sure that we're integrating this contactless world into a high touch world of physical retail. So so how are you bridging that together and layering that storytelling aspect? Yeah, so first and foremost, one of the things you want to be very mindful of is there's some new technologies out there like nano septic films. You might have seen them kind of on the checkout kiosks and what have you where they're antibacterial and they last about 90 days. The problem we're seeing with these films is it's the customer education piece, and it's very hard to tell that story to a consumer and have them feel comfortable on touching digital signage, for instance. So the goal for us is to augment existing activations. So, of course, you know, we do a lot of deployments where we're doing our own things from scratch. But at the same time, a lot of retailers aren't in a position from a budget standpoint to reinvest in something brand new. So the nice thing with our software is all we have to do is plug-in our media player to an existing digital sign and we can now make it interactive via voice, the emotion, via gesture, RFID or from a content standpoint, we can leverage things like QR codes and SMS triggers to really bring the mobile phone into the experience. So I think it's a combination of creating new experiences and then augmenting existing experiences with that touchless engagement piece. Yes, I keep saying this whole year, even starting last year, you know, QR codes. Finally saw their day, but it's been controversial and people love hate for so long. Do you feel like, you know, the US has been a little bit behind others in the adoption of kind of like shopping with your phone? And, for example, if you go to asia? Right it's like second nature to them. These WeChat and they're always on these. But I feel like that adoption curve is quickly accelerating here in the US. Do you feel. What do you feel like that trend is going to evolve to be? Do you think more retailers are going to do SMS and kind of leveraging that whole notion of bringing your own device shopping that consumers are starting to embrace? So the short answer is absolutely. I like to talk a little bit about why QR codes never really took off in the United States. And there's a couple of reasons. The first is they never became native to the OSS or the operating systems. So today, you can open Google, right, or Safari and hold it up to a QR code and I'll read it again. It's a customer education piece. Customers still don't know that, right? Mobile users don't know that on average. The second one is, I think being a marketer, it all ties back to calls to action. And when QR codes first surfaced in the United states, they were prevalent everywhere. Right you went to a restaurant and there was a QR code on the back of a Heinz ketchup bottle. And the reason or the incentive, why would I scan it? So I think now we're getting to a point where people understand that a QR code, if it has a powerful call to action, it's quite frictionless and people are willing and able to engage. And so I do think we're going to see a pretty big comeback, especially with SMS triggers, just because younger generations are very, very used to SMS. But at the same time, I think from an adoption standpoint, almost everyone is much more comfortable with QR and estimates today than they were, like you said, a couple of years ago. Yeah, it is amazing how much what dictates what, you know, as the phone unlocks capabilities, it unlocks, you know, that intuitive behavior. And so it enables more possibilities for technology companies like yours. Why did you guys choose projection mapping? Yes, projection mapping is something we leveraged to transform really any idle real estate within the retail environment. Projection, as opposed to a screen is just much more agile, and modular screens typically come in a 16 nine native aspect ratio. So you're always dealing with rectangles and portrait portraiture, landscape orientation. The beautiful thing about projection is with projection mapping, we can project any shape, any size within the store. So we can project on the walls, we can project on the floor, we can actually project on fixtures. And one of the newest things we're working on today is we're actually digitizing mannequins. So you can actually put a white shirt on a mannequin. And we can change the colors. We can promote different products and campaigns on the mannequin itself. So it's just a very, very versatile technology. And one of the beautiful things is because their ceiling mounted traditionally, we don't have to worry about pulling power from the floor. All our solutions are 4G enabled. So we don't piggyback on the in-store Wi-Fi. And so just made it a lot easier for us to really accomplish our mission of digital transformation within the store with relative ease, so to speak. That's so important because I don't think it's a lack of desire to integrate the solutions, but sometimes it's such an investment in the IT side or setting and making sure that the space is equipped for it, then and inhibits integration. How does the onboarding process work with you? I mean, you're talking about digitizing mannequins and like, how close do you work with your clients? How does that creative process work? How long does it take to launch? Yes, it's a good question. Like most companies, we have our own client engagement process. It again, it comes down to how much the customer knows what they want versus how much we have to kind of collaborate and cross pollinate together, if someone comes to us with an objective, usually it's just a few exploratory calls before we kind of finalize a proof of concept, and then kind of like a proposal. So for us, most of the engagements we do, I'd say, take less than a month from an ideation standpoint. And then from an execution standpoint, on average, we take six weeks from when an agreement is formalized. But coming into the holiday season. This year, our operations team has worked to streamline a lot of our processes to ensure we can deliver things much quicker, just because we feel like fall and holiday this year. Everything's going to be very, very last minute. It's going to be a tricky, interesting time. You know, you're starting to see we're talking now in August. So it depends on when people are listening to this. And yes, there's a lot of unknown. I