Mixed impressions rule the day over word that my old colleagues at BroadSign have bagged the software deal for a rather large Canadian Digital OOH network.
At somewhere between 1,400 and 5,600 licenses, it’s a godzilla deal up here amongst the roaming caribou and wandering bands of concussed former NHLers.
However, the deal is with iSIGN Media Solutions, a publicly-traded company that promotes itself as aggressively as a Bolivian zinc mining startup. The deal would replace what I believe is the original MxN software that’s in some 1,400 Macs/Couche Tard c-stores across the company with BroadSign’s massively slicker ad targeting platform.
The question is whether the money is really there to make this happen, as iSign bought Pinpoint Media Group to get a large network using its interactive mobile platform. Pinpoint was available because it wasn’t exactly shooting the ad sales lights out. Digital OOH in a transient, very short dwell time like convenience stores is a tough media proposition. I am in Macs stores here and there wasting $5 on $50,000,000 lottery tickets, and never see many booked ads.
So, we’ll see. Big software buys are good for the industry, as (certainly) are successful ad networks.
iSIGN bills itself as the largest owner/operator network of in-store digital media in Canada. Once the installation of our Interactive Massaging Solutions (“IMS”) software is completed, says the release, this network will be the world’s largest fully interactive digital signage network.
Each convenience store has 2 to 3 screens installed at the point of sale, running brand loyalty programs, public service announcements and in-store promotions. BroadSign’s digital signage software allows iSIGN to schedule and playback content on each screen, manage updates and monitor network health – doing all this from one central location, with minimal staff.
“Our engineering and technical staff worked for weeks to qualify and confirm BroadSign as the management system for all of our future network and Interactive Massaging Solutions (“IMS”) applications scheduled for installation,” states Alex Romanov, iSIGN’s Chief Executive Officer.
Background:
https://invidiscom.just4business.eu/2011/08/04/a-closer-look-at-isign-pinpoint-digital-ooh-deal/