DailyDOOH

The organisers of ITB Berlin and ITB Berlin Convention, cancelled earlier this year have announced that next year’s event, planned for March 9-12, 2021 is also cancelled as in-person event.

It seems that Messe Berlin made the decision that the event held annually since 1966 will now be an entirely virtual affair.

JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide has followed up the loss of the advertising contract for the four New York and New Jersey airports; John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark Liberty, and New York Stewart airports to Clear Channel Airports with a brief press release.

The Group announces that following a competitive tender, ‘it’ has not renewed the advertising contract and reminded readers that it had held the PANYNJ advertising contract for over 30 years. It also said and should indeed be, proud of the media programs the Group successfully implemented over those three decades. JCDecaux is of course (still) widely recognised as the number one worldwide in airport advertising in terms of innovation, professionalism and service quality.

The press release said “The world is still suffering from the effect of #COVID19 where stringent health measures continue to affect the movement of passengers through airports. During this lockdown period, the historic drop in air travel, as well as severe economic uncertainties, led companies to react immediately and reduce their advertising spend at an unprecedented scale. Currently, passengers from over forty states in the U.S. have travel restrictions in place when entering New York or New Jersey and are also subject to a wide-ranging international travel ban. Even after travel restrictions are lifted it is anticipated that there will be a significant lag before travel recovers to pre #COVID19 levels.”

“Since the onset of #COVID19, JCDecaux has taken immediate and dedicated action on operating and financial levers to mitigate this decline and preserve cash, including but not limited to rent reliefs, aggressive cost management, reduced capital investment, tight control over working capital requirement and dividend cancellation. As the global leader in airport advertising, JCDecaux remains committed to this important out-of-home channel, however, the Group will not move forward with an agreement that does not make financial sense in the current climate.”

So they are basically saying that they withdrew, not wanting to agree to onerous terms.

Branded Cities has also been awarded a contract by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, namely the exclusive right to develop and sell digital and spectacular advertising and integrated marketing campaigns at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and select areas at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Manhattan.

Steven Ellman, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Branded Cities told us “This agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey loudly signals Branded Cities’ continued intention to be at the forefront of the Out-of-Home advertising industry,” said. These digital and spectacular signs will be seen by hundreds of thousands of consumers every day, offering our advertising partners a valuable audience to target, while providing the Port Authority and its visitors high profile amenities. We are committed to maximizing the revenue potential of all assets for the Port Authority and look forward to a long and prosperous partnership.”

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Clear Channel Airports, the Americas-based airports business of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCO), and one of North America’s leading airport media providers, has announced that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) awarded it the largest airport advertising and sponsorship contract in the U.S.

Scott Wells, CEO, Clear Channel Outdoor Americas told us “We are confident in the audiences these world-class airports will deliver to our advertising partners over the longer-term as business and leisure travel ramps. The PANYNJ airports are gateways to the world, and, as the region recovers, we believe our team is best suited to lead this historical transformation that will reimagine and modernize the brand experience for travelers. We believe this contract is a win-win for both organizations and provides an innovative approach to large-scale transit media deals against the backdrop of a difficult current reality.”

The 12-year deal will see Clear Channel Airports reimagine the media program with new digital displays and sponsorship opportunities for brands at the coveted PANYNJ airports, including; John F. Kennedy International (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), Newark Liberty International (EWR) and New York Stewart International (SWF) Airports.

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Intersection, the leading smart cities media and technology company, just announced that it has been awarded an exclusive 10-year contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to manage all static and digital advertising in stations, on platforms and in train cars across the Port Authority Trans-Hudson System (PATH).

Kevin O’Toole, Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said “Today’s Board vote is a step forward in transforming our facilities and properties to provide a 21st century travel experience and allow for the creation of advanced displays that match the agency’s redevelopment across the region. Many of our facilities lack digital assets, which are key drivers for brands looking to advertise in New York and New Jersey. This contract will bring new brand partnerships that offer value to customers while delivering revenue to the Port Authority”.

The agreement calls on Intersection to create a unified digital signage network for PATH, upgrading existing digital signage and installing over 100 new screens and video walls to help PATH improve customer communications and enable advertisers to reach the system’s millions of riders and passersby. The contract begins on December 30, 2020.

