Digital Brightlingsea recently spent a morning at The Dragon’s Nest in Brightlingsea, working with Pens & Dragons CIC on a practical introduction to digital advertising.
The idea was simple: show how an advert goes from an idea in someone’s head to something actually appearing on a digital screen.
We started by looking at how digital signage works, including the screen itself, the media player, the internet connection and the content management system that controls what appears and when.
We also looked at how the Digital Brightlingsea network works around the town, how advertisers use the screens, and why the location, audience and frequency of an advert matter just as much as the design itself.
Then we moved onto the creative side.
We looked at examples of good and bad digital adverts, including what happens when there is too much text, poor contrast or no obvious message.
The simple rule we kept coming back to was:
1 audience. 1 message. 1 action.
The group then worked through the process themselves.
Starting with a blank sheet of paper, they thought about who Pens & Dragons wanted to reach, what they wanted people to know and what they wanted them to do after seeing the advert.
Ideas were discussed, headlines were tested and a rough layout was developed before anyone started designing.
The final advert was then created digitally and tested on the portrait screen at The Dragon’s Nest.
The result was an advert built around the message “Find Your Community at the Nest”, highlighting the opportunity to create, play and build at Pens & Dragons.
The finished design was uploaded to the signage system during the session, so the group could see something that had started as an idea earlier that morning actually playing on a real screen.
That was probably the most important part of the exercise.
Digital advertising is not just about learning how to use Canva or PowerPoint. There is a whole process involving understanding an audience, developing a message, designing the creative, testing it, exporting the correct file and then getting that file through a digital signage network and onto a screen.
Subject to final approval from Pens & Dragons, the intention is for the finished advert to also appear on Digital Brightlingsea screens around the town.
Thanks to Pens & Dragons CIC for inviting us along and to everyone who took part.
Digital Brightlingsea is always happy to use the network and our experience to support local charities, community organisations and projects where we can.
