EUROPE NEWS

UK: Odeon and NHS Blood and Transplant triumph in Ocean digital creative contest

Odeon and NHS Blood and Transplant have won the top prizes in Ocean's digital creative competition, run in association with Campaign.

NHS Blood and Transplant’s "blood donation" concept created by 23red, was the interactive winner. Talon, plus collaborators Manning Gottlieb OMD and Grand Visual, were behind Odeon’s "smarter cinema" idea, which won in the creative techniques category.

Runners-up were Mini (with Iris Worldwide), the RSPCA (Kinetic and MediaCom), Eurostar (Liveposter) and London Cycling (Saatchi & Saatchi).

The contest celebrates pushing creative boundaries in digital out-of-home and judges concepts that have not yet appeared anywhere.

Results were announced to a packed audience of more than 500 guests at London’s iMAX this morning.

Entries to the competition, now in its sixth year, were around 30 per cent up on last year, at a record 91. The winners share a £450,000 prize in media space and a chance for their concepts to be produced and showcased on Ocean’s digital sites across the UK.

Last year’s winning campaign, created by WCRS for Women’s Aid, went on to collect gold and silver Lions at Cannes and a Silver Clio.

"The great thing about these awards is the chance they give agencies to really showcase the breadth of possibilities that digital technology has opened up in the outdoor space, combining the flexibility, interactivity and immediacy of DOOH in exciting new ways," said Claire Beale, Campaign’s global editor-in-chief and chair of this year's judges.

Tim Bleakley, the chief executive of Ocean, said the winners "are striking in the power of their visual ideas and innovative use of technology. They deserve to be recognised for their immediacy and relevance to their target audiences."

Odeon’s "smarter cinema" uses micro level audience data to serve hyperlocal live ads about ticket availability. In "blood donation", an interactive app uses augmented reality to encourage people to give blood.

Source

UK: JCDecaux announces 1,000 digital screens for London Digital Network

JCDecaux announced its vision last week for the Outdoor landscape in London - The London Digital Network or LDN.

JCDecaux will take over the world’s largest bus shelter advertising concession from 1st January 2016 and start to build out a network of 1,000 digital screens.

The digital bus shelters will comprise 84” screens, the biggest of its kind ever deployed at scale and is nearly 40% larger than the existing screens. The screens will be deployed in the capital’s major retail zones where £1 in every £5 of the UK’s retail spend takes place.

As part of the LDN roll out, JCDecaux will look to completely digitise Oxford Street installing double sided digital bus shelters along Europe’s most important shopping street. Vital to the thriving heart of London, Oxford Street attracts shoppers, tourists, commuters and residents.

In order to deliver optimised LDN campaigns, the channel will be supported through big data and a new supply-side platform called SmartBRICS. Retail spend data from CACI, social media feeds and frame-by-frame audiences from Route can be used to target campaigns to optimise audience delivery. The SmartBRICS engine will enable campaigns to serve the right copy to the right screen in the right location at the right time.

Additionally JCDecaux will launch Connected London an exclusive panel of 5,000 Londoners who will provide daily data on mindset, attitudes, brand preferences and lifestyle. This new community will provide essential insight into what makes Londoners tick and how they can be targeted via the LDN.

Jean-François Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said:

“JCDecaux plans to make London the global showcase for digital Out-of-Home with more than 50% of its UK advertising revenues forecast to be coming from digital by 2017. The new 84” screen is a step change in display quality and the scale of our build out will provide a new communication channel for London, backed by big data that will transform what is possible in Out-of-Home.”

Norway: Clear Channel opts for LED screens in three airports

Clear Channel Norway and display maker Absen have worked together to deploy large advertising screens in three Norwegian airports, with the media owner saying it is now convinced that LED offers a high-performance alternative to LCD for applications of this kind.

