DailyDOOH

BlueFox.io has announced the appointment of CAS Group International as its distributor in Southeast Asia, covering countries from Myanmar to South Korea—including China and Indonesia, but excluding Japan—and complementing CAS’s existing product portfolio, including BrightSign worldwide, the number-one digital signage media player, and BlueFin custom LCD screens, to name a few.

BlueFox.io CEO Guillaume de la Tour told us “Early in the development of BlueFox, the Asian market has been strong in the retail and out-of-home advertising industries. As soon as we forged our partnership with BrightSign, it became very clear that CAS Group would be a great partner to rely on to develop our market share in the region and deploy our solution along with digital signage projects.”

Claude Sabourin, General Manager of CAS Group International said “The quality and precision of the data BlueFox provides are the best available and make the analytics results the most reliable in the market, It complements greatly our existing digital-signage offering.”

Click here to learn more about CAS Group’s portfolio of digital signage solutions.

A number of OUTFRONT billboards have been baffling West Michigan for two weeks, and the advertiser has finally been revealed.

The anxious-looking designs with handwritten words like neglect, abuse, and fear have been posted around the Grand Rapids, Michigan region, prompting a variety of responses and guesses as to what the meaning may be.

However, earlier this week a new design revealed that the message belongs to D.A. Blodgett–St. John’s, a local children advocate agency that offers services like adoption, counseling, foster care, mentoring and more. The team at OUTFRONT Grand Rapids and Midwest advertising and design agency, Extra Credit Projects, collaborated as creative partners on the project.

From cynics to proponents, speculations of who was behind the boards ranged from megachurches to PETA, to the visual representation of “what it’s like to travel US-131 during rush hour.”

Area residents took to social media to seek answers or express opinions about the mystery messages. Some online users expressed discomfort at the content, while others argued that the subject matter was important to address.

This week here in London the DPAA, the leading global organization for everything digital out-of-home, were once again proving that they are the masters of industry networking.

Using #AdvertisingweekEurope as a base, not only did they hold two very successful, standing room only panels on the Wednesday, they held an equally well attended cocktail event that evening.

From Left to right; Primesight’s Insight and Innovation Director Mungo Knott, HYGH’s Co-Founder Antonius Link, DPAA CEO Barry Frey, all somehow making Esprit Digital’s CEO Peter Livesey stop talking for a minute.

Ultrahaptics CEO Anders Hakfelt deep in conversation.

Far right, Trueform’s CEO Jonathan Morley.

AOPEN has unveiled the AOPEN Chromebox Commercial 2, the first commercial-grade Chromebox that can power 4K screens. It can play content for two separate screens and features a slim, ruggedised design that is dust-resistant and free of moving parts, making it ideal for commercial use in demanding environments.

The device is available with 7th generation Intel Core™ i3 or Celeron processors, and the new design has multiple ports including three USB 3.0**, two USB 2.0, an RJ50 serial connector, and HDMI 1.4b and 2.0. A remote power switch enables the device to be powered up and down remotely.

The AOPEN Chromebox Commercial 2 together with the Chrome Enterprise license makes deployment and control easy and will service a wide range of verticals and needs. The AOPEN Chromebox Commercial 2.0 represents a major leap forward in design and power.

Stephen Borg, CEO AOPEN Solutions told us “The AOPEN Chromebox Commercial 2 is our most advanced Chrome OS media player, ideal for the 4K video revolution we’re seeing in digital signage. With the power of Intel and the ease of operation and centralised management offered through the Chrome Enterprise license, it offers continuous performance even in the most challenging environments. We’re seeing increasing demand for 4K capability, and we’re working with our channel to enable applied IoT use cases that require greater edge capabilities, such as facial recognition and eye tracking through digital signage, as well as analytics and engagement”.

In Australia, the AOPEN Chromebox Commercial 2 goes on show in Sydney on April 16, 2019, at Google’s offices, and in Melbourne on April 17, 2019.

Daktronics (NASDAQ-DAKT) of Brookings, South Dakota, has partnered with AdverDia Group, in conjunction with Fusion Superplex, to install a new digital LED display on the façade of their new facility in Nassau, Bahamas. Installed late in 2018, this is the first large-format display to be seen from public roadways in the Nassau area.

AdverDia Group’s Jason Miller told us “From implementing new ideas, creating dynamic products or improving your existing services, innovation can be a catalyst for the growth and success not only for business but the community as well. AdverDia Group’s mission is to foster innovative solutions with a primary objective to solve challenges that will support and grow our community.”

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DPAA, the leading global organization for everything digital out-of-home, announced this week that Starlite Digital has joined its membership ranks.

Starlite Digital has begun rolling out what will be a national network of intelligent digital video screens strategically located at high traffic outdoor shopping centers, anchored with supermarkets, big box retailers and drug stores. Capitalizing on the close relationships built with these sectors by Starlite Digital’s sister company, Starlite Media, Starlite Digital’s market launch was in New York, where the channel is generating more than 40 million verified monthly impressions.

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Executive Channel Network (ECN), the UK and Europe’s leading workplace communication specialist this week announced the winners of its inaugural Digital Communication in the workplace awards.

