EUROPE NEWS
Technology: What EDDYSTONE, Google's take on Beacons, means for Digital Signage and Digital OOH
I am traveling, so little to no time to read or write – or dig into new tech that has just emerged. So when people started emailing me saying, “Hey, did you see the Eddystone thing?” all I could respond was “Yeah, kinda sorta.”
Fortunately, Bryan Mongeau, the Vice President of Technology at BroadSign has evidently been around his Montreal shop this week, and digested the news about Google’s take on beacons. He offered to do a Q&A about what it means …
Q: So what exactly is Eddystone anyway?
Eddystone is Google’s recently announced alternative to Apple’s iBeacon. Going a bit deeper into the tech, Eddystone is an open-source, unidirectional, proximity-based BLE protocol that in many ways addresses the shortcomings of iBeacon. It can support multiple different payloads and has a range of approximately 50 meters.
Q: What are the differences between iBeacon and Eddystone?
Firstly, if you decide to use iBeacons, you are limiting yourself to the Apple ecosystem of iOS devices. According to recent market share stats, that means excluding the 70-80% of devices running Android. There is no official Android support for iBeacon and unofficial attempts to support it on Android have met resistance from Apple.
In contrast, with Eddystone the entire smart device ecosystem is supported: it has native OS level support (via Nearby API) from Android 2.3 and above, as well as an official iOS SDK.
Second, and possibly most important, iBeacons require an app to be installed on the user’s device to detect a beacon. With Eddystone-url (one of the three Eddystone variants), no app is required. By all online accounts, on Android the beacon simply appears in the user’s notification panel and a single tap takes you to the URL.
What is less clear at this time is the iOS behaviour. Seeing as it requires an SDK, it seems logical to me that an app will still be required on iOS. Lastly, Eddystone is more flexible than iBeacon. There are three variants of the protocol (URL, UID and TLM) as opposed to the one variant (UID) of iBeacon. Also, the protocol is versioned, allowing more functionality to be built on top of the protocol and this will ultimately enable more use cases.
Q: When can Eddystone be deployed?
Google has timed the announcement with a few hardware OEM’s that have Eddystone beacons immediately available. In many cases, seeing as the underlying RF tech is the same (BLE), existing iBeacons can speak Eddystone with a firmware upgrade.
Full story here
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France: Success of the share buyback offer launched by JCDecaux
Paris, 15 July 2015 – JCDecaux SA announced that it was informed of the results of the simplified public tender offer (“offre publique d’achat simplifiée”, OPAS) to buy back 12,500,000 of its own shares at a price per share of €40, which ended on 9 July 2015.
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) published the results of the offer on 15 July, 2015 in its avis No 215C1033. 194,419,422 shares, accounting for 87% of the share capital, were tendered to the offer. Out of these, 61% of the free float (which excludes shares held by JCDecaux Holding SAS as well as by Messrs. Jean-Claude Decaux, Jean-François Decaux, Jean-Charles Decaux and Jean-Sébastien Decaux and Mrs. Danielle Decaux, all of which were tendered to the offer, as previously announced) were tendered to the offer.
The success of the OPAS is reflected in the total number of shares tendered, which exceeds the 12,500,000 shares subject to the offer. As a consequence and in accordance with article 233-5 of the general regulations of the AMF, the buyback allocation was determined through a pro rata reduction on an equal basis between all shareholders based on the number of shares tendered to the offer.
In line with the maximum size announced for the offer, JCDecaux is eventually buying back a total of 12,500,000 shares, for a consideration of €500 million. As announced, all shares repurchased in the context of the simplified tender offer will be canceled, in accordance with the objectives of the share buyback program.
The success of the offer, which, thanks to the strength of the balance sheet of JCDecaux, was funded primarily from its own resources and in part by drawing on an existing credit facility, will result in an increase in its earnings per share and optimize its financial structure, while preserving its capacity to continue both organic and external growth.
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UK: Daktronics keeps running at the London 2012 Olympic Legacy Venues
Daktronics UK takes on the Great Newham Run for Paul’s Place charity The close knit and dependable team at Daktronics have been determined to direct their power as a collective towards raising money for charity.
The hard-wired crew will represent the company by taking part in the Morrisons Great Newham London Run, at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Sunday, 19 July 2015. The eleven-strong team is comprised of six Daktronics’ UK employees and the support of five family members.
The money they raise will be donated to Paul’s Place (paulsplace.org.uk), a Bristol-based charity that supports and facilitates physically disabled adults.
