Meet the Expert: Taylor Nilson, On-Premise Market Manager

Today, we’re introducing a new series of blog posts where you can “meet the experts” at Daktronics. Our first interview is with Taylor Nilson, the On-Premise Market Manager.

Q: What do you do for Daktronics, Taylor?

A: My role is to understand customer needs and expectations for products, services and ensure our salespeople and customers are getting what they need to meet them. Our goal is that sales and our distributors have access to the right tools and resources. That means I’m involved with product development, production, marketing messaging and the strategic way to market it all based on trends we’re seeing.

Q: How long have you been in the sign industry?

A: I’ve been at Daktronics for 15 years. I spent 14 of them in customer service, 12 focused on the sign company industry.

Q: What trends are you noticing in the market right now?

A: Tighter pixel pitch and resolution. Customers have a demand for higher resolution at a low price, and in response, there has been an influx of very low-cost products from overseas. Some customers purchase based on the price and don’t understand what the total cost of ownership will be for those displays, or how long they’ll really last.

At Daktronics, we source, design, build and assemble our products, the full package when it comes to manufacturing displays. Lots of companies present themselves as manufacturers but truly aren’t; they cobble the products together from low cost parts that they didn’t spec or design and put their name on it. The customer (and usually the broker!) don’t fully know what they’re getting. Additionally, the broker likely does not have an adequate inspection process in place to make sure customers aren’t getting burned with low quality or counterfeit electronic components.

People are also looking for integrated indoor displays to engage people in the store. An example would be at a convenience store. Messages seen on digital signs outside entice you to come inside, where you are introduced to higher margin items, such as certain food items, on indoor digital displays.

Q: How is Daktronics meeting those trends?

A: We have several new items that will be appearing at the 2019 ISA Show, such as:

• GT6 10 mm Galaxy^®series designed for high-quality, high-resolution images.
• Daktronics-Verizon Lifetime Cellular Data Plan saving hours of installation time and keeping private networks safe at the best price in the industry.
• LED Street Furniture meeting the public where they are with high resolution and 5,000 nits of brightness.
• Indoor 4 mm rotating displays ideal for shopping centers and other large, open indoor spaces.
• ADFLOW offering a wide range of indoor digital media solutions to multiple markets.

Q: Considering what Daktronics brings to the market, what excites you the most?

A: Daktronics has found a way to continually reduce cost while maintaining a high level of quality design, manufacturing and service capabilities. With our depth of engineering, we do a great job of this.

Q: What are people looking forward to at the ISA show?

A: It’s the largest event where we have the opportunity to speak to sign companies ranging from new to established in the market. I enjoy seeing newer sign companies there that may have done vinyl, backlighting or awnings, but have never done LED signs before. They’re doing their research, and we have the opportunity to show them what we can offer. I want their first LED install to be successful and Daktronics can make sure that it is. This is also an ideal time to promote the engagement opportunities provided by the Daktronics Sales Expo we host in Brookings every fall.

Q: Can you give us a sneak peek of your ISA presentation: “In the Lounge and Learn, What Your Customers Expect From a Digital Display Supplier”?

A: It covers what companies should consider when looking for an LED supplier. Come check it out from 1:15– 1:45 p.m. on Friday, April 26.

Sounds like a plan. We’ll see you in Las Vegas at the show!