The biggest, at 57 square metres, is in the arrivals baggage hall at Stavanger’s Sola airport. Bergen’s Flesland has a 20-square-metre display in the departures lounge, while the arrivals baggage area is again the screen’s site at Trondheim airport in Vaernes, with a seven-square-metre installation. They all use Absen’s AI03 3.9mm pixel pitch LED panels.

“The Stavanger installation in particular was a wish from [Clear Channel, or CCN] to install a high-resolution, high-impact screen for the end user, in an attempt to satisfy and attract high-profile advertisers,” said Absen’s European managing director Ruben Rengel.

“The 57-square-metre screen not only gives a great opportunity for advertisers to get their message across, it serves as a fantastic reference for CCN expertise in providing state-of-the-art digital signage solutions.”

Clear Channel holds the digital signage contracts for seven airports across Norway, but until now has generally opted for LCD technology.

However, with the new LED displays, “image quality on the screen is undoubtedly one of the best we’ve seen in the world”, said Jonas Michael, head of digital development and operations at the outdoor media owner.

“We have tested a lot of brands and we realised that Absen had one of the best-quality LED panels on the market at a price that is competitive, so the decision to deploy LED screens of various sizes for these airport projects was a no-brainer.”

Absen also recently supplied the display technology for a video wall in the metro system of Oslo, the Norwegian capital.

Source

UK: 'We’re looking for the lads': Inside Jameson’s targeting strategy

Jameson Irish whiskey, part of France’s Pernod Ricard, is targeting an unlikely demo with its latest U.K. outdoor ad campaign: beer-swilling lads.

“The core challenge has been recruiting men within the age group 25-30 into the brand,” said Vicky Hoey, head of marketing at the brand. “We’re looking for ‘lads,’ really: those laid-back, urban, social males.”

Lads may not fit the typical demographic for a whiskey brand. Using outdoor advertising company Posterscope and Havas Media, Jameson launched a data-driven campaign to select the sites to most effectively reach young men. Outdoor advertising is increasingly using mobile and social data to understand what people think, feel and do, and targeting them accordingly.

“We needed a smart data strategy to reach this ‘lad’ audience,” said Ryan Hedditch, business director at Posterscope.

According to research from outdoor-planning agency Kinetic Worldwide, outdoor advertising makes £1 billion a year. Twenty-two percent of these sales are on digital out of home (DOOH), a figure set to rise to 35 percent in the next five years. Brands like Jameson contribute to this by planning campaigns by the audience rather than the format.

In the case of Jameson, the whiskey brand used an audience-discovery engine called Locomizer. The platform’s algorithm analyzed Twitter data that was geographically close to the 4,500 bars or pubs that sell Jameson whiskey. It zeroed in on males fitting the lad demo on Fridays and Saturdays to see where drinkers went before or after a night of drinking. Affinity scores were calculated for each DOOH site based on the data and the proximity to a whiskey-selling venue. Posterscope and Havas could use that data to place ads on nearby digital outdoor sites to prime the target audience before a night on the town.

One surprise that the data showed was that sites around the University of Oxford had particularly high affinity scores for certain venues, despite not being geographically close to them, which bucked the trend for other sites near universities in the country. Jameson’s messages were then tailored for students, appearing earlier in the week coinciding with more student drinking nights.

Jameson is used to running campaigns that last just a few weeks, but this campaign, at seven months, is the longest it has ever run. That, along with the use of data, makes sense, as reaching a new audience may take longer. Time will tell if targeting lads pays off for Jameson.

Source

UK: City Looks to the Future with New Street Media Eyes

Birmingham has been thrust to the forefront of the digital display revolution following the delivery of three innovative eye-shaped advertising displays, by Concept Sign and Display, as part of the £600 million redevelopment of New Street Station and Grand Central.

The landmark project has seen Concept manage the unique design, manufacture and installation of the UK’s first ever eye-shaped curved large format LED display solutions at each of the station’s three entrances.