The team is closely aligned with the site of the run, as the route takes in all the iconic London 2012 Olympic Games legacy venues, including the Lee Valley VeloPark into which Daktronics has installed four Daktronics LED video displays, each measuring 18.10 square metres, in preparation for the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
The displays are located one in each corner of the indoor velodrome, to ensure fans get multiple views of the action in the event that their seats have any obstructions. Positioned at eye level from the seating areas fans can easily look from the displays back to the live action and vice versa. The route also passes the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park stadium.
Indeed the Run represents the first event to take place there since its transformation following London 2012 and Daktronics recently announced its own involvement. Two Daktronics 15HD pixel LED video displays measuring a vast 214 square metres will be installed into the venue in time to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Daktronics UK extends an open invitation to all those who wish to support them on July 19th and offers the Paul’s Place JustGiving page (https://www.justgiving.com/paulsplace) up to the generosity of the industry.
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Spain: SEAT is in synch with consumers
The Spanish automotive company, SEAT, is putting consumers in the driver’s seat with its synchronized bus shelters in Madrid and Barcelona to promote its latest Ibiza model.
Passersby can scan the QR code on a 75-inch transflective liquid-crystal display to access the SEAT app, thereby synchronizing their mobile phones and giving them complete control over elements such as shelter lighting and an installed air conditioning unit.
The huge screen also displays the interior of the Ibiza, which participants could further customize using their smartphones!
Watch the video here
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UK: How the Outdoor ad industry measures itself – and what it tells us about our morning commutes
Outdoor advertising literally moves with the times. Digital screens can be programmed to show different creatives at different times of day. It increases advertisers' ability to target audiences when they’re out and about.
The way Outdoor advertising is measured has had to keep up. The Outdoor industry, through Route Research Ltd, has invested £19m in the ‘Route’ study, which can analyse advertising effectiveness by day part. As such, it is a useful tool for advertisers and ad agencies planning to use Outdoor.
For example, it reveals some fascinating facts about our morning commutes and how different types of commuters are exposed to Outdoor advertising.
How it works
Route offers a single measure of the efficiency of Outdoor advertising in all types of environments - roadside to rail, tube and light rail to airports and more.
It is also person-centric - based on 30,000 plus respondents carrying GPS devices that track them. Where GPS can’t reach, journeys are meticulously modelled. GPS data is “big” – it creates billions of data points.
It’s also passive – not reliant on respondent recall. Cognitive biases cloud our perceptions of time but GPS data has no such human frailties. GPS records the extra time it took to pick up a coffee or sit out the delay you forgot about.
Full article here
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UK: The Drum Creative Out Of Home Awards
The Creative out of Home Awards have launched for 2015! These awards will recognise great creative thinking in out of home advertising.
Entries are open to all advertising agencies, design consultancies, digital agencies, direct mail companies, production companies, marketing agencies, PR consultancies, in-house creative teams, in-house marketing teams, media buying agencies and media owners that are based anywhere within the UK.
So, have you or your team produced any stand out creative pieces over the past year that you feel is award worthy? If it’s a yes…then now would be a good time to start thinking about submitting your out of home work.
With categories that cover all areas of the out of home spectrum, there is bound to be one that suits your work. For more information on category rules please download the entry pack.
Entry Deadline: Friday 4 September 2015
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Netherlands: This billboard dispenses free McDonald’s McFlurries when it gets too hot
Fast food giant McDonald’s read the minds of overheated passers-by perfectly, when temperatures hit record-breaking levels in the Netherlands earlier this month.
In a stroke of advertising genius, McDonald’s teamed up with outdoor advertising company JCDecaux for a heat-sensitive billboard that ‘dispensed’ free cups of McFlurry at just the right moment.
After all, who doesn’t love to cool down with an icy cold treat when the sun is blazing?
And that magic moment came when temperatures exceeded 38.7°C, and the panel flipped open to allow access to 100 McFlurry cups, to grateful cheers from the gathering crowd.
The lucky passers-by then redeemed their free ice cream from the nearest McDonald’s outlet.
Watch the video here
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AMERICAS NEWS
USA: BLE Beacons, Mobile Technology and Digital Signage
By Kevin Hunter On July 20, 2015
Increasingly, businesses expect to be able reach their customers with heightened effectiveness and accuracy, while also understanding how their various communications and campaigns have performed. With the expansion of tools available for serving and analyzing online mediums, other industries suffer from a lack of similar metrics. This has led to the world’s brands and advertisers devoting their resources increasingly toward these measurable investments and away from traditional methods that lack the same capabilities.
