new kiosk web service needs marketing help

I've developed an Internet based kiosk system (http://www.online-kiosks.net)
that allows a standard computer and internet connection to play promotional
messages and information such as weather, stock quotes, etc. to the people
viewing it. It can also be fed through a VGA to tv converter and broadcast
to multiple tv's throughout the facility. I only have a couple customers,
so I'm a long way from seeing a return on my year of development and the
operational expense. Some places that it could be used is by banks to
advertise to and inform the people waiting in driveup lanes or teller lines,
grocery stores in their entrances to promote deli or coupon specials, auto
service stations to educate customers on when and why to bring in their
vehicle for scheduled maintenance, businesses to welcome visitors in lobbies
and employee break rooms to discuss upcoming flu vaccinations, company
picnics, etc. Some of these are easier to market to than others. My
pricing starts at $55 per month which is based on feedback from a local bank
with 13 branches. They said that if I could do all 13 branches for the
price of one newspaper ad (around $600 here in Eau Claire, Wisconsin), it
would be great. Based on this feedback, I raised my price.

Here are my questions:
1) do you have any thoughts on how I can target these industries?
2) are there other places where a tv can talk to people (that is worth
paying a monthly fee for)?
3) should I have different pricing for different groups based on the value
they see for it? I have considered selling advertising that is broadcast
over their "channel" if they dont pay as much.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Mike Strand
www.Online-Kiosks.Net
715-833-9501 x100

"Mike" <newsgroup@online-kiosks.net> wrote in message
news:chlqb401hbg@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
> I've developed an Internet based kiosk system
(http://www.online-kiosks.net)
> that allows a standard computer and internet connection to play
promotional
> messages and information such as weather, stock quotes, etc. to the people
> viewing it.

FYI: Someone else is marketing that to hotels and other businesses now.
IIRC, it's backed/sponsored by Gannett.

> It can also be fed through a VGA to tv converter and broadcast
> to multiple tv's throughout the facility.

The one I mention above is meant to be a kiosk with a printer attached so
restaurants and others can advertise and offer coupons on the system.

I only have a couple customers,
> so I'm a long way from seeing a return on my year of development and the
> operational expense. Some places that it could be used is by banks to
> advertise to and inform the people waiting in driveup lanes or teller
lines,

Banks already advertise on the ATM screens. I've noticed at least one of my
local branches of BankAmerica has a large flat screen TV in a waiting area
and they have their own online terminal with online banking that runs ads
when nobody is using it.

> grocery stores in their entrances to promote deli or coupon specials,

People don't stand there long enough and they can pick up a copy of the most
recent flyer to carry around.

> auto
> service stations to educate customers on when and why to bring in their
> vehicle for scheduled maintenance, businesses to welcome visitors in
lobbies
> and employee break rooms to discuss upcoming flu vaccinations, company
> picnics, etc.

A lot of what you're talking about they could do with PowerPoint and a cheap
computer. If they already have an IT or web site, what would your service
offer they can't do themselves?

> 3) should I have different pricing for different groups based on the value
> they see for it? I have considered selling advertising that is broadcast
> over their "channel" if they dont pay as much.

If it could be completely advertiser supported, I think you would be on to
something for a lot more businesses. e.g. If it could be scripted so that a
screen in a restaurant doesn't show any other restaurant ads, then I bet
they would let you put it in.


--
McWebber
No email replies read
If someone tells you to forward an email to all your friends
please forget that I'm your friend.

About your looking to develop market for informational "kiosks"
providing intra-company webcasting....

SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD TECH PRODUCT:


Something like this was done in the early 90's when scrolling LED
electronic billboards were at their zenith. Remember those things? Seems
like they were mainly used for point of purchase upselling or Cautionary
Directive signs:

Thank....you..for...visiting...our..car
wash..............Request....a..fragrance....blast ...for...only....2.99!......Be.....careful....
when....
exiting....thank's......to.....the.....Hendersons. .....opening....a..bird...sanctuary.....next....do or......


One of the problems I see you as having - as with the LED scrolling text
signs... is limited market applications.

DOUBLE BIND:

You are in a double bind, friend. If the info is really important...why
then is it going to a transient place and medium? And if it's not all
that critical, why not use traditional channels of communication such as
posters, bulletin boards, memos, and scrolling text signs?