Demonstrating its turnkey approach, Concept has also delivered a highly robust, bespoke front end control system for the ‘media eyes’, which has been designed to ensure they are operated efficiently and effectively. Concept is now managing the ongoing maintenance of the displays, which span up to 29.5 by 6.3 metres, with the technology monitored remotely around the clock by its technical team.

At the project’s inception, Concept worked closely with Network Rail to provide a display solution which fulfilled the technical brief. Together with Network Rail programme manager, Azhar Quaiyoom, the team created a unique commercially-viable media solution which fulfils the potential of the ‘media eyes’ and will maximise return on investment for Network Rail.

Ocean is now operating the media eyes, which are being utilised to display advertising messages as well as public service information about rail services. Advertisers are also now able to capitilise on the opportunity to deliver targeted, real time messages direct to the Birmingham public for the first time, with the displays incorporating pioneering technology which can assess the demographics of people in the immediate area.

With 1 million people reported to have visited the new Grand Central shopping centre above Birmingham’s New Street Station in its first two weeks of trading, the media eyes are now among the most visible displays in the city centre with daily exposure to huge numbers of shoppers and commuters.

David Neale, director for Concept Sign and Display, said: “Working at New Street Station required a high level of planning and attention to detail. Having numerous other trades working on site made for dynamic working conditions and meant the team had to constantly adapt to their changing environment. I don’t believe any other organisation could have delivered such a complex on-site installation.

“While this has undoubtedly been a challenging project, it has given us the enviable opportunity to be involved in a landmark regeneration scheme, while also showcasing our turnkey approach, and strengthening our position at the forefront of emerging digital technologies and innovative LED displays.

“Right from the embryonic design stage, we could clearly see the potential of the media eyes and we have worked closely with Network Rail to push the boundaries for Birmingham – and the wider out-of-home market –to deliver a truly innovative solution.”

Concept whilst contracted to Ocean worked under Mace, on behalf of client Network Rail, at New Street Station. Azhar Quaiyoom, programme manager from Network Rail, said: “We have had a tremendous response to the media eyes from the public.

“Concept’s ability to install on site, under the most challenging of conditions, has transformed this project from a shared vision to an exciting reality.

“We are thrilled to have such a strikingly unique, technologically-advanced solution in place which perfectly fits the façade of New Street Station, and which helps to create a dynamic and engaging frontage to one of Europe’s most important public transport gateways.”

AMERICAS NEWS

USA: GeoMinds: How to Bypass Ad Blocking

Ad-blocking: the common conversation icebreaker amongst Advertising Week delegates and speakers alike. Heard in nearly every discussion, panel or Q&A session, Adblocking is a hot-button topic in the industry. It’s no wonder given the recent news. Just last week, AdBlock, popular Chrome and Safari extension, announced their Acceptable Advertising Program.

Short story made shorter, the software will allow ads that configure to their non-intrusive standards (big point here) default. Users can remain ad-less but only if they switch off the program. This is a big step for desktop ad-blockers. The market that Adobe and Pagefair reported grew 21 million users a month in 2010 to 181 million this year.

Progress! Right? I’m not so sure. AdBlock’s recent buy-out looks promising but digital and mobile advertisers face enemies on multiple fronts. The second most paid app in the app store right now is an ad blocker. Apple’s iPhone 6 allows users to install software blocking banner ads. According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of Americas 54 percent of online display ads are not viewable. More than 60 percent of viewable ads are ‘seen’ by bots and not real humans.

An additional 25 percent of ads are fraudulent or the victim of faulty reporting. This leaves as few as 8 percent of digital ads actually viewed by consumers.

With nearly half of the $14 billion dollars spent on digital ads being in a sea of fraud and misrepresentation, it’s time for advertisers to spend their money wisely. During Advertising Week, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America teamed up with outdoor media owners to spread the message that out-of-home advertising, unlike digital, is real. The outdoor advertising sector is a small part of the typical budget, accounting for 3.9 percent of total media ad spending (eMarketer). Why is that?

