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DCC plc (LSE: DCC), a support services business and one of the largest companies in Ireland, has acquired two companies worth a total of €124 million. Before its annual general meeting in Dublin last week it announced that it had acquired Stampede and Kondor.

DCC plc employs 11,000 people in four divisions operating in 17 countries. Stampede however is DCC’s technology division’s first acquisition in North America.

Tim Griffin, managing director, DCC Technology told us “The acquisition of Stampede adds an exciting new brand to our portfolio that complements our Exertis brand in Europe. The combination of Stampede’s expertise in value added distribution and our resources is going to unleash a new wave of opportunity for our partners in pro AV around the world. By establishing a presence in North America, we will be strategically positioned to leverage all of the new opportunities we expect to develop as a result of this acquisition.”

Stampede president and CEO Kevin Kelly called the acquisition a paradigm shift that ushers in an exciting new era for a global pro AV industry. “Overnight, Stampede has become one of the world’s largest pro AV distributors, able to operate at a level certain to create exciting new business opportunities for our partners,” he said. “Supported by the resources and long-term commitment of DCC, we are now able to scale across all pro AV product categories in all vertical markets globally in a way that we simply could not do on our own. For our manufacturer partners this means greater reach and scale. For our resellers, this means more products and new product categories than ever before.”

Stampede founder and CEO Mark Wilkins has decided to retire following the acquisition. He has given nearly 40 years of service to the pro AV industry.

Kondor is a UK distributor of audio and mobile accessory products to e-tailers, retailers and mobile operators.

Rumours of sneaky goings on, once again we should add, at Monster Media (aka Monster Vision). For once it seems they are on the wrong end of a lawsuit (it’s usual they who are doing suiting and threatening) – this time with them on the receving end of lawsuits from Clear Channe Outdoor, Inc.

Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc. v. Monster Vision, LLC

Plaintiff: Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc.
Defendant: Monster Vision, LLC
Case Number: 1:2018cv01608
Filed: February 21, 2018
Court: New York Southern District Court
Office: Foley Square Office
County: NewYork
Presiding Judge: Jed S. Rakoff
Nature of Suit: Other Contract
Cause of Action: 28:1332
Jury Demanded By: None

It seems also that they have tried to setup a new company, namely Monster XP.

There seem to be quite a few good people leaving Atlanta based MaxMedia at the moment. The latest to cross our news desk is Jeff Doud who was MaxMedia’s Executive Creative Director for the last eight years.

Jeff is now Founder at Well & Doud Productions.

Big news in the AV world this week was the announcement that Integrated Systems Events, the producers of the Integrated Systems Europe exhibition, have only two more years in Amsterdam before the event relocates permanently to Gran Via, part of the Fira de Barcelona exhibition complex in Spain on February 2-5, 2021.

Barcelona will become the permanent location for the world’s largest AV and systems integration show, ‪something we predicted it would be, back in March 2012, see our post ‪“Will ISE Move To Barcelona?”.

AVIXA stated that the decision to relocate the ISE exhibition comes after 18 months of research into the viability of remaining at the RAI Amsterdam. With annual growth in ISE exhibitors and attendees approaching 10%, and the international AV market forecast to grow by 5% per annum through to 2021, it was concluded that ISE was going to continue to outgrow its Amsterdam location.

#ISE2018 attracted 80,923 attendees, of which 22,000 were visiting the show for the first time while 1,296 exhibitors filled 53,000 net sqm of floor space in 15 halls. ISE 2019 is expected to increase on these record breaking figures.

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AV Jobs provide a highly specialist Recruitment Service for Audio Visual manufacturers, distributors and resellers.

They also work within the broadcast, events and unified communications industries providing quality and experienced staff at all levels – from board members through management, field service and sales, as well as on-site technical and sales people.

Their Consultants have experience within the AV industry and fully understand all areas from sales through system design and installation, hire and events, operations and service.

Here are this week’s selection of #AVjobs from them…

• AV INSTALL & COMMISSIONING ENGINEER
  Job Type Permanent Full Time
  Location M4 Corridor
  Area Berkshire, England
  Sector Engineer Engineer – Audio Visual Engineer – Installer Engineer – Video Conferencing Engineer – Home Cinema Engineer – Home Automation Engineer – Commissioning
  Salary £25000 – £35000 Per Annum £25k-£35k p.a. doe + co.vehicle & benefits
  Currency GBP
  Start Date ASAP
  Advertiser AV Jobs
  Job Ref AV29318
• AV SERVICE ENGINEER
  Job Type Permanent Full Time
  Location London & Home Counties
  Area Middlesex, England Surrey, England City of London, England London South East, England London South West, England
  Sector Engineer Engineer – Audio Visual Engineer – Service Engineer – Video Conferencing
  Salary £30000 – £34000 Per Annum Circa £34k doe + co. vehicle & benefits
  Currency GBP
  Start Date ASAP
  Advertiser AV Jobs
  Job Ref AV29018
• AUDIO VISUAL SERVICE ENGINEER
  Job Type Permanent Full Time
  Location Birmingham
  Area Birmingham, England Warwickshire, England
  Sector Engineer Engineer – Audio Visual Engineer – Service Engineer – Technical Support
  Salary £25000 – £32000 Per Annum £25k-£32k p.a. doe plus company van
  Currency GBP
  Start Date ASAP
  Advertiser AV Jobs
  Job Ref AV27618

DPAA, the leading global organization for everything digital out-of-home, announced this week that Outfront Media Canada has joined the association.

