DailyDOOH

JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC) has announced that its German subsidiary Wall GmbH has won both contracts put out for tender by the Berlin Transport Authority (BVG). The first contract includes the exclusive advertising rights for 6,200 2m2 advertising panels on over 4,600 bus and tram shelters in the German capital. The second contract covers the cleaning and maintenance of the shelters. Both six-year contracts, including a three-year extension option for the BVG, will begin on January 1st, 2019 and end on December 31st, 2024.

This year, Wall GmbH has already successfully retained two existing long-term contracts in Berlin in EU-wide tenders:

• In January 2018, Wall GmbH signed an exclusive 15-year advertising contract with the city of Berlin, including more than 1,000 backlit and digital advertising panels of different sizes on public land and property.
• In June the company was awarded a 15-year contract to supply and operate up to 370 public toilets in the German capital.

Dr Daniel Hofer, CEO for Germany, Austria, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and member of the Executive Board of JCDecaux told us “After successfully renewing two important contracts with the city of Berlin earlier this year, we have once again confirmed the quality of our outdoor advertising solutions and services by winning both contracts put out for tender by the Berlin Transport Authority. Being a partner of the city of Berlin for more than 30 years, we are very pleased that, following a competitive tender process, the BVG has decided to continue our successful collaboration. The new advertising concession paves the way to strategically expand our existing digital portfolio in the German capital.”

Wall GmbH has had a successful 34-year partnership with the BVG. In 1984, Wall GmbH installed the first 1,000 of its bus shelters in what was then West-Berlin after winning a tender put out by the BVG. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the company extended its network of bus and tram shelters to the eastern part of the city. In 2007, Wall GmbH acquired the BVG advertising subsidiary VVR-Berek, which was bought by JCDecaux in 2006.

Registration for Digital Signage Expo (DSE), the world’s largest international trade show and educational conference dedicated to digital displays, interactive technology and digital communications networks, is now open.

#DSE2019 will offer more than 95 educational opportunities, including 10 pre- and post-show events, 15 industry-specific peer networking luncheon discussion groups, 42 general conference sessions, 32 free on-floor workshops, and a program of study to ensure certification renewal in cooperation with the Digital Signage Experts Group.

New for 2019: –

• High-profile singular keynote on innovation (TBA)
• No tracks – sessions are designed to be action-oriented
• Peer networking luncheon discussion groups
• Sessions now timed to allow more time in the exhibit hall
• Friday All-Day Content Workshop
• Manufacturers’ training/user groups
• More focused on-floor workshop program featuring four pavilions
• More end user peer-presented case study conference sessions
• Streamlined pricing structure

Registration for any of the #DSE2019 educational conference sessions are eligible for Digital Signage Expert Group (DSEG) certification renewal credits.

#DSE2019 will be held March 26-29, 2019 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with access to the Exhibit Hall March 27-28 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas. To reserve exhibit space, contact Andrea Varrone at (770) 817-5905.

Peerless-AV has announced the launch of the newest level of its Certified Installer Training Program – the Diamond Level. This level, entitled, ‘Video Wall Mounting Systems for Direct View LED Displays’ is led by long-time industry experts who have the sales application and engineering experience to make every job successful for those who attend.

Peerless-AV’s new Certified Installer Training Program course provides instruction on direct view LED displays and video wall mounting systems. Participants will learn about direct view LED technology and the benefits of these displays, allowing professionals to identify the features of LED video wall mounting systems. In addition, the course will focus on distinguishing between and the installation of flat, pull out, universal, and dedicated LED mounts. Finally, participants will learn how to understand and explain the preparation and installation procedures for configuring these video walls. Step-by-step instructions for completing an application will also be provided.

Peerless-AV’s, now five-level, Certified Installer Training Program is designed to give system integrators and installers an edge on the competition by providing them with both industry education and Peerless-AV–specific training; the trainings are compliant with continuing education standards and are certified by both AVIXA and CEDIA.

Offering in-person or online webinar options, these value-added courses demonstrate the importance of proper installation techniques and safety, and address efficient methods to reduce the risk of faulty installations. Attendees will receive customized, hands-on sessions to fit their installation needs, and detailed takeaway resources that can be referred to again and again.

The Diamond Level is the fifth level in Peerless-AV’s award-winning program (each level offers 1AVIXA CTS RU credit and 1 CEDIA CEU credit after completion):

To learn more or to schedule a training session click here.

Now in its seventh year, The DailyDOOH Gala Awards recognises excellence and promotes best practice in the industry.

It is an event that has firmly established itself as the sector’s only credible awards ceremony as well as becoming one of the most important fixtures in the industry’s social calendar.