Outdoor advertising, unlike other media, is impervious to ad blocker.

Ninety-two percent of 2015 Cannes Lions Titanium and Effectiveness Award Winners incorporated outdoor. Outdoor is nearly three times more efficient at driving online search activity than radio, TV or print.

Stats aside, look at the memorable campaigns over the past year. Apple’s World Gallery? Outdoor.

Full article and links here

USA: Dan Levi Named Chief Marketing Officer for Clear Channel Outdoor Americas

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings announced last week it has hired Dan Levi as Chief Marketing Officer for Clear Channel Outdoor Americas (CCOA). Reporting to CCOA Chief Executive Officer Scott Wells, Levi will lead the organization’s overall marketing strategy and execution in support of the company’s vision of enabling advertisers and brands to captivate audiences wherever they are.

Levi brings deep expertise in developing digital marketing strategies and has a proven track record of driving significant revenue growth, developing brands and creating opportunities for B2B and B2C marketing organizations. He joins CCOA from Levi Media Advisory, a consulting company he founded to advise businesses at the intersection of media, advertising, technology and marketing.

“Starting my own business is something I’ve always dreamed of, and running Levi Media Advisory has been a fantastic experience,” said Dan Levi. “However, as technology continues to dramatically change the media landscape, the opportunity at Clear Channel Outdoor Americas presented a phenomenal personal and professional challenge that I frankly couldn’t resist. Clear Channel is poised for strong growth; we have the creative talent, media capabilities and commitment to innovation to provide clients with unparalleled advertising and marketing solutions. I am excited to join them in leading this radical evolution in advertising and location-based marketing.”

At CCOA, Levi joins a senior leadership team that has a strong mix of traditional and digital expertise, including Erika Goldberg (Patch, NBCU); Bob McCuin (Townsquare, iHeartMedia); and Andy Stevens (Share This, AOL). Prior to launching his own firm, Levi was Chief Marketing Officer at Captivate, a digital place-based media network. He previously held senior-level digital marketing positions at companies including Zoom Media and Monster Worldwide. He brings a breadth of media marketing experience that will help CCOA leverage both its traditional and digital assets to push the boundaries of out-of-home campaigns and location-based advertising programs.

“Dan has a remarkable ability to develop strategies that drive tangible results for advertising partners and has a keen sense of how to translate new technologies into new opportunities in the media industry,” said Wells. “I’m glad we could offer him a compelling reason to step back into the corporate world. He will be instrumental in helping us find new and creative ways to drive revenue.”

Prior to Captivate, Levi was Senior Vice President of marketing and research at Zoom Media, where he led marketing, research, public relations, online marketing and corporate partnerships for the media company. He also held senior positions at Monster Worldwide, where he was Chief Marketing Officer for the Internet Advertising Division and World Wresting Entertainment as the Senior Vice President of Marketing for over three years. Levi has a deep background in cable television, having held multiple marketing positions at MTV for over 10 years. He holds a BS in Marketing from Penn State University and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Source

Brazil: JCDecaux wins exclusive contracts to run the advertising operations of Brazilian airports

JCDecaux SA announces it has won the exclusive 12-year contracts to run the advertising operations of Brasilia Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport and Natal São Gonçalo de Amarante International Airport in Brazil, starting on 1 November 2015.

Following their concession by the Brazilian government in 2011 and 2012, Brasilia airport is now 51%-owned by Corporación América and 49%-owned by Infraero, while Natal airport is wholly-owned by Corporación América. This is JCDecaux's first contract with the Argentinean company Corporación América, the world's largest private operator in terms of number of airports with 54 platforms under management.

Brasilia International Airport, Brazil's second-largest and Latin America's fourth-largest airport with 18.1 million passengers in 2014 and 20 million passengers predicted in 2015, has just undergone an estimated $1 billion renovation plan. Located in the heart of the country, Brasilia is the political capital of Brazil with 2.9 million inhabitants. Brasilia International is the largest national airport hub for the country's main cities and is attracting an increasing number of international flights.