However, the emergence of technologies has helped the physical world shorten many of these gaps with the digital world and provide comparable tools that make traditional mediums like Out-of-Home (OOH) and Digital Signage appear valuable once again. In particular, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons have emerged as an opportunity for media players.
BLE beacons have established themselves as a micro-location and proximity solution with many use cases. While adoption is rapidly occurring among retailers, venues, OOH networks, advertisers, municipalities, mobile app publishers and more, others are still unaware of the opportunity. The world of proximity-engagement is becoming increasingly lucrative and proven, with Business Insider Intelligence recently estimating a 10x growth rate in-store retail sales influenced by beacon-triggered messages, taking it from $4.1 billion in 2015 to $44.4 billion in 2016.
Beacons are effective from 50 meters down to inches and come in various form factors and power configurations. They can be standalone pieces of hardware that are battery or AC-powered or can be integrated into existing firmware that has a BLE radio, like a Wi-Fi Access Point. Beacons constantly transmit a signal that an opt-in user’s mobile device can detect. After detection, a pre-determined engagement is then displayed through a proximity-enabled mobile application that the end user can act upon.
Unlike other engagements served through a mobile device, beacons are based on someone’s proximity; one qualifier for inferring or determining relevancy. They can be used indoors or outdoors and are commonly used for micro-way finding, hyper-relevant engagements or foot traffic/heat mapping of physical areas.
Within OOH and Digital Signage, some of the use cases include dynamically changing displayed content based on what audience is in front of the asset, making it something the customer is more likely to act upon since it likely pertains to them. It also allows for static signs and advertisements to compliment or alter their engagement to customers by sending content to the end-users’ mobile device.
Full story here
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USA: JCDecaux and Outfront Media launch the first smart bus shelter in Los Angeles
JCDecaux SA and Outfront Media (NYSE: OUT), one of the largest out-of home media companies in the Americas, announced today that Outfront Decaux Street Furniture, LLC – “Outfront Decaux” (a 50/50 joint venture between JCDecaux North America and Outfront Media) has developed the first smart bus shelter in Los Angeles.
Outfront Decaux, which operates 2,526 bus shelters in 16 cities in Greater LA, worked closely with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office, the Board of Public Works, the LA DPW, the LADOT and the LA Metro, to include a WiFi hotspot, USB Charging Station, iBeacon and real-time digital transit information displays in the new bus shelter.
This smarter bus shelter will consume less power since it is now retrofitted with LED lights.
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AFRICA NEWS
South Africa: Posterscope to audit 10 000 South African billboards
Specialist Out-of-Home Communications Agency, Posterscope, and their specialist partners Outdoor Auditors are currently in the field auditing billboards across South Africa.
The biannual, national audit is extensive and covers over 25 fields of data for every billboard in the country. Over the course of the month over 10 000 billboards will be audited for advertiser details, site information, and their relative quality.
The data from the January audit is already in use, while the data from the July audit will be available in September. This will be used to analyse brand activity, develop contextually relevant client insights, and to strategically inform Posterscope’s OOH media planning. Using the audit data, Posterscope produces customised audit reports and competitor activity reviews that are useful to brand and marketing teams, media agencies, and media owners.
For more information, visit the Posterscope website.
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South Africa: Lindt HELLO launch at Gautrain stations trends on Twitter
Lindt HELLO hosted a highly successful activation at the Hatfield, Rosebank and Sandton Gautrain stations which was facilitated by Continental SPG Outdoor Media. Gautrain stations have become increasingly popular locations for innovative and inspiring out of home (OOH) campaigns and activations, offering advertisers cutting-edge opportunities with international appeal.
This activation was the platform from which this new Lindt chocolate product was launched. Lindt HELLO is aimed at a younger audience. The product is trendy, vibey, fun and social. Gautrain stations are the ideal location with approximately 50% of Gautrain commuters being below the age of 34. (Source: Brand Catalyst Research).
The Lindt HELLO activation featured a barber shop quartet, which gave young commuters the opportunity to experience not only saying ‘hello’, but being sung ‘hello’ to by the talented quartet. The campaign strategy was to create mass hype on social media, and create a positive brand association through a pleasant experience.
