The latest project we completed earlier this month in The Netherlands is the multi sense experience environment at the new “Miele Inspirience Centre” located in the Miele Netherlands headquarter facility. Here we work with location based audio, video, lighting and scent impulses to provide an environment where people feel welcome and are being supported with technology to get the right information at the right time at the right place! An iPOD Touch device is used to even help the client get his personal relevant Miele Key Selling Point on product groups and specific features. Planned for 2009 is taking this to the next level by moving from the currently implemented ‘location awareness’ to ‘profile awareness’ – 1:1 permission based marketing.
Scala powers the complete experience, from lighting control, switching on displays, creating scents (time- and location based) and of course also the (interactive) content on more than 100 displays. On the same so called “content manager” (web based central control panel for players and content programming /distribution) we are also able to manage the ‘shop-in-shop’ interactive displays that will be installed throughout 2009 in the Miele Innovation Centers (at premium selected Miele distribution partners). After an intensive product comparison and evaluation period in the last quarter of 2007 we have again selected Scala being the ONLY product that is flexible enough to be so
closely integrated with the other aspects of the “Miele Inspirience”.

Working with ‘state-of-the-art’ suppliers and being challenged by our clients to create the best communication available I can only agree with Tim Burke when he mentions the paradigm of wanting to write PR about what has been done but being restricted by NDAs. The good news is that in our case, if you REALLY want to see some state-of-the-art application of Digital Signage you are welcome to come and visit the Miele Inspirience Centre, as it is of course open to the general public. So when you are next in The Netherlands, come and see our innovative work at Miele NL, De Limiet 2, NL-4131 Vianen (+31-347 378888) or visit http://www.miele.nl

While being there, visit any location of for instance de RAI, Rabobank, McDonalds, Nimco House Of Shoes or Studio27 and you can see hundreds of other significant and impressive networks – powered by market leader Scala.

As early as 1998 I had identified the new opportunity coming over the horizon (DOOH) and immediately started development on a satellite digital media distribution system. It was while marketing our home grown product in Holland that I came across Scala and immediately purchased InfoChannel Designer to see what it was about. It was clear that here was a product already well into it’s evolution and I began to use the product effectively for a number of applications.

In the early 2000’s I was approached by Gerard Bucas (CEO Scala), who had heard of my activities in the market and wanted to explore my to distributing Scala in South Africa. After meeting with Gerard I was immediately taken with his energy, enthusiasm, and powerful passion for his product, and once it became apparent as to the resources Scala was putting behind it’s initiative into the new broadcast arena, I was compelled to throw in the towel on my own development. I decided instead to back this already well established product and in partnership with Ethniks Systems duly became the appointed distributor for Southern Africa.
Ethniks Systems was an already well established co. (Since 1987) specialising in the design, supply, implementation and management of specific business enhancing technology solutions, and for a long period ran a good portion of our countries hospital management systems. They had vast experience and expertise in deploying and managing wide area network systems throughout Southern Africa and were ideally placed to fast-track digital media networks in our territory.

After a very short learning curve, we quickly began to deploy Scala into a number of prestigious accounts in retail, banking, cellular and government agencies and have established the product as the clear market leader in South Africa. We base our relatively quick success in this notoriously slow and still difficult market (we all know what a painful gestation digital signage has had) on a few points:

Firstly, as opposed to the myriad of products we have tested, Scala works! And it keeps on working. In a territory such as ours with vast distances between commercial nodes and limited or at least restricted infrastructure, this is critical or else support issues would have long crippled our business.
We also have experienced enormous support from the Scala crew and their CEO Gerard Bucas through some difficult growing pains in both our camps – but both our companies are reaping the benefit of the mutual trust and support we have developed. Sure, as with any relationship we have had a few rocky moments, but never destructive and always culminating in a strengthening of the partnership.

To-date we have large scale deployments in a number of top companies and organisations in Southern Africa with every one an ongoing success. We and our clients have experienced extremely limited support problems or downtimes due to the tried and proven stability of the Scala offering.

Just some of our satisfied digital media network clients are:

Woolworths and Pick n’ Pay (Our two major FMCG retailers),
MTM (cellular),
Eskom (Government Power Utility – Corporate Communication Network)),
South African Post Office,
Nedbank …with many more in the pipeline!

It is particularly evident that our experience with Scala is not unique after attending the EMEA conference recently in Amsterdam. There were over 200 participants in attendance with a powerful camaraderie – all exploring ways to work together to find new ways to develop the market and prosper from the 27 years of development behind the product. The sharing of success stories clearly indicated Scala has a strong leading presence in the EMEA region.
It was also evident from the “mini-expo” there that Scala has aligned itself with, and has the respect of some of the top names in the industry including LG, Panasonic, Samsung and many others.

In closing, after our own experience and success with this product and the company behind it, we feel somewhat baffled as to why Scala has somehow ended up on the dark side of this forum which seems to underestimate it’s well deserved leading position in this market. We also hope our honest and open input will encourage any naysayers to look at Scala and the people behind it in the light we feel they deserve.

Regards

Craig Whyte
Ethniks InfoChannel
South Africa
+27828216190

Somebody should remind Oscar not to post emotional emails over the weekend; clearly he has no appetite for the high road. A rebuttal of this length clarifies for many of us I would think, a measurement of truth. Oscar don’t sweat the small stuff, let your actions / sales be you’re defence, as in this case clearly you took the bait.

Cheers,

J Woolsey Visual Motivations