The Natal airport complex, which opened on 31 May 2014, is Brazil's newest airport with annual passenger capacity of 6.2 million. It recorded passenger traffic of 2.5 million in 2014. Natal is the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, which has 1.5 million inhabitants, is one of the most popular tourist regions in Brazil, and is the country's second-largest petrochemical centre.

JCDecaux's media offering for these two contracts will be highly digitalised with the installation of iVision networks and LED screens within the terminals, as well as lightboxes and large-scale wall branding. The exterior will also be upgraded with large communication structures. Advertisers and their agencies will benefit from JCDecaux's new and innovative advertising solutions.

These two airports further expand JCDecaux's exclusive airport offering in Brazil, which includes Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport and Salvador de Bahia Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport. With, for the first time, an exclusive, comprehensive and coherent offering encompassing two of the country's four largest airports and certain platforms owned by Infraero, JCDecaux continues to establish its business model in Latin America, thereby consolidating its position as the world's leading player in airport advertising.

Martin Eurnekian, Co-CEO of CorporaciónAmérica, said: "We are delighted to have signed this contract with JCDecaux, the number one player worldwide in airport communication, whose high standards of quality match those of Corporación América. These long-term contracts for the Brasilia and Natal airports confirm our commitment in Brazil and demonstrate our strategy of entering into partnerships with the world's most successful companies with the shared goal of enhancing the passenger's experience.

We want to help consolidate Brasilia's position as the country's main national hub and Natal Airport's status as a symbol of Rio Grande do Norte's growth through its connections with the rest of America and Europe.

We would like to thank Jean-Charles Decaux and all of his team for the confidence they have shown in us. We would never have succeeded in managing 54 airports worldwide without entering into strategic long-term partnerships. We confirm our wish to accompany the growth of new airports in America, Europe and Asia, and welcome new opportunities to enter into other agreements with JCDecaux around the globe."

Jean-Charles Decaux, Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: "We are very happy with this first partnership with Corporación América, a company that since 1998 has succeeded in becoming the most important private operator in terms of the number of airports in the world. The Brasilia and Natal airports are two key platforms in the establishment of a national network for JCDecaux in Brazil, with a qualitative and targeted offering that will meet the expectations of political and economic decision-makers in the world's sixth largest economy.

Brazil air passenger traffic is projected to be one of the fastest developing in the world, more than tripling in size between 2011 and 2031*. At this time, it should account for more than 500 million passengers. The Brasilia and Natal airports will serve as a showcase for the Group's capacity to propose digital products and services that can transform an airport's environment and enhance the passenger's experience whilst ensuring optimal visibility for advertisers and their brands."

AFRICA NEWS

Nigeria: The Task Before New LASAA Helmsman

Raheem Akingbolu writes on the need for the new Managing Director of the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, Mr. Mobolaji Sanusi to stay on the track of his predecessors to impact on the out-of-home industry.

Three months after the exit of Mr. George Noah as the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), the state government recently announced Mr. Mobolaji Sanusi, a journalist as his successor. His appointment, like that of Mr. George Noah, the immediate past CEO of the agency, was received with mix feelings because the two gentlemen have little or no experience in advertising practice.

In the case of Noah, while a section of the outdoor practitioners, who had proposed a non practitioner to head the regulatory agency, celebrated the appointment, many people dismissed him on the basis that he was a novice in the industry but within his first few months in office, Noah proved his mettle and surmounted many challenges facing the industry.

Prior to Noah’s appointment, Messrs Makanjuola Alabi and Tunji Bello had been appointed helmsmen of the agency. Alabi a trained lawyer and an outdoor practitioner was the first CEO of the agency, who, many stakeholders believed sold the idea about the agency to the then governor of the state, Mr. Bola Tinubu. Except for his presumed high handedness and occasional clash with the leadership of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN, the pioneer CEO was rated high for redefining the industry as a result of his zero tolerance for lawlessness among practitioners.