The singers further heightened the experience by handing out sample Lindt HELLO bars. “The campaign has been really successful. We trended second on Twitter after the Jo’burg launch,” says Nicole Shrosbree from Thirty Four specialist agency, “We felt that specific locations at the Gautrain stations and on the platforms created the perfect stage on which to engage with young commuters and to get them to sample our product.
This is exactly the kind of place where our target consumer passes throughout the day.” Continental SPG Outdoor Media is appointed as exclusive OOH advertising agent for the Gautrain stations and there are a number of exciting OOH solutions available to marketers, ranging from zone ownership on a network of digital Pods in the stations, on the platforms, and on the escalators.
They are also able to facilitate the rental of the environment for locations of film shoots and brand activations.
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AUSTRALIA NEWS
Australia: It's automatic, it's systematic, it's programmatic...out of home
With the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) recently announcing plans to launch an Automated Transaction Platform (ATP) that will create a one-stop hub for the buying and selling of Out-of-Home (OOH) in Australia across all formats.
The OMA's ATP was big news across the medium and while the single trading platform isn't expected to launch in 2016, the OMA has said future expectations for subsequent roll outs of the ATP will include programmatic trading.
As well as Westfield allegedly tinkering around in programmatic digital out of home (PDOH), back in May Video DSP TubeMogul announced a tie-up with digital out of home (DOOH) ad exchange Site Tour, to enable ads on thousands of digital screens across the country to be bought programmatically. IPG's trading desk, Cadreon Australia, spearheaded the partnership and was the first client to test the offering.
Site Tour CEO Michael Scruby, said data on audiences is advancing at a rapid rate and it’s starting to accumulate for the OOH sector. He said inventory is switching from static to digital and that location is becoming a fundamental driver of advertiser demand.
“Programmatic trading is inevitable. While we may not have the perfect model yet, we are well on our way and our partners are helping us and them get a massive jump on the rest,” he said. Cadreon's newly appointed MD, Jess White, said: “We are calling it the fifth screen and will look to plan OOH, like any other digital screen, in the near future,” she said.
Full story here
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Australia: Multi-lane gateway to Sydney CBD lit up by APN Outdoor’s Elite additions
APN Outdoor announce that two new Elite Screens will be joining their burgeoning portfolio. The digitisation of inbound and outbound iconic supersites on Sydney’s busy Warringah Freeway at Cammeray, with the two new sites will be available to advertisers from lunar period 12, starting November 2nd.
Warringah Freeway is one of Sydney’s key thoroughfares, gateway to the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel, and a major traffic route providing access to and from the CBD. Feeding traffic in and out of the city, the freeway which forms part of the M1 is also a major route to suburbs in the north, south, east and west and will undoubtedly become one of the most high profile digital sites in the country.
As with all preceding APN Outdoor Elite Screens in Australia and New Zealand, the quality is of the highest possible standard. The Warringah Freeway Inbound and Outbound sites will boast a market leading 10mm pitch, ensuring the sharpest images for advertisers and unrivalled precision and screen quality.
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ASIA NEWS
China: The 7th China International Digital Signage Show to be Held in September in Shanghai
As the largest conferences and trade show dedicated to showcasing innovative digital communications and interactive technology solutions in China, the 7th China International Digital Signage, Audio Visual Integration and Equipment Show produced by Shanghai UBM Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co., Ltd, will be held at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) on Sep. 16-18, 2015.
Concurrent shows including The 12th China Vending Show; 2015 Shanghai International Multimedia Application and Human-computer Interaction Technologies Show; Intelligent Education and Online Class Show will be held together to attract target customers across different industries.
Exhibits Profile
Launched in 2009, Shanghai International Digital Signage, Audio Visual Integration and Equipment Show is the largest and longest running conference and trade show exclusively dedicated to digital displays, interactive technology and solutions in China, the show has been a significant contributor to the growth of this fast-paced industry. Exhibitors feature technology and services including hardware, software, network, delivery and content from home and abroad will join to showcase their latest technologies and solutions.
Professional end-user attendances come from a wide range of industries such as retail, restaurant, healthcare, education, hospitality and transportation, advertising agencies, system integrators and installers account for a considerable proportion too. Shanghai International Digital Signage, Audio Visual Integration and Equipment Show also offer the most impactful educational programs presented by industrial leaders from home and abroad.
Attendees can learn about the latest innovative technologies and market development trends, to reinforce networking and business cooperation between the Chinese and international market, to exchange information, and to explore together the solutions to crucial problems, challenges and development opportunities.
Full article here
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