• by Jonathan Blum , October 26, 2006

To get a picture of the future, digital marketers just need the right frame: a digital picture frame.

Digital picture frames consist of flat panels that render still images either from local digital memory or through an active Internet connection. Digital frames have been around for nearly a decade and they’re getting less expensive.

Edge Manufacturing charges just $150 for a 4-inch screen. Higher-end marketers like PhotoVu ask $800 for an Internet-enabled 17-inch display. Marketers have expressed interest in advertising on Web-enabled frames, but only if the ads tread lightly.

“I think from a traditional banner-ad perspective it can be awfully intrusive,” says Jeff Marshall, senior vice president at Starcom IP. Marshall says it might be worth building social networking connectivity into a Web-linked digital frame.

“If you look at this as the ‘Flickr Frame’ or something like that, where my family can easily share images, that sounds like something a client could safely sponsor,” Marshall says. "But we would need to make sure [that] the consumer has bought in and sees the value.”