(From Left to right; Nick Hiles, Asset Director, Stanhope; Su Truong, ECN; Jason Pye, Head of Events and Enlivenment, Savills; Kareena Bennett, ECN).

The event, a celebration of workplace building content displayed across ECN’s London network, was held at The Gherkin and attended by building managers, facility managers, and surveyors from leading UK building management companies.

Chris Coleman-Brown, Head of Estates Europe – Lendlease, opened the event by discussing the emergence of the digital layer within the built environment, and its role in creating a more collaborative building community.

Over 3000 pieces of internal building communication content across hundreds of London’s most iconic office buildings competed for the award across three categories, and the winners were:

Richard Blackburn, Managing Director, ECN UK told us “We’re incredibly proud of our creative and responsive customer focus and this event is testimony to the fabulous work our team does on a daily basis to enhance the customer experience in the workplace. A big thankyou to our asset partners for being so supportive of our workplace content model”.

Nick Hiles, Development Director at Stanhope Plc told us “We are very proud of the work that has gone into making White City Place the industry leading development in digital communications that it is today, and we are extremely pleased that it is getting the recognition it deserves”.

Find out more about the Digital Communication in the workplace awards click here.

ECN is the UK & Europe’s leading workplace communications specialist, with offices in London, Paris and Frankfurt. Over 450 European workplace locations have now connected to ECN’s managed content platform, which delivers the latest news and building communication. ECN is a wholly owned subsidiary of Executive Channel Holdings (ECH).

WARC, the international marketing intelligence service, has found that of the $590.4bn spent on advertising worldwide last year, $144.6bn (24.5%) went to the Google and Facebook ‘Duopoly’, which equates to almost one in four dollars.

The duopoly’s adspend share is up from 20.3% in 2017 and is more than double the 10.8% recorded in 2014. WARC predicts a further increase to 28.6% ($176.4bn) this year. Looking only at the internet advertising market, the duopoly took over half (56.4%) of ad money in 2018, a share which WARC expects to rise to 61.4% this year. This growth is squeezing other online media owners, as the pool of ad money available to them is now in decline for the first time, down 0.7% to $111.0bn.

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As we have written, seemingly ad infinitum over the past month or so, next week’s #PTELondon has gathered a lot of interest in the AV community, and we have already listed those that we know in our world who are exhibiting and speaking. The latest to issue a press release on their taking part is AV technology pioneer Peerless-AV, who will be exhibiting on stand 1132.

They will be showing a 55” Xtreme™ High Bright Outdoor Display water tank demo alongside a range of indoor and outdoor kiosks for flight information, check in, retail advertising, wayfinding and more.

Keith Dutch, Managing Director – EMEA, Peerless-AV told us “With the announcement of PTE coming to London for the 25th event, it was a clear decision that we had to be there to present our latest innovations for airport terminals. Our Xtreme displays and kiosk solutions are widely used in the transportation sector to generate revenue and enhance the overall traveller’s experience. Since airport investment is increasing as terminals become the most important traffic, retail and leisure hubs in the world, the business opportunity is significant.”

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Pikasso Senegal announced today that it has acquired the panels and locations of Doni, the third largest OOH advertising company in Senegal.

The agreement consists in transferring the panel assets to Pikasso Senegal and the 16 employees involved in Out of Home.

The agreement includes the acquisition of 1,220 faces of 6m2 and 4×3 formats as well as Large Format panels (Portraits, Unipoles, Rooftops, Walls, Gantries and Bridges) located throughout Senegal: in the 18 districts of the Capital Dakar, in 16 towns of the suburbs of Dakar and in 41 cities and towns of 11 regions.

Thanks to its exemplary political stability, Senegal is one of the most important economic poles of West Africa, and has adopted an ambitious development plan, Plan Senegal Émergent (PSE), aiming at making it an emerging country by 2035. The GDP growth rate was 7% in 2017.

Antonio Vincenti, Chairman and CEO of Pikasso,told us “I am delighted to have reached this agreement with Mr. El Hadj Niang, a veteran of the OOH industry in Senegal who has built a remarkable advertising network. I have every confidence that his in-depth knowledge of the market, combined with our know-how and best-practice will enable us to contribute to the development of the OOH industry in Senegal. The first step will be to upgrade the full inventory by enhancing the potential of the locations and applying our quality procedures, to ensure high international standards and a world class customer service.”

El Hadj Niang, Director of Doni, was quoted as saying “Pikasso is bringing the OOH industry in Senegal to the dawn of a new age. This welcome boost to the sector will also serve to embellish the urban living environment, in line with the authorities’ vision of a brighter aesthetic for our country. As a business aiming to serve professionals, it will strive to have a profoundly positive impact on communication.”

With this acquisition, Pikasso strengthens its presence in West Africa (it is already established in Mali and Ivory Coast) and the group is now present in eight countries.

It is no surprise then that the Ministry of New Media invited Antonio Vincenti to present in London on Thursday May 16 at the European Out of Home Media Summit. His presentation is titled ‘Building an International OOH Group in Emerging Countries‘. Registration for the summit will be open shortly.

London Digital Signage Week takes place May 13-17, 2019 and as with its counterpart in New York, the week is for anyone involved with digital signage and interested in retail, employee communications, smart cities, digital out of home and of course digital signage!