Video walls and advertising panels are more affordable than ever. In combination with cinemagraphs, they can provide a winning “one-two punch”. Here are three specific environments in which your business should use cinemagraphs.

With display technology becoming cheaper to produce, video walls and digital advertising panels are spreading across retail spaces. From major department stores to your local corner-store kiosk — everybody’s getting on board the “digital signage” train. And with good reason: not only do digital panels provide a decorative element, they can be an effective marketing tool — particularly when combined with cinemagraphs and video loops. Here are three specific examples of real-world business environments that can benefit from the use of cinemagraphs.

Retail Store / Showroom (Point of Sales)

If you’ve ever seen science-fiction blockbusters like Blade Runner, Minority Report or The Fifth Element, you’re probably familiar with the concept of interactive stores, covered in giant video panels, displaying motion image content. But these kind of showrooms are no longer a thing of the future — more and more retailers are opening digital flagship stores that aim to create an interface between physical and digital shopping experiences for their customers.

These “digital touchpoints” require content. For example: imagine a fashion retailer with an interactive changing room, in which users can see themselves wearing different items of clothing. Using a touch screen they can select from a variety of items, colors and sizes. The interactive menu will require product shots of the different items of clothing.

Future clothes shops will make use of “digital touchpoints” like this one, in order to offer the customer a better and more efficient experience (cinemagraph in display by Kofi Kumi).

gallereplay cinemagraphs at Alexanderplatz Berlin.

Why settle for a conventional, static product shot, when you have the possibility of bringing that same product (for example a summer dress, like in the cinemagraph above) to life? When employed at the so-called “Point of Sales”, cinemagraphs can breathe life into products, making them more appealing, thereby increasing the chance of a sale.

One example of a high-profile company already displaying gallereplay cinemagraphs at their “Point of Sales”, is the German bank Berliner Sparkasse. The custom cinemagrahs, created by gallereplay, are displayed both on a giant video wall and in-store panels, drawing attention to special offers and partnerships.

Trade Fairs

Let’s be honest. Trade fairs and conventions can feel a little bit like a souk or Middle-Eastern-style marketplace. Hundreds of sellers, crammed under one roof, vying for the customers’ attention, trying to outshine each other. Most sellers take the classic approach of attempting to draw visitors in with bright lights and noisy presentations or by “bribing” them with free giveaways.

But as the old saying goes: sometimes “less is more”. A video panel or display, playing back a series of elegant cinemagraphs on loop can cut through the noise and help brands to stand out from the competition. The reduced motion of a cinemagraph and its combination with photographic elements creates a surreal atmosphere, which has a tendency to stop visitors in their tracks — ideally right in front of your booth.

Amongst gallereplay clients to have employed cinemagraphs at trade fairs, is the car manufacturer MINI, which used gallereplay stock cinemagraphs at its trade fair stand at last year’s Shanghai Auto Show.

Lobbies & Lounges

We’ve all been there: twirling our thumbs, our eyes dashing around a hotel lobby while waiting for a client or partner to show up, or in an airport lounge, counting down the minutes until boarding. We sit, we wait…we look around. Such instances, during which we have a moment to spare and are open to impulses around us, are a rarity in these fast-paced times that we live in.

Cinemagraphs can help draw attention to special offers or culinary highlights.

Many venues have of course figured this out. They’ve installed screens, displays, panels or video walls in these waiting areas. Playing back cinemagraphs on such screens will not only add a certain artistic flair to the environment, it will also help venues or advertisers draw attention to very specific offers or services. For example: a hotel might draw attention to its fine-dining experience, with a cinemagraph showing one of its signature dishes (see above).

An illustrious example of a gallereplay customer licensing cinemagraphs for this purpose is Lufthansa, which displays cinemagraphs from the gallereplay collection at its sparkling new airport lounge at Boston Airport.

These are just a few examples of the manifold ways that brands can benefit from using cinemagraphs in the physical world. Integrating cinemagraphs into your business’s or venue’s environment is a sure-fire way to pull in potential customers, increase sales and stay memorable.

Interested in having our team create custom cinemagraph content for your company’s video panels? Get in touch via our Services page!