The tenure of Bello, the current Secretary to the Lagos State Government was though short, he appeared to mean well, giving his disposition to running an open door policy and winning the loyalty of the practitioners.

Challenges

Having been labeled an opportunist by some practitioners, who see his appointment as a reward for his political loyalty to some bigwigs within the ruling party in Lagos, Sanusi needs to work hard and sustain the vision of the agency. This is important because many observers believe that he lack the required experience to impact the industry. Beyond regulation, Sanusi is expected to protect the aesthetic look of the city and give the agency a human face.

To succeed, he will need to stay focus on the reason for which LASAA was established. At the beginning, it was stated that it was created to sanitise the outdoor environment and make sure that signage do not clutter the environment. The agency became necessary as a result of the mega city status of Lagos State. As a result of poor regulation, the outdoor industry had become a burden to government because of lack of orderliness and clustering of the environment. At the end, it served two purposes; it improved on the aesthetic look of the commercial city, as well as boosting the Internal Generated Revenue of the state.

Relationship with OAAN

The new CEO will do the industry a lot of good if he has good working relationship with the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN). He should borrow a leaf from the approach of Bello and Noah, who both created fora for dialogues.

Full article here

Nigeria: OAAN Seeks Rates Review In Lagos

The Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) has solicited for review of the high tariffs being charged its members in Lagos State.

The association led by its president, Mr. Babatunde Adedoyin made the plea when they paid a courtesy visit to the Lagos State governor Akinwumi Ambode, saying they have appointed him their patron.

The OAAN president appealed to the state government to provide OAAN members with enabling business environment, saying the association and its members have always supported the state in various ways in its efforts to ensure that the momentum of growth, prosperity and excellence is sustained.

He stated that the body can do more than it is currently doing, but will need the partnership and assistance of the governor in ensuring that he takes a very closer look at the current situation in the state.

Adedoyin stated that the high rates regime imposed on members during the tenure of former managing director of LASAA, Mr. Makanjuola Alabi has remained ever, since, noting that the rate increase has sent most members out of business.

He added that efforts by the current secretary to the state government, Mr. Tunji Bello during his tenure as LASAA helmsman was commendable, expressing appreciation to Bello for his listening ears as LASAA boss.

They enjoined Ambode to constitute a board for Lagos State Advertisement Signage Agency (LASAA) . Adedoyin expressed the association’s delight in conferring the prestigious title of the patron of the association on the governor, noting that such appointment is in the tradition of the association.

Source

AUSTRALIA NEWS

Australia: Tech powers Aussie OOH

Two leading Australian out-of-home networks have this week introduced digital street furniture offering a variety of technologies far removed from the standard billboard, ranging from voice recognition to beacons.

The latter is included in the 270 screens Adshel is launching, along with dynamic messaging, real-time capabilities and contextual relevance. The former is built into Ooh!Media's Excite network, which currently consists of just 50 panels in retail centres but with plans for 300 more.

The Excite network also boasts wifi, high-definition web cameras and gesture control.

Brendan Cook, Ooh!Media chief executive, told Ad News that the company now regarded itself as a location-based company rather than an OOH one, explaining that "OOH is in a prime spot in the connected world that we live in".

"We are mobile as a society," he said. "The fact that we can combine the power of everyone's connectivity in their pocket with the physical becomes the great strength of OOH."

His rival is thinking along similar lines: OOH is "essentially location-based communication", according to David Roddick, Adshel's chief revenue officer.

"It's very much in the moment," he said. "The more you can reflect that moment, the more effective your communication is going to be."

Earlier this year an ARF paper argued that premium digital out-of-home media also has a valuable priming capability that makes people more receptive to other ad formats, particularly mobile

In addition, research undertaken by Neuro-Insight for Ocean Outdoor found that full-motion digital OOH could deliver an experience comparable to television.