think everybody wants to have a presence, but they're not sure how. So I think you're right. What what is your formula for success, do you think? Like what would you say brands should think about. So that whatever they decide to lean into is successful? Yeah, sure. So I think having the 4g, LTE networks very important, like you alluded to, dealing with IT can be a very lengthy and arduous due diligence process. And if things are last minute, there's no chance you're going to get deployments in your store. Second is, I think brands need to engage companies and brands like ourselves early, even if they know they're not going to be in a position to buy until later. It just helps both parties. Right if we have an idea of what you're interested in, even if you're not going to pull the trigger for a few months, it helps from the planning standpoint. And then I think the other thing, too, is we have a number of digital activation as a service offerings now where we're renting solutions for, let's say, 90 or 120 days. A lot of retailers don't know what's happening, their store portfolios over the next six, 12, 18 months. And so we're really trying to fill that void and say, don't worry about a long term commitment. Let's figure out how to captivate passers-by, drive people in your store, tell a compelling brand story and do that in an affordable manner, in a manner where we can deliver on it very quickly. So you have some examples to share with the audience, with some best in class deployments and some insights of, you know, what benefits that give the client. Yeah, absolutely. So one of the newest deployments, we just did with DSW is an in-store pop up. We ended up working with one of our partners to create a larger than life 3D printed shoe that's five feet wide and 3 feet tall. And we've actually projection map this year. And it's a brand collaboration with Reebok, Adidas and new balance. And so the goal is kind of the whole notion of Instagram able moment customers inside the store can Pose behind the shoe, grab shoes off the shelf and kind of share it from a social standpoint. And so this actually just launched on August 1st, kind of back to school. So obviously, we're only a few days in, but already we're having some early successes and getting great feedback from store managers and associates. And then I, in a totally different type of project that some people know about is what we've done with fossil. So fossil approached us about three years ago now. And was looking to build brand awareness for their smartwatch platform. Q and we ended up creating this vinyl digital hybrid on their storefront where we brought these watches to life. And some of them are like seven, eight feet tall. And we now have over 76 systems with them across North America and have driven a lift of 14% in store traffic at this every store that has our solution. So again, it's interesting when you look at our key performance indicators, but our number one KPIs with our clients is footfall. And that's really why we often focus on revitalizing the store front specifically. We still do some in-store enhancing of customer experience. But like I said, our main kpis, let's captivate people walking by and turn them into potential customers first. I do talk often about the evolution of the store front because living in a world of covid just understanding the need of the flexibility of it, you know, for it to go from a place of storytelling to a place to pick up to a place of. So how do you see that evolving glass media playing a role in that? Yes, I think the importance of dynamic communications is more important than it's ever been for retailers. Same thing about regionalising and segmenting messaging. Right so historically, the same paper, poster or planogram would be sent to every store across North America. And what we're finding with covid now is state by state, the rules are different. And so, you know, it's going to be very, very important for retailers to have a dynamic communication tool at their storefront where in California, they might have different messaging about social cues and how many people can be in the store as opposed to Colorado. Right and so I think retailers understand it. The question is, how can you deploy affordable digital signage? How can you deploy digital signage that semipermanent? Right because from a merchandising standpoint, some retailers want solutions that can be moved. Right and they don't need to. From a merchandising standpoint, be a permanent placeholder where you have to work around it said, we have customers that are interested in having monitors on wheels right where they can merchandise the storefront often and they don't have to worry about moving the hardware. So I think it's going to be very interesting next few months. But like I said, I think retailers understand the importance of dynamic communication at the store front. And that's really where we know it's going to be so important. And like you said, being dynamic and also just and the agility. Right why you lean production projection mapping. I think the theme for retail is going to be agility, not only this year, but in the years to come. So you said, you're one of the important KPIs is footfall. But when I think of something like a DSW where there's an interaction element as well, what other data insights are you able to glean from your clients? Yeah, so if we take a step back, it's all about really the objective of the campaign and we establish all different types of KPIs and success metrics. So I'll just give you a few examples. If we're leveraging some triggers and QR codes, we obviously get all the scanned data. We get the hyperlinked data or the web analytics of someone going to splash page of microsite or a website. So mobile makes it very easy. Of course, there's foot traffic counters, like you said, that's easy data for us to pull. But now that we're getting in a gesture and voice, all these different touch points have their own metrics. Right so it's all about us refining the algorithms on the back end to determine what an engagement or touch point is. And it is different with voice versus gesture if someone's waving their hand or physically pushing a button. So it really ties back to what the retailers looking for. And a lot of our retailers, first and foremost, it's foot traffic conversion is important, but that's