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Sanka Kan has joined Hivestack as its new VP of Talent Experience & Workplace Innovation.

We understand that as part of her new role, Sanka will leverage her skills and experience towards talent elevation and workplace transformation as the Montreal based #AdTECH startup continues its meteoritic rise in scaling globally.

Sanka was previously HR Transformation Senior Managing Consultant, Talent & Transformation for IBM Global Business Services.

She will be based in Montreal, Canada.

Quebecor Out of Home is partnering with Vistar Media to let customers purchase advertising on its network of digital street furniture through Vistar’s programmatic platform. Vistar Media is a major source of digital out-of-home advertising demand and will enable Quebecor Out of Home to provide its customers with one of the most complete service offerings anywhere. In addition, the Vistar Media platform lets advertisers enhance their campaigns with geolocation data from third parties for even more highly targeted results.

Patrick Jutras, Senior Vice-President and Chief Advertising Officer at Quebecor and TVA Group told us “At Quebecor, our decisions are driven by our customers’ needs, and a number of customers had told us that they wanted to access our digital street furniture inventory through the Vistar platform. Vistar is a leading industry player, so it was natural for us to turn to them to expand our service offering. Vistar also has a strong Canadian team and a firm commitment to supporting its customers – values that we share.”

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Lightbox OOH Video Network has been acquired by Cattri, a leading out-of-home technology company based in Mexico City. The deal, backed by PC Capital, a Mexican private equity firm specialising in growth equity investments, and Altum Capital, a Mexico City-based private credit fund, positions Cattri to gain entry into the U.S. market through Lightbox’s network in shopping and lifestyle centres across North America.

In July 2020 Lightbox admitted that it was in trouble and was seeking M&A. It was, in fact, in SERIOUS trouble (having received little or no revenues from their 300+ Malls in a several month period).

This latest press release stated that as part of the transaction, Lightbox has received significant growth capital which will be used to strengthen its position as a national video advertising network through product enhancements, technology, and expansion. The new investors here could easily be throwing good many after bad, Lightbox had already invested heavily once, which has not helped it gain good revenue and is still stuck with huge commitments to landlords. Despite laying off lots of staff earlier in the year we understand that it still has some seriously huge salaries on its books.

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Freetouch, an innovator in software solutions for touchless interactivity, this week announced the global availability of its patent-pending technology which eliminates the need for physical contact with touchscreens. The solution lets businesses provide safe and touch-free kiosk interaction via customers’ personal smartphones. Freetouch installs in minutes per system and requires no additional hardware or software development.

Darren David, Freetouch Founder & CEO told us “COVID-19 continues to prompt a rapid shift to touchless interactions for a wide range of businesses that rely on touch-driven experiences. Our mission is to provide a solution that quickly and seamlessly makes interactivity safer for our client companies and their customers. By offering an easy-to-install and easy-to-use software-only retrofit, we’re enabling companies to remain open and their customers to interact safely during this challenging time.”

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InReality, LLC has launched a white paper to support strategic planning when creating a Safe Space ecosystem of prevention. ‘The 6 Ps of Safe Space Strategy‘ takes a holistic view and includes guidance on factors relating to people, process, place, pixels, proof and profit.

This white paper is the latest resource in InReality’s recently launched Learning Center. The online article repository fills a knowledge gap and shares learnings that help businesses make informed decisions in a rapidly changing environment. Based on first-hand observations and industry conversations, the Learning Center was created to help educate resellers and limit their risks so that they may do the same for their clients.

Laura Davis-Taylor, InReality’s Chief Strategy Officer told us “We created this white paper to help businesses create an ecosystem of prevention. This starts with thinking about how to protect people and businesses, both physically and fiscally. There is a lot of gray area between what a business should do and what they are mandated to do. It’s crucial to take a wide-angle view in order to identify and shore up any areas of potential risk. This white paper and the Learning Center itself is a labor of love. The industry is a very tight knit community and the only way we will solve these new issues is by sharing knowledge. It’s our job to enable the industry by sharing what we’re seeing and learning, and hopefully give others a springboard for their strategic planning.”

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