Advice from editors: scale by association

If there are 250 software platforms on the digital signage market, I am guessing at least a third of them have a McDonald’s logo somewhere in their presentation materials.

It is one of the world’s most recognizable icons and companies like to include it when referencing clients. I would imagine this is interesting for the retailers who see maybe a dozen software companies for show and tell sessions, and start wondering how all these guys could ALL be working with McDonald’s.

Well, they are … in a franchised location or group here and there. Whether the main office approved or even knows about the screens is another matter.

This also happens in press and marketing materials, and it is something that makes editors a little crazy. Barnaby Page of UK-based Screens.tv calls it “scale by association.”

“A few people are guilty of sending out releases that imply they are, for example, rolling out to a retailer’s whole estate when in reality it’s only a trial in a few branches. Don’t tell me SupaPharm has 865 stores. Tell me how many the screens are going into,” explained Page.

If it is a pilot, congratulations. It may lead to something. But be honest and indicate it is indeed a pilot. If it is a local franchisee going rogue on head office, and the press and marketing materials imply there is more to the deal than there really is, be prepared to get slapped around.

This happened to a rather larger technology provider this year, when a small job was trumpeted loudly as a rollout.

Lionel Tepper of Digital Signage Universe, in the wake of that one, went so far as to introduce a new editorial policy:

While we expect a certain amount of embellishment in a press release, we also expect that it will be accurate. It seems that some companies have been pushing the envelope on their facts in an effort to gain attention and market share. At a time when we are all looking to raise the profile of the industry, none of us can afford to have our credibility damaged. Credibility matters—yours and ours.

We recently carried a release on our site (which has now been removed) that marked a new low for distortions of fact. We understand that this release had a significant amount of “blow back” for the parties involved, and so Digital Signage Universe will now be vetting releases more carefully from this point forward.

Digital Signage Universe is slowing down the process to make sure that the information we receive is indeed accurate, and that credit is given where credit is due. We ask that other industry news sites to do the same. Posting company news is rarely mission-critical, and accuracy matters more than speed.

There is very little to gain from streeeeetching the truth, other than a brief little round of attention in the online trade sites. There is much more to lose when you start getting probed by customers who are serious about doing business with your company, and start figuring out your sales and marketing people are a little slippery with the facts.

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