As Canada’s leading full-service out-of-home advertising company, Outfront Media Canada has strong coverage in more than 60 markets across the country, including the 10 largest. Products include digital bulletins, digital posters, street furniture (transit shelters, map stands and kiosks) and high profile, large format “superboards” in key locations in Toronto and Montreal. Included among these superboards is the iconic, fully digital Yonge Eglinton Centre, which launched in 2014 and the recently completed digital installation at the heart of Yonge-Dundas Square. Outfront Media Canada is a division of Outfront Media (NYSE: OUT).

Michele Erskine, CEO Canada, Outfront Media Canada, told us “Joining DPAA is a natural step in our position as a major digital ad supplier to brands looking to reach Canadian consumers. We look forward to being active members and to participating in DPAA’s many events and initiatives.”

DPAA is a global, digital out-of-home marketing association that has created a strong community environment in which members drive and promote their digital capabilities.

New Advertising has joined CityZen, the Cities’ partner for Smart City projects. We are told that Neo Advertising will contribute its skills and resources in the field of street furniture and advertising.

Christian Vaglio-Giors, CEO of Neo Advertising, told us “We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the development of CityZen by bringing our skills and experience in the field of outdoor advertising. As a public domain advertising device operator, we have a role to play in Smart City programs and intend to be very proactive in participating in them”.

Neo Advertising’s affiliation with CityZen was confirmed at the General Meeting of 26 June 2018.

Searchlight Capital Partners are no stranger to good investments in OOH (think Ocean Group, TouchTunes etc.) and now they’ve made an in interesting USD 225 million investment in Ad-tech company MediaMath.

New York-based MediaMath has raised more than USD 500 million to date and this latest round values the company at north of USD one billion, according to people we spoke with in New York.

Those who’ve followed or been to any of the Ministry of New Media automation and programmatic buying workshops and conference over the last 12 months will know that MediaMath operates a demand-side platform (DSP), i.e. technology that lets advertisers and their agencies buy digital ads using automated systems, as well as a data-management platform (DMP) which lets advertisers store and analyse their data.

We understand that some of the new funding will be used to buy out Safeguard Scientifics, one of MediaMath’s early investors. MediaMath Chief Executive Joe Zawadzki Told us that he also use the funding on acquisitions and to accelerate development of technology in areas including identity, artificial intelligence, connected-television and digital out-of-home advertising.

Searchlight Capital Partners’ other current investments include cloud-computing provider Rackspace, in-store background music and in-venue music platform Octave Group and Hemisphere Media Group, a U.S. broadcast and cable TV company aimed at the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets.

One of our regular speakers at The DailyDOOH Investor Conference, Darren Glatt, partner at Searchlight Capital, told us that “the company has no predetermined time frame for an exit and that MediaMath was attractive because scaled DSPs with strong DMPs are the true winners [in the ad-tech] ecosystem”.

Adams Outdoor Advertising and Fairway Outdoor Advertising are donating more than 700 billboards in 21 North American states to bring to life lettering artists’ renderings of positive messages. The designs have all come from Goodtype’s #GoodTypeTuesday challenge, in which lettering artists and illustrators from around the world were asked what they would put on a billboard.

Entries were posted to Goodtype’s Instagram page, where nearly one million lettering professionals and enthusiasts discover and connect with one another.

Adams+Fairway discovered the challenge and offered to post submissions with the best design, legibility, and messaging. Twenty-two designs were chosen by designers from 11 US states and eight other countries.

Todd Turner, Adams+Fairway’s National Creative Director said “It’s always inspiring for us as advertising artists to see and share exceptional creative design, particularly those skills related to lettering,” said When we saw these beautiful designs and the passion behind the craft, we had to make it real. The messages are positive, encouraging, and heart -warming. The world needs more positivity right now, and we think this campaign can help.”

Goodtype founder and chief curator Brooke Robinson told us “Having grown Goodtype’s platform to nearly one million followers, it has been my mission to give them exposure by sharing their art and telling their stories as well as spread good through the art of lettering. We received an overwhelming response to the Instagram billboard challenge, with such positive and inspiring messages of hope and confidence. This is an amazing opportunity for these graphic artists, who’s passion for lettering will now be seen in communities across the country.”

Some US artists will see the billboards live in their communities. Pictures of the billboards will be posted by Goodtype’s and Adams+Fairway’s Instagam.

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This week, Ocean launched its ninth annual Digital Creative Competition, aimed at inspiring bold new ideas which harness the scale, creativity and technical capability of digital out of home. As regular readers and industry types know, the annual competition challenges and inspires creative thinking, placing digital out of home screens at the heart of campaigns and aligning the medium with other progressive platforms and advertising channels.

Ocean’s competition offers opportunities across multiple environments and stand out digital formats across the UK. There is one category of entry, although concepts will be segmented by brand and charity during the judging process.

New for 2018 alongside the usual competition, Ocean is also seeking ideas which align brands or charities with its Ocean 4 Oceans initiative which is using Ocean’s screens to help turn the global tide on plastic polluting the world’s seas.

Entrants that successfully raise the bar will share a GBP 650,000 prize pot and the chance for their work to be showcased across any of Ocean’s iconic UK DOOH locations including The Grid, city centre networks like The Loop, retail hubs and screens offering facial and vehicle detection.

Ocean head of marketing Helen Haines told us “This is an opportunity for visionary creative minds to explore and test the infinite possibilities of digital out of home advertising in all its forms. We are seeking effective, simple ideas which are aligned with the opportunities our screens afford to surprise, engage and connect at scale with different audiences in different environments using a combination of Ocean technologies. All you need is an Idea.”

The competition is as always free to enter, with entries submitted online here. The closing date is August 24 and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday, October 11 at the IMAX in London.

Last year’s winners included WCRS for Sky Ocean Rescue: The Ocean’s Biggest Threat which marked World Plastic Bag Free Day last week (July 3), and MullenLowe London for Dulux’s Let’s Colour and Persil – Get Out Here.