not really on us. That's up to how they merchandise the store, how they train their store personnel, et cetera, et cetera. So, again, it's case by case, but there's a number of different ways for us to digest different data points and prove a measurable return on investment. Right which has always been the question for sure, the measurable return. But I think you're seeing a more openness that, you know, technology integration is a must. And consumer is just becoming more fluid and proficient with everything from two our codes to voice and even gesture. So it's an exciting time for sure. And it's great that you've continued to expand where you play with class media. So the other thing is you have somewhat of a flexible model. You could do short term, you could do rental. Can you talk about that a little bit? Because I think that's also been another barrier. Brands and retailers want to invest and these sorts of activations, but sometimes the pricing structure or the plans make it prohibitive. Yeah, so it's you know, we listen to a lot of our customers over the past four or five months. And going into fall holiday this year, like I said, a lot of retailers don't know what's happening in their store portfolios over the next six, 12, 18 months. To us or from our viewpoint, long term contracts are kind of out. We're not seeing a lot of RFP for large digital signage deployments right now. So we want to create something that was once affordable to very modular and easy to deploy. And so what we're doing is we've taken three of our solutions that work for both in-store and storefront, and we're doing 90 day rentals where we literally ship it out to the store, we set it up, we handle everything for those 90 days. And then at the end, the retailers, the option to convert month to month or return it. And so the goal is in terms of budgeting, there's a lot of Capex budget for the holiday season, a lot of retailers are scared of opex right now. And so we want to craft a custom solution that kind of checks a lot of those boxes. And I think that's what we've done. And we're having a lot of positive feedback from our customers. And we're in discussions with dozens of different brands right now about solutions that they're going to deploy for this holiday season that, like I said, they're short term activations. Fantastic that's great. That's great. I probably will have my team call you. So that's good that you have that. So where do you see physical retail going in the next three to five years? Yes, I think, you know, what corvids done is really accelerated some of these new business models. We're seeing, you know, the whole shop to showroom. I think there's been a lot of success with the whole try before you buy a model. I think we're going to see a lot more of that. I think stores obviously are going to shrink. And that's also a reason why retailers need to be kind of proactive about their store front, because if you went from 300 square feet of glass to 100 square feet to glass, you have a much smaller footprint to tell a compelling story. And I really feel like that's where digital is going to play a very, very important part. But I think consumers, they still want to have that hands on experience. And emotional connection, said, take liquor stores, for instance. Sure, people can buy online and drive up and pick up their bag of whatever. But the difference is there's a lot of people that want to go inside and experience all these new brands. So I think it's know, it's a good question from a merchandising standpoint and co-op, I think, to be very important for brands to tell compelling stories with a very small footprint. And that's why we've released a couple very small form factor solutions that can go on end caps or aisles where we can tell a compelling story. And like I said, in an affordable manner without taking up a huge footprint to make it easier on the stores for them to deploy and to work hand in hand with their brands. To give them the exposure they deserve or they'd like to know, I think you're spot on, it's definitely going to be. How are you kind of do more rate, higher engagement per square foot with a smaller footprint, I think is definitely going to be the majority or you definitely still see some of those big boxes environments. But for the most part, I think the stores that we already saw them shrink. And I definitely think that this is going to accelerate that. And as far as consumers are more comfortable with that fluidity of online, offline, I do think, although we've seen that showrooming model before, I do I do agree with you. It's going to accelerate that because there's going to be more comfort around it. So it's going to be interesting. Well, this is a good conversation. Lots to chew on, lots to think about. And I love to hear that you're doing deployments in 2020 when it's a tough year and everybody's wondering, you know, are these experiential things happening? So thank you for sharing about DSW. One question I've asked all of our guest for 20, 20 is we're not able to travel right now, but we will again. And you're in Dallas, correct? So next, I am our audience is able to travel there. What are the three must do? Must visit places. That's a great question. Well, I think if you're coming to Dallas, you've got to have some good barbecue. Yeah, so pecan lodge and Lockart are two of my favorite establishments locally in the age of covid. That's a good question. Well, I travel one korvettes over. So you could tell me where to grow and things are better. You got to go to Fort worth, to Billy Bob's. It's the biggest honky tonk in the world, ok? I always take everyone over there and then, you know, we have a lot of cool places. If you like football, take it tour the Dallas Cowboys facility. That's always fun. You know, Dallas is a great place. I've been here about seven years. I love it. It's a barbecue for sure. Billy Bob's. And then we actually have a lake called white rock lake, just a fun place to kayak and canoe and do those sorts of things. Oh, yes. That outdoor stuff sounds so good right now. Well, great. Well, I have you could imagine a growing list, so. But barbecue and honky tonk and football and links. It's good. It's a good addition. Well, everyone, this is Daniel black from glass media. Daniel, thank you so much for being with us today. My pleasure. Thanks for having me.