H+H Group Keeps Things Moving with Digital

H+H Group is a privately owned company with several auto dealerships in the Omaha, Nebraska, metro area. They use digital LED displays at all their locations, including on their new 43-acre campus right on Interstate 80 in Papillion, just south of Omaha.

The campus includes a Chevrolet dealership, a Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Ram dealership, a future Kia store, and a high-end, high-tech car wash called Shine Shop.

H+H has an established relationship with Daktronics and American Lift & Sign Service, who works closely with the company on every digital project, including recommendations, installation and service. When it was time to look at signage at their new location, H+H didn’t consider anyone else.

“I use Daktronics because it's the company that you plan it with, design it with, install it with and service it is equally important,” explains Steve Hinchcliff, co-owner of H+H Group.

Capturing attention

Every day, H+H reaches thousands of travelers and commuters as they pass by on I-80, advertising on two 15.85 mm displays.

“Our signs are large to be eye-catching,” says Hinchcliff. “On a highway, especially an Interstate, you can't use any video or motion. But we use bright colors and metal and shapes. Then we put in landscaping and curved retaining walls, and everything we could to catch eyes.”

The dealer keeps ads up for hours at a time, showing high-resolution images provided by auto manufacturers, daily incentives, the occasional countdown to a sales event, and even Nebraska Cornhuskers scores.

Advertising across all marketing channels

“We’re really sticklers about omni marketing channels,” Hinchcliff explains. “We consider our digital signs to be part of that. We’re out there saying the same thing on all our media at the same time. Our signs are typically in exact sequence with what we’re doing on social media and broadcast, and then of course our website, so you’ll see a direct correspondence. In fact, I think during Black Friday we featured one of our digital signs on our website.”

Hinchcliff says digital is the only way to reach customers effectively. They never even considered static signs when building their new campus.

“You know, there’s certainly practicality to buying vehicles, but there’s passion and excitement and emotion, and it’s awfully hard on paper – which I’m referring to a static sign as paper – to capture that.”

Wayfinding for a positive customer experience

While auto manufacturers are notoriously particular about how their dealer partners use signs on their campuses, H+H believes in the technology enough to work for approval. They worked with their manufacturers to gain approval for 11 digital signs on campus, used exclusively for customer wayfinding:

•  Five 15.85 mm displays for text above the service bays
• Three 15.85 mm displays for text above the car wash entrance
• Two 8 mm displays for greeting at entrance of the Chevrolet dealership 
• One 8 mm display as an entrance greeting at the car wash

“The wayfinding signs are extremely helpful,” Hinchcliff says. “The concept of digital is just expected everywhere, from football stadiums to live events. Everyone is aware of all that, so it just makes sense to our customers. It’s not just the sign. It’s how you use it that counts.”

Simple control

The marketing department controls all the outdoor digital signs using Venus Control Suite, Daktronics intuitive software that lets operators create, manage and schedule content. The team changes messaging regularly, and the software allows them to switch messages at a moment’s notice.

Hinchcliff explains, “We have two or three people trained on the software. There is a calendar in their conference room with big ideas and you’ll see the digital boards in different references. Then there’s a finite calendar that’s online.”

“It goes back to why we use digital,” he adds. “I can give you a thousand reasons because we have so much flexibility. I wish I could do more digital at each store.”