Brite Future Ahead For Targetcast Networks?

In yet another industry scoop for the DailyDOOH, we learnt yesterday that Targetcast Networks of San Ramon, California has found a new home with the Brite Media Group ^[1], an industry leader in the more traditional out of home advertising offerings.

^[1]TargetCast Networks, aka TCN, was acquired by the Brite Media Group in a deal that closed only days ago. Top TCN executives, Brian Moore, Bob LaRochelle and Alan Nishioka were all kept, as were the majority of the TCN employees. For those of you unfamiliar with TCN’s footprint, you can find their screens in a number of fast casual venues such as Tully’s Coffee, Juice it Up and Robeks as well as casual dinning restaurants Chilli’s, Applebees, TGI Fridays and Outback Steakhouse.

Not one to ignore a good story when it breaks, yesterday I sat down with Brian Moore, CEO of TCN and the Brite Media Group’s Head of Digital, Chris Lanman, for an exclusive DailyDOOH interview and quizzed them about the sale, the future and of course any dirt they wanted to dish on the Titan exit…

DJ: Last February TargetCast announced a major partnership with Titan Outoor ^[2], six months later you’re looking for a new buyer. What happened?
Brian Moore: The exit happened on June 30th and was very amicable. Titan are moving heavily on their mobile strategy and we felt that being part of a company like the Brite Media Group with its expert sales force in out of home advertising was the right move to make.

DJ: Chris, this is the Brite Media Group’s first digital acquisition. Firstly why Targetcast, and secondly is this part of a larger corporate strategy?
Chris Lanman: We’re very excited about the acquisition, it rounds us out as an out-of-home media company. Increasingly we’re seeing media budgets going to digital out of home, so it makes sense that we have that offering to our clients. We’re looking very closely at the digital out of home space right now and what it means to our business.

DJ: For TCN, what strengths will the Brite Media Group bring to the table?
Brian: They are very venue centric, that’s crucial for our advertisers. The Brite Media Group’s sales force is one of the best in the business for selling specialty or niche media and having that level of expertise and experience is key in helping us grow as a business.
Being part of a larger company also means we can offer our venue partners some unique platforms enhancements we’ve wanted to put in place for a while.

DJ: Any immediate changes we can expect?
Chris: It’s too early to be specific, but I can tell you we will be revealing a new brand name in the next few weeks. Watch this space.

What does all this mean to the digital place based industry? I think it’s all part of a growing trend of acquisitions and mergers that are inevitable in our industry as it matures. The smaller companies have a lot to gain by being part of a larger company and the corporate entities can leverage the venue footprint and technology developed by the start-ups.

• For a company like Targetcast Networks it makes sense- they have a unique, patented product, a solid footprint of venue partners and a strategic vision that requires investment.
• For the Brite Media Group it gives them a open gateway into the digital place-based media space and a large sales force to make the investment pay-off in the long term.

My advice to Brite Media at this point is simple: education and immersion. Your sales force maybe best-in-class in selling the speciality point of purchase or niche promotional, static media; digital out of home is an entirely different beast to wrestle with altogether. Educate and immerse your sales force in digital out of home, educate them on industry best practices for both content and advertising and above all inspire them to look at this space differently.

Once they understand the possibilites and uniqueness of digital out of home the sooner they’ll get compelling content on the screens and advertisers clamoring to be part of the experience. Get this part of the equation right and the future really could be Brite.