DailyDOOH

Monster Media have just unveiled a new campaign in four major US cities allowing passersby to interact with a new range of Sony Vaio computers featuring Sony’s HDNA branding.

Interestingly, the creative aspect of the storefront campaign features page-turning via motion detection, giving people the opportunity to “browse” through all of the latest Vaio products.

The campaign installations in New York, San Francisco and Chicago run until September 14 and the Los Angeles installation will run until September 7.

The installations all utilise Monster Media’s MonsterVision WindowFX technology through which Monster Media converts vacant storefronts into interactive displays.

John Payne, president of Monster Media told us “This campaign showcases Monster Media’s industry-leading technology, which allows us to create points of interaction with advertisers’ products and services. Our WindowFX technology takes ordinary storefronts and brings them to life, so passers-by aren’t just seeing a picture of a laptop, they are exploring its features. It’s more captivating than a static billboard.”

If you are in any of the locations and want to see the installations in more detail then you can at: -

• 675 3rd Avenue, New York
• 1000 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
• 900 Wabash, Chicago
• 7278 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles

Here’s Kinetic’s Team USA Water Polo Association campaign running on one of Clear Channel’s Spectacolor screens.

Perhaps all digital campaigns are as big as this in the US and we just don’t get to see the full extent of them but we were absolutely flabbergasted just looking at where this campaign was run!

During August Kinetic US launched an extensive outdoor, place based and mobile marketing campaign to raise awareness of the USA Water Polo Association and their Olympic team.

This is very likely the largest ever media campaign to support an amateur sport and will have reached millions of people on thousands of digital screen networks in coffee shops, elevators, campuses, in health clubs, bars, and at many other highly-trafficked venues - Aviator, Kinetic’s aviation and in-flight media unit, secured signage within airports of course!

The adverts also ran on a number of high-profile digital Jumbotrons throughout Manhattan and on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.

Kinetic Mobile’s team engineered a mobile phone text message campaign and placed mobile banner ads on numerous mobile websites generating over 6 million impressions - all of which drew web traffic to a custom-designed mobile website http://usawaterpolo.mobi

The media ran in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, etc. and ran on over 20+ different types of media (almost 25,000 digital screens) including:-

• Times Square Spectaculars
• Digital + Static Billboards
• Taxi Tops
• Digital Jukeboxes
• Mall of America
• Phone Kiosks
• Coffee Shops
• Health Clubs
• Bars
• Doctors Offices
• Subway + Rail
• Wildposting
• Airports
• Elevators
• College Campus’s

In a story we have been working on with Kinetic / Destination Media Group in the US (note the USA Water Polo Association advertisement above) we happened upon a nice screen shot from Captivate Network. Not withstanding the ‘extended weather forecast’ on display we did like the incredibly well laid out screen and the strap line You Are Watching Captivate Network towards the bottom.

More networks should do that - a simple piece of self branding / reinforcement.

We just heard that Norwegian media business Urban Media have chosen Remote Media’s signagelive product.

Company founder, Einar Schwaiger told us “We have searched the market to find a software solution that could meet our demands on flexibility, security, and plug & play opportunities and was pleased to learn that Remote Media could meet all of our demands”

He added “Not only the technical solution, but also the economic model, is an advantage for company’s that wish to grow fast and secure. It is a pleasure to recommend Remote Media to other players in the digital signage business around the world.”

Urban Media provide news, weather, entertainment and advertising through their screens on buses, taxies, ferry’s and other locations in over 20 cities in Norway.

The first 100 signagelive enabled devices are being rolled out this month. The Urban Media signagelive network players are fully managed over a GPRS/3G mobile network.

ADFLOW Networks Inc tell us that they have added bold video wall displays broadcasting playful, atmospheric content in various areas of SIR CORP’s Jack Astor’s Bar and Grill(R) restaurants.

Steve Fletcher, vice president of development for SIR CORP, says the displays have been well-received by both operators and customers “ADFLOW has provided us with a vehicle with which to entertain and communicate with our patrons, while adding a dynamic element which truly differentiates this unique restaurant”

ADFLOW Networks provided a full turn-key digital signage solution installing a network of four video walls comprised of six 42″screens each, for a total of 24 screens operating in tandem with ADFLOW Networks’ DMS (Dynamic Messaging System).

About Jack Astor’s

Jack Astor’s is renowned for its winning combination of an energetic atmosphere, delicious menu and fantastic beverages. We have joined such guest favourites as wings, burgers, sandwiches and steaks, with innovative dishes from around the world such as an authentic Pad Thai, Greek Chicken Salad and Parmesan Chicken Bowties. Jack’s boasts a remarkable lunch and dinner crowd, as well as a high energy late-night bar business. From our landmark opening in 1990, Jack’s has expanded to 27 restaurants, and continuing to grow in the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.jackastors.com

Parisian digital signage continues to amaze and inspire us, often it seems leading a life of its own. Here we see, and we can honestly say we have not seen this anywhere else, small LCD screens in the roof of the elevators / lifts.