The finalists are: –

Best High Street Deployment

• Iceland Foods | Signagelive
• Halifax Bank: Oxford Street Flagship | Pixel Inspiration

Best QSR or Bar Deployment

• Chipotle | Beaver Group
• SSP – Counter-top Displays | Beaver Group

Best Overall Retail Experience

• WH Smith: Gatwick Airport Flagship | Pixel Inspiration
• KIA Russia | Scala
• Harvey Nichols Flagship | Esprit Digital

Best Mall or Shopping Centre

• Selfridges: Trafford Centre Beauty Totems | Pixel Inspiration
• Unibail-Rodamco Westfield London | Trueform Digital
• PEP Shopping Centre, Munich | Esprit Digital

Best Building Install

• Victoria and Albert Museum Redesign | Scala
• Lulea Ice Hockey Stadium, Sweden | Bright Group / infiLED

Best Street Furniture

• Pikasso Digital Network Ivory Coast | Trueform Digital
• Faneuil Hall, Boston | Esprit Digital
• New World Payphones West End Roll Out | Clear Channel

Most Innovative Use of Technology

• Dulux | Ocean Outdoor
• Diageo – Dynamic | JCDecaux (& others)
• 3D Digital Coke Bottle, Tanzania | Ashton Media

Best Transport Install or Campaign

• DX3 Launch | Exterion Media & TfL
• Aeroporti di Roma – Le Chandelier | Samsung

Best Interactive Campaign

• Give DIFFerently | Clear Channel
• Sky Ocean Rescue | Ocean Outdoor
• LEGO ‘Masters The Force’ | Limited Space

Best Digital Out of Home Campaign

• Blue Planet Aquarium | Admedia
• Sky Transfer Deadline Day | Outdoor Plus
• O2 ‘Oops’ | VCCP

Best Original Digital Billboard

• Two Towers Manchester | Ocean Outdoor
• Storm Glasgow Argyle Street | Clear Channel
• The Kensington | JCDecaux

The DailyDOOH Gala Awards take place at Banqueting House, Whitehall, London SW1A 2ER on Thursday November 29, 2018.

Join the DSF Board of Directors, past leadership, and industry professionals at this staple DSF event. Four times each year the DSF puts on a regional event in North America for its members.

Miami Meet & Greet
December 6, 2018
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM CST

Registration is USD 15 for Members, End Users, and Integrator companies. Non-Members pay USD 25.

For questions please contact Brian Gorg (info@digitalsignagefederation.org)

Event Location:

EB Hotel (near the Miami airport)
4299 NW 36th Street, Miami, Florida, 33166

Registration and more information can be found here.

The Consumer Technology Association’s #CES2019 kicks off on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019 and we’ll be there, managing an extra special broadcast set of our own, all thanks to Stampede Global.

This week, we’ve been working with the Pro AV distribution leader on what LED to use for our broadcast backdrop, what camera(s) to use, the sort of creative that we’ll be running on set and who we’ll likely be interviewing!

At #CES2019, Stampede can be found in the South Hall, booth #25708

Watch this space for more updates and how you can take part in our Daily CES Report.

There is a huge amount of interest in the full day ‘European OOH Automation & Programmatic Buying Technical Workshop’ taking place in Amsterdam at the end of this month (Wednesday November 28, 2018).

The event will be chaired by BroadSign’s Vice President Business Development Stephanie Gutnik and will kick off at 10:00 CEST, allowing attendees from the UK to fly in and out in one day if need be, and for those Continental Europeans lucky enough to have access to a super fast, luxurious train network, to also get in early that morning.

We will be mixing up panel discussions with a couple of more traditional presentations.

The full agenda can be found here but features Exterion NL, Outmoove, Kinetic Worldwide, Platform 161, OMD Nederland, Interbest, Adform, MediaMath, Mediacom, LiveDOOH, VIOOH, Ströer, Ayuda Media Systems and Hivestack.

The workshop is being held at the B.1 Amsterdam, Johan Huizingalaan 763a, 1066 VH Amsterdam which is a short distance from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (approximate 25 mins by train) and a similar distance from Amsterdam Centraal train station (approximately 30 minutes).

Registration Can be found here.

In 2016, our first workshop on the subject on hand took place as part of London Digital Signage Week on Wednesday May 18, 2016 in the lecture theatre of the world’s largest law firm, Dentons UK MEA LLP. During London Digital Signage Week in 2017, a Programmatic Buying & Marketplace Workshop took place on Wednesday May 10, 2017, again in a Denton’s lecture theatre. In late 2017 we ran in conjunction with BitPoster and BroadSign another half day event, ‘OOH / DOOH Programmatic, Automation and Data‘ which took place on Thursday November 30, 2017 in London at CHI & Partners.

We followed up all three of these half day events with our first ever (and completely SOLD OUT) ‘European OOH Automation & Programmatic Conference‘ which was held May 3, 2018 during this year’s London Digital Signage Week. We’ve built these events slowly and methodically and now firmly believe that we have a winning formula, having created the only OOH discussion forum for this subject in Europe!

STRATACACHE has announced the acquisition of Sys-Teams, a UK-based company specialising in delivering comprehensive installation, integration and field service solutions to notable global brands’ digital signage and digital retail experiences. The STRATACACHE family of marketing technology companies is a full solution provider of large-scale networks of interactive, intelligent audience and shopper engagement experiences and analytics.

