DailyDOOH

Guest Contributor, Edin Pasalic

My formal academic background includes a Bachelors In Marketing and Management (2011) and expected Master’s in Business Information Technology (2013) from DePaul University (Chicago). Specifically, I have a focus in Sales Leadership and Operations Management.

According to Jean-Francois Decaux, co-CEO of JCDecaux, “Chicago is becoming the Silicon Valley of digital outdoor media.” A Chicagoan myself, I am constantly exposed and immersed in the rapid revolution of out-of-home, digital innovations.

Dynamic and engaging media would always grab me throughout my everyday interaction in the city. I took a keen interest and began to perform my own secondary research: company information, media reports, blog posts…etc. It was walking in the Chicago loop in 2012 where my passion for digital outdoor media sparked and really, where my story begins.

I had the passion but lacked the expertise. The solution was to find a specialist who could help me, namely Adam Bleibtreu. After connecting through LinkedIn, I was confident that Adam’s 10+ years of experience and extraordinary knowledge would be my most important asset as an advisor/mentor.

Exchanging emails, skype calls, and meeting face-to-face in Chicago and Los Angeles, I felt Adam to be the trusted expert that would help my vision to move forward.

Since 2012, we have been building a project for the largest oil company in Croatia and exploring the opportunity to roll out a 100 station Gas Forecourt network. Our goal: Modernizing and creating an engaging customer experience where there exists a huge opportunity.

As I near the completion of my Masters degree, I feel driven to pursue my interest in the Digital Out of Home industry. As as a keen follower of DailyDOOH – and numerous other industry forums as well, I am sure, Ed, I am reaching out to organizations in which I feel a personal, cultural fit.

I’m impressed by many, but the following organizations are importantly notable: In no particular order…

• Scala No introduction needed. Facts: Scala has been a pioneer in the digital signage sector for over 20 years. Scala’s software supports over 500,000 screens and 250,000 players worldwide.

• Four Winds Interactive They have doubled in size since opening up shop in 2005, and seem to be winning RFPs left, right and centre. Looks like they are expanding their portfolio of vertical markets.

• STRATACACHE Successful in quickly rolling out very large-scale networks. STRATACACHE seems to compete best in scalability, flexibility, and integration that extends to the most complex operating environments.

• NEC Display Solutions and / or VUKUNET NEC’s introduction of the VUKUNET ad buying platform showed that they really are a solutions company and not just a screen supplier.

• Signagelive COO Raffi Vartian was one of the first people that I spoke to when I got introduced to the industry. Signagelive seems to be continually winning new business. I’m interested in seeing how they being one of the key partners to the Samsung Smart Signage Platform will work out.

• IZ-ON media As (then PRN) a player from the beginning of the industry, IZ-ON media creates scalable networks to large brands such as Wal-Mart and Target. I like their re-positioning under new CEO Ahmad Ouri.

• RMG Networks Surely the largest network operator in the digital signage industry in North America? I expect RMG networks to really innovate in this space. Recently, they announced the acquisition of various Akoo assets and are planning to enter the shopping mall space which I think is exciting.

• JCDecaux This company has been pioneering creative DOOH in Airports especially for years. JCDecaux is one of the classic outdoor companies that really seems to be continuously innovating and capitalizing on new opportunities.

I know that this highlights an eclectic mix of network owners, software, and hardware suppliers but I hope you will forgive me, as a recent newcomer to this industry, it is what I immediately see as exciting, interesting and innovative.

I am confident that my strong motivation and vision will be an asset for many of these organizations and I am looking forward to meeting many of DailyDOOH’s friends at #dse2013 next week.

Edin Pasalic
(662)801-6290
epasalic@mail.depaul.edu

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2013 at 11:12 @508 and is filed under DailyDOOH Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.