This was in the Radisson SAS hotel near EuroDisney.

Each elevator had two screens, both facing inwards so that if you looked up to the left and up to the right you would see what was on the screen. It actually worked quite well once you noticed the screens were there. In a crowded lift where folks tend to hold their breath and look up anyway, the screens and what was on them could be easily seen.

Not sure who operates the screens - the content was mainly local hotel offerings, restaurant, bar offers etc and information about the hotel and golf on offer.

Viscom Visitor Brochure (English)

In early August we pointed out what a good event this has been. Attached above is the visitor brochure (in English) as a PDF.

Remember the event is a good one run over three days; 30th October to 1st November 2008.

The “Digital Signage Days” this year are 30th and 31st October 2008 and there are a number of seminars covering both basic issues surrounding digital signage and also content production.

Detailed information can be found on http://www.viscom-messe.com/

Viscom Frankfurt 2008 is being held at the Exhibition Centre Frankfurt am Main (Germany) in hall 3.0.

Late last week Avanti Screenmedia Group PLC (ASG) announced that it had raised a further UK PDS 240,000 (net of expenses) in order to provide further working capital for the Company. It did this by offering 17,636,363 new ordinary shares at a price of 1.375p per share to Neo Media Group SA (aka Neo Media or Neo Advertising).

Forget the intricacies of share subscription, previous convertible loan notes etc. because what this means is that, in no uncertain terms “from now on ASG will be part of the Neo Group”.

Christian Vaglio-Giors, Managing Director, Neo Advertising SA who we are lucky enough to speak with regularly told us exclusively “As you certainly know we have been in touch with some of the UK dominant players for more than 2 years now. We recently thoroughly re-analyzed the UK market and concluded that it was the right timing for Neo to enter it and ASG the right vehicle to do so”

He added “From now on ASG will be part of Neo Group, benefiting from its supply chain, its knowledge sharing programs and its sales leveraging power. With the help of Neo, ASG can certainly position itself as the key DOOH player in the UK”

The RNS issued as a matter of course to the UK’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) is well worth a read below…

RNS Number : 9107B Avanti Screenmedia Group PLC 22 August 2008

22 August 2008

Avanti Screenmedia Group plc

(”Avanti” or the “Company”)

Subscription of new ordinary shares

Avanti, the AIM listed leading digital screen media specialist, announces today that Neo Media Group SA (”Neo Media”) has subscribed for 17,636,363 new ordinary shares (the “Subscription Shares”) at a price of 1.375p per share to raise a further £240,000 net of expenses (the “Subscription”). The Subscription has been undertaken to provide further working capital for the Company.

The Subscription Shares represent approximately 29.98 per cent. of the fully diluted share capital of the Company, as enlarged by the Subscription. The Subscription Shares will, when issued and fully
paid, rank equally in all respects with the existing ordinary shares.

It is expected that Admission will become effective and that trading in the Subscription Shares will commence on AIM at 8.00am on 29 August 2008. As a result of the Subscription the total issued share capital of the Company will increase to 58,822,436 ordinary shares.

This subscription follows the announcement of 18 July 2008 that Neo Media had subscribed for £300,000 by way of a convertible loan. As stated previously, Avanti will work with Neo Media to broaden the Company’s market penetration and product offering, and to provide Neo Media with an entry into the UK market.

Neo Media is headquartered in Switzerland and currently operates in eight European countries, and in Canada, focusing on providing Digital Out of Home (”DOOH”) solutions to shopping centres, hypermarkets, retailers and exhibition centres.

The Board considers that the Subscription is in the best interests of the Company and Shareholders as a whole.

The Company is in the process of finalising a number of new contracts and the Board anticipates that it will be in a position to give details of these contracts shortly.

Simon Rees, CEO of Avanti, commented,

“We are extremely pleased to have the support of Neo Media and we look forward to working closely with the company.”

Here are a couple of pictures of the Thomson Retail Kiosks in action, in situ, in the Lakeside shopping centre in the United Kingdom, we first wrote about these when they were still on the production line…

We just love this ‘Store in a Mall’ concept that is being trialled in 7 shopping centres across the UK by Thomson Holidays - there is even talk of a possible European rollout.

The Kiosk incorporates Remote Media’s 32” all-in-one units running signagelive software.

We believe the designers are Nuttalls

Note in the top picture, you can see that abc media who are handling media sales for the general Thomson Holiday digital poster network are also interested in advertisers on the kiosks and pods themselves.

Great examples of ’street furniture’.