With this acquisition, led by STRATACACHE Capital Managing Partner Dirk Huelsermann, STRATACACHE tells us that it has further enhanced its global solution and service delivery footprint, adding the experienced 35-person Sys-Team team of technicians, engineers and installers to the current 750 employees in the STRATACACHE family.

Sys-Teams has focused their projects in the UK and continental Europe and, under STRATACACHE, will expand to a broader reach across Europe, the Middle East and Africa beginning with a bigger push in Germany and the Benelux region, which they say, have significant potential for short term growth in digital signage projects.

Dirk Huelsermann told us “This acquisition marks another milestone in STRATACACHE’s aggressive expansion strategy. With the addition of Sys-Teams, STRATACACHE further enhances the ability to serve as a worldwide solution provider, adding significant field services in the EU — a complement to current services in the Americas and Asia-Pacific region, including India, China and Australia. We’re fully prepared to lead global brands who are seeking to improve their retail customer experience.”

This is the second major acquisition led by STRATACACHE Capital — a division that leads strategic deal discovery and acquisition on a global scale — since the creation of the division in November 2017. Huelsermann’s team actively reviews more than 400 deals per year and advises on investments that expand or complement STRATACACHE’s full portfolio of intelligent digital signage offerings, including software, hardware, services and support.

Richard Evans and Campbell Newlands, founders of Sys-Teams were quoted as saying “We are delighted that after 17 years of digital signage system integration, Sys-Teams is joining the STRATACACHE family. We feel that this is a great opportunity for growth, evolving to meet the increasing project requirements and retail goals of our clients”.

The Piccadilly Lights advertising screen fell silent on Friday, November 9 to remember the 1,119,193 Commonwealth servicemen and women killed in the Great War.

A commemorative event took place at Piccadilly Circus, featuring a special film that brought home the scale of the conflict 100 years on. The poignant one hour tribute marked the start of the Armistice centenary weekend.

Created by Westminster City Council in collaboration with TMW Unlimited, part of The Unlimited Group, the seven-minute film was accompanied by the sights and sounds of marching soldiers. The Piccadilly Lights are operated by Ocean on behalf of Landsec.

Each pair of marching boots represented a soldier killed in the conflict, with the sobering message that it would take more than 10 days and 19 hours for all of those who lost their lives to march through the screen.

Westminster’s Armed Forces Champion, Councillor Rachael Robathan, said: “It is hard to imagine how anyone could cope with the circumstances facing the young men and women caught up in World War One. 100 years on it remains truly humbling to hear the stories of bravery and resilience that we remember today. The thousands of marching feet combined with the very personal stories featured in this poignant film will help convey the very human scale of the tragedy.”

During the film, passers-by stopped and reflected on 11 highly emotive, personal accounts from the conflict. The 11 stories told in the film includde: –

Private James Brill – his wife Florence was left widowed with a baby aged 17 months after James was killed at Gallipoli.
‘Major’ Booth – cricketer from Yorkshire who represented MCC before being killed at the Battle of the Somme; his body was identified nine months later by his MCC cigarette case.
Lena Ashwell – the first person to organise front line entertainment for the troops.
Leonard Maurice Keysor VC – caught and threw back bombs that landed in the trenches, and survived the war.
Private Charles Waller – a former Croydon schoolboy who served in the infamous trenches of the Western Front
Ferdinand ‘Freddie’ Maurice Felix West VC – the RAF’s first recipient of the Victoria Cross
Second Lieutenant Walter Tull – first black officer in the British Army and professional football player for Tottenham and Northampton
Private Bertram Alec Reader – one of many underage ‘boy soldiers’ to serve in the war
Captain William Leefe Robinson – first man to shoot down a German airship over British soil
Louisa Garret Anderson – suffragette and surgeon who opened the first women-run hospital in Covent Garden, Endell St Hospital
Private William Jay – a soldier who served and died in Mesopotamia

The Band of the Welsh Guards honoured the dead with a Last Post ceremony at the end of the screening and a two-minute silence was observed. The Armistice was signed at 5am on November 11 1918 and came into effect five hours later.

The North Carolina Outdoor Advertising Association has announced that it has appointed Thomas (TJ) Bugbee, Jr. to serve as its full-time Executive Director, effective November 19.

Bugbee, a former Field Director for Congressman David Rouzer’s campaign (NC-7), has most recently held a position as Government Relations Advisor/Lobbyist with Nexsen Pruet in Raleigh. In that role, he advised numerous businesses and non-profit associations.

The NCOAA, the leading outdoor advertising trade association in the state, represents companies holding 90% of the outdoor advertising assets in the state. In his new role with the NCOAA, Bugbee will focus on both organizational and lobbying efforts, and will directly manage the Association’s dynamic Public Education Program. It is anticipated that he will also promulgate appropriate legislative initiatives that are approved by the Board of Directors of the Association.

Bugbee holds a B.A. in Political Science from North Carolina State University and sits on the Board of the North Carolina Professional Lobbyist Association.

For further information on Bugbee’s appointment, Jeannine Dodson, chair of the NCOAA search committee, can be contacted at Adams Outdoor Advertising in Charlotte.