SOLUTION:

Shove Money in their pockets - then set it ablaze!

Attaching your product to company sales will give you a much better
strategic footing and help you justify the expense to clients.

For better potential market penetration make it an ad based thing.
Create a format for a news program offering "Immediate area community
news". Use the news format with the reporter at the desk or on site etc,
even if it's just a wallpaper behind the words.

Use the format of news because, let's face it, nobody wants to sit and
watch commercials or company announcements while on break. Besides,
commercials have become so dramatic that the bar on "quality" and cost
has been radically raised over the last five years alone. Commercials
are now mini-movies.

But the quality of the news broadcast has risen disproportionatly
slower. Throw in some real local news to keep it legitimate... but add
in your stories (perhaps every other one) about local businesses. Go for
businesses within a 5 minute drive of the "broadcast" location.

For example:

I'm at someplace in a waiting area watching. I notice the news kiosk -
including a "take one" display of 5 local businesses. My attention turns
to the community news. I see the piece about the local school kid
getting a grant or something similar. After that I see one about a oil
change place that was started by someone who graduated from the same
school and is expanding the business. The end of the blurb talks about a
special discount this month "just to say thanks for 5 good years" or
what have you.

The broadcast keeps alternating between business news and local stuff,
and it covers 5 business owners/ managers in the loop for this
particular area. All businesses area within a 5 mile radius of me.

----end of example.


OFFER A TON OF BENEFITS, ENABLING EACH CLIENT TO TORPEDO THE COMPETITION

Bring results in under the radar.
This concept has a stealth element that cannot be monitored in the
media, allowing your clients to *!SUCKER-PUNCH! the competition - and
they won't even know what hit 'em if properly executed.

This broadcast is done in the name of the immediate community in which
it resides, not the entire city. This will catch viewers off guard
because they have never seen such a tight radius broadcast before...lol.
Be sure and place the name of the community somewhere on the screen...
such as "Silverdale Heights Community Headlines".

As PR, this program fuels word of mouth - not the technology it's
comprised of - so the emphasis is shifted in your sales. You offer a
network of exclusivity to your clientele. It is sold to a block of
businesses as a means to coop on promo expenses while increasing store
traffic. Businesses are linked by market criteria, and the take-one
brochures contain coupons prompting immediate response. Your client
needs to simply provide the media kit for you to build on, and you
handle all the details. They need to come aboard fast to lock you into
your rates.

You are targeting by customer clusters plus offering the advantage of
"Simulcasting"- you are promoting to the market base WHILE they are
already out and about and just 5 minutes away, maximizing effectiveness
of geographics, demographics, psychographics.

By co-branding, you can create an even stronger vortex of success. How
about promoting a local bookstore with a story about a new Book by
author X, then letting author X and the bookstore split the tab? Or..
"Come to get a free jewelry cleaning at X location, with free
"Waterworld" waterpark coupons when you make a purchase today.
Waterworld helps foot the tab by you offering decreased cost to the
jewelry place when waterworld comes on board. When you begin to market
in this way, it increases your own exposure and referral base.

Lots of ideas to consider.. the main point being... sell your product by
selling the increase in revenues, not the technological advantage of
saving a billboard... After all, about the best way to sell anyone
anything is to "Shove money in their vest pocket, then set it ablaze".


This could be a blast. Need help with this let me know.

~zion~

*The sudden, unexpected, and staggering impact that such a closed
circuit campaign can potentially have upon an unsuspecting competitor.

"Mike" <newsgroup@online-kiosks.net> wrote in message
news:chlqb401hbg@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
> I've developed an Internet based kiosk system
(http://www.online-kiosks.net)
> that allows a standard computer and internet connection to play
promotional

After reading your note a few times I still did not understand your
particular market niche. Are you a flashing billboard?

What you really need to do is develop your elevator sound bite - a fifteen
second commercial that fully describes your product, why a customer would
want it, why I would want to join your company and why I would want to
invest my time in your company.

Work on it and shoot it back to the group. We will critique it to death
until it comes out the other end as a full blown, first class sound bite.
But the process will be painful. Of all the times we have offered this
'service' in the newsgroup, only one or two have had the courage to do it.

Without it you are lost. Believe me.

Wayne
http://home.att.net/~impresario/Index.htm
study the chapter on Lists to help you get started on this problem.