On November 18, 2010, the bar was raised significantly for digital signage at car dealers with the official opening of SEAT car dealership in Hamburg.
 
raum+schall (technology, installation) and its partner memedia (miX-L digital signage software and agency services) presented a pioneering digital signage concept with the opening of SEAT car dealership in Hamburg. In cooperation with the IT and Marketing Departments of SEAT Germany, a whole series of DOOH (Digital Out of Home) products were designed that meet market requirements and introduce customers to the world of SEAT brands in a playful way.

The following products have been presented so far:
At the entrance of the repair shop and in the reception area of the showroom, customers are welcomed by name via a screen and referred to the person in charge. In addition, service and accessory offers are displayed.
In the waiting area, the so-called “Touch & Fun”, a 42-inch touch screen, provides customers with the opportunity to configure their cars, to view current SEAT commercials, to become informed about dealership offers and to even view live images of the repair shop via camera. Those who prefer to remain more passive can view TV news in the waiting room – embedded in current service offers.

Interactive vehicle information systems – 15-inch touch screens displaying all relevant vehicle data and trailers are in place on every vehicle. They have rendered information on paper sheets completely obsolete.

Screens dotted all around the car dealership entertain, inform, and advertise to customers. An additional touch terminal directly requests customers to submit their product assessment in the building.

Interested customers are also presented with exceptional features outside regular opening hours: 2 projectors display the SEAT world of adventure through the glass of the shop window using rear projection. Via a through-glass touch pad, customers can view all vehicle data of vehicles displayed in the showroom – moving heads inside of the car dealership light up the respective vehicle chosen.

At the opening ceremony, customers, operators and representatives of SEAT and Volkswagen were delighted with the concept and its implementation.
„This is a whole new way to also address customers outside regular opening hours and to highlight SEAT as a brand and its products at the highest level. Dialogue concerning the vehicles can be entered alone or with another person and visualisation of the cars is a true adventure”, says Mr. Rötger Schütze, Head of Division Project Realisation of Volkswagen Immobilien, praising the manner in which the concept was implemented.

By means of the centralised media archive, SEAT provides its car dealers from now on with a digital showroom and a high-class product presentation. “Through a mix of advertisement, information and entertainment, customers can gain an insight into the world of SEAT. Brilliant images, professional movie clips and credible information from social networks all enhance customers’ brand experience”, asserts Rainer Koch, Marketing Director of SEAT. The media archive is hosted by arvato digital services. Andreas Müller, Business Development of arvato digital services, explains: “We are pleased with the successful start and continue to support the team in tackling upcoming tasks together as partners”.

“Customers can playfully request information about vehicle information via the touch screen-price tag; besides vehicle data itself, an accompanying vehicle trailer whets the appetite for more. We also plan to include a database for vehicle equipment and to introduce a finance calculator in 2011”, say Matthias Nowak, Trade Communication, and Daniel Kaul, Service Manager, of SEAT IT. By doing so, they have given an outlook into planned add-ons for 2011 that may be included without any changes to hardware or software.
In addition, an iPad/iPhone application is in the works which will communicate with the building system, as well as inclusion of social networks.

With this approach, SEAT is, of course, pursuing other goals as well, apart from conveying a young and exciting image. Erik Händler, Managing Director of SEAT’s car dealership in Hamburg, explains: “The miX-L digital signage solutions offer our customers not only a multimedia adventure, but help us to create our entire service portfolio in a completely transparent way. By doing so, we are building trust, winning new customers and showing our appreciation to them...People are at the very heart of our activities”.

By integrating lighting and sound into the building’s architecture, the showroom can, in addition, be turned into an event location. “Customer satisfaction and openness show that the potential of digital signage and media technology in the sector is far from being exhausted”, says Sabrina Lienhart, Managing Director of raum+schall.

Florian Bogeschdorfer, Managing Director of memedia and Swen Topp, Project Management of memedia, agree: “This car dealership is setting new standards against which others will have to be measured”.