But that message isn't necessarily being taken on board by all in the advertising industry, according to Roddick, who suggested that "sometimes the information about what we are capable of doing as a medium isn't getting through to the agencies and the strategists and the clients themselves".

"There is definitely an education job to be done in each of those elements in the value chain," he said.

"And it's absolutely imperative for us because we didn't put this in the ground to just be a fancy scroller."

Source

Australia: oOh! Announces Results of Million Dollar Pitch Promotion

BCM’s winning pitch aimed to raise awareness and funds for the charity organisation, which was founded by Brian Freeman in 2014 to support the recovery and rehabilitation of returned Australian soldiers.

The pitch highlighted the fact that while 41 soldiers have died in Afghanistan, 121 returning soldiers have committed suicide.

CBA Marketer and The chair of the judging panel, Stuart Tucker, said the combination of a powerful campaign purpose and brilliant creative execution for the Walking Wounded campaign maximised the reach and engagement offered by the Unmissable oOh! network.

BCM was one of five finalists pitching in Sydney today to a panel of judges, which also included Leo Roberts from Coca Cola Pacific, Cameron Curtis from Near, Sunita Gloster from AANA, Derek Green from Ogilvy, Nicole Milward from Razor/Joy and Brendon Cook and Michaela Chan from oOh!.

oOh! CEO Brendon Cook said while only one of the pitches could win, the quality of the finalists’ presentations – including Moxie Products for the Never Alone Campaign, Tourism Australia, Grey for Cure Brain Cancer and UM for Lego – was outstanding with all judges agreeing that each “got 10 out of 10 for the innovative way they utilised Out Of Home to get their messages through.”

“The finalists communicated clear messages that all Australians should hear and used our network in creative and innovative ways to deliver an impactful and engaging campaign,” Mr Cook said. “As a result we will be working with all of the finalists to help them in getting their message out.”

Full article here

MIDDLE EAST NEWS

UAE: HyperMedia FZ LLC Converts Mall, In-Store and Petrol Station Networks to BroadSign International, LLC

The initial conversion of 1,000 screens will grow to over 1,650 during Middle Eastern expansion.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates. October 13, 2015. The largest DOOH media owner in the UAE, HyperMedia FZ LCC, has converted its displays to BroadSign International, LLC’s automated software platform.

HyperMedia’s mall network is currently composed of 22 malls with 600 large format LCD and LED screens (some up to 49x26 feet in size) and will grow to 30 malls with 1,000 screens due to Middle Eastern expansion. The in-store network will increase from 15 to 30 hypermarkets housing 500 47”-84” LCD displays, while the petrol station/convenience store network will consist of 170 outlets in Dubai with 25” screens located at the point of purchase.

“We were familiar with BroadSign from market research and selected its CMS due to plentiful features, the ease of uploading and scheduling content, and reliable operation,” said Ashin John, Digital Network Engineer at HyperMedia.

“BroadSign has made direct monitoring and management of our network possible, not to mention efficient and organized. Moreover, proof of performance reports and easy billing have increased accountability for our clients.”

One half of HyperMedia’s programming is dedicated to advertising, with the remaining quarters given to retail partner communications and informational content. Advertisers such as Audi, BMW, P&G and Unilever take advantage of reaching consumers at their purchase destination to facilitate decision-making.

HyperMedia’s aim is to provide Middle Eastern advertisers with an innovative, responsive and effective communication platform that facilitates engagement with millions of affluent shoppers. Its mall network alone reaches 260 million shoppers each year and has 75% market share in the DOOH space.

“Advanced cities and shopping destinations like Dubai and Abu Dhabi are ideal settings for high-quality displays delivering exclusive advertising opportunities at the point of purchase,” said Skip Beloff, Vice President of Sales at BroadSign. “HyperMedia provides just this and BroadSign is pleased to assist in enabling a real-time advertising channel with continuous update and monitoring possibilities.”