Airport architects, designers and consultants often approach on-premises visual communication systems from a technology standpoint: the data to display, the size of screens, the features of the content management system (CMS) and even the length of cables running from comms rooms to the new displays. While this approach is familiar and these decisions are essential, Synect recommends an alternative first step.
By first exploring the passenger experience an airport aims to deliver, airports can better meet their visual communication goals, establishing the content that will create that experience and next-generation capabilities that can elevate airport operations before making technology decisions.
Prioritising the experience and communication programme that an airport aims to deliver is a content-first strategy. It’s the cornerstone of a successful, transformative digital signage upgrade.
CEO Yahav Ran
Building a foundation
A well-defined content strategy is at the heart of any effective visual communication ecosystem. It should guide every decision related to infrastructure, software and hardware, ensuring the system is built to deliver engaging, helpful, relevant and timely content to passengers. Content is not just information, it’s experience.
A content-first strategy helps airports deliver messages that resonate with passengers at every touchpoint. By prioritising content, airports can develop a cohesive communication plan that drives engagement, reduces anxiety, influences passenger behaviour and, ultimately, enhances the overall passenger journey.
Every airport signage project has a content strategy. Some projects have a clear strategy to enhance the experience, achieve specific outcomes and deliver impactful messages. Unfortunately, others consider content last, resulting in visual noise and an implementation constrained by legacy features and capabilities. This prevents an airport from using new tools such as multilingual messaging, adaptive content curation, automatic content changes across the airport, a single system to manage all displays and other features beneficial to both the passenger experience and operations.
An airport content strategy needs to consider passengers’ needs and how to meet them. It has to capture their attention and allow stakeholders to leverage that attention. And optimise behaviour and support organisational goals in the ensuing engagement. It should also reflect branding, tone and wayfinding guidelines.
A ReadySeeGo totem helping passengers identify domestic check-in
Avoiding pitfalls
Neglecting content strategy early in the process can lead to challenges later, leaving airports unable to reach their communication goals and vision with a selected system, due to a lack of infrastructure and limited features.
Another potential pitfall involves underbudgeting for delivering content, leading to delivery delays, the need to raise new capital and a poor return on hardware and software investment. This may result in an airport implementing a new CMS system and display technology, while lacking content-creating capability and strategy. If, after investing more time and money in content, the CMS cannot support the vision, the airport could face years of delays and have to push content work onto its operations, rather than planning, teams. This is undesirable in terms of both visual communications success and airport stakeholders.
Another common pitfall is investing in technology that does not align with content goals, leading to wasted resources and the need for retrofitting or system overhauls.
Unlocking the benefits
The adage “If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there” is especially relevant when planning for visual communication ecosystems and content. However, the opposite is also true: with a content-first strategy, organisations can align around a shared vision and use it as a north star for decision-making.
Another benefit of this approach is that it positions the organisation for success by delivering effective ‘Day One’ launch programmes and equipping it with sustainable content creation capability. The approach also reduces the risk of selecting technology incompatible with the airport’s ultimate vision and enables more informed budget allocations for all parts of the new programme, including content, software, hardware and operations.
Finally, it creates a comprehensive road map for communication growth that benefits airports, partners and passengers over the long term.
Multilingual wayfinding messages can significantly improve the passenger experience
The airport environment
Airports are ultra-dynamic environments, making content and playlist programming challenging. While predicting the future is impossible, a dynamic content approach is achievable by creating enough content with various layers on a system smart enough to assemble relevant content based on given scenarios. Flight changes, weather changes, and incoming international flights can and should drive automatic content changes in real time.
An effective content strategy defines the ground rules for assembling such content, enabling a new level of automated communication responsiveness. Content can react to the airport environment when it isn't static or fixed. This kind of shapeshifting capability requires dynamic content layers and a smart system such as Passenger360, which can automate content assembly based on airport activity and customised business rules.
Multilingual wayfinding messages, for example, should be displayed in the primary language(s) of an incoming flight’s country of origin. This is already happening today in some of Synect's airport clients’ environments. Other examples include enabling FIDS to appear on wayfinding and other signs, showing baggage information to arriving passengers at the gate, integrating train or bus schedules on airport signs or launching specific campaigns, such as welcoming a sports team.
Furthermore, integrating a content-driven approach with advanced infrastructure and technology enables airports to be agile, proactive and automated in their communication.
Engaging content may help passengers prepare for security checks
Building for scale
Digital transformation doesn't have to be all-or-nothing. Airports can begin by identifying key areas where enhanced content and smart solutions can make an immediate impact and then scale these efforts over time.
Wherever an airport is on its digital journey, now is the right time to consider how content strategy can be leveraged to drive engagement, optimise behaviour and streamline operations. By starting in one or several locations and building on success, airports can gradually create a fully integrated digital ecosystem that meets the needs of both passengers and operations.
Good places to start are areas where passengers experience friction and anxiety or where they often turn to the information desk. For example, if arriving passengers on a specific airline are getting lost on their way to baggage claim, that is an ideal place to begin. An effective content strategy and advanced solutions can help get those passengers on the right path.
Effective content needs to change in real time, mirroring airport activity
Or imagine a ReadySeeGo visual communication totem in an area where domestic and international travellers split off. If the system triggers content at the right time, passengers get where they need to go, check-ins happen on time, delays are reduced and passengers have more time to explore the airport and visit concessions.
Content strategy and visual communication upgrades don’t have to be airport-wide. The right system can address one problem or location and then scale to new areas or even across the entire airport. That’s the power of a content-first visual communication strategy.
Engaging, effective wayfinding signs involve layers of content and information
Synect at FTE Global
Yahav Ran will be among expert panellists discussing Upgrading from Traditional FIDS and Legacy Digital Signage: Why Content Strategy is Vital when It's Time to Invest in a Digital Ecosystem at FTE Global in Los Angeles from October 28-30, 2024. The session runs on Wednesday, October 30, from 9:30am to 10:30am.
Synect also offers, on request, free brainstorming sessions to airport consultants and partners, addressing future-ready approaches to visual communication.
