We had a chance to talk yesterday to Scott Kushner, CEO and owner of New York-based MediaPlace [1], who will be one of the panelists on the Digital Signage Content Lightning Round panel on Wednesday, March 7, at Digital Signage Expo [2] in Las Vegas.
[3]This panel idea is new and should be rather fun: no presentations, just an hour (3-to-4 p.m.) of fast questions and answers between the panelists and the audience – others on this panel include Ken Goldberg, CEO of Real Digital Media [4]; Craig Huff, Graphic Design Manager, Bell Canada [5]; Anne White, senior vice president, content strategy & creative, Premier Retail Networks [6] moderated by Pat Hellberg, principal of The Preset Group [7], Ed.
MediaPlace has been in business since 1993 and is a digital signage shop that is probably best known for creating and producing content for various networks, although it also offers full turnkey network solutions. In fact, we believe Kushner will be announcing something new in that regard in Q1, 2012.
Kushner comes from a radio background and moved into radio marketing and producing audio for drugstores and grocery stores before deciding that he wanted to be involved in full sight-sound-and-motion in 1993 to help stores create brand equity – initially to help the now-defunct Herman’s Sporting Goods chain to build an emotional connection between the store and brands like Nike with the consumer.
“Our team creative approach uses writing, filmmaking and digital animation to forge an emotional bond between consumers and America’s most important brands,” Kushner says. “MediaPlace is an originator of branded content. We infuse brand messaging within entertainment to elevate the consumer experience. Using music, reality shows, sports lifestyle programming and customer-focused features, we deploy and maintain many of today’s most important interactive media platforms. MediaPlace provides a single source solution for developing interactive media content, from conceptualization to completion.”
Kushner is responsible for developing the entire Foot Locker [8] TV network of screens across the U.S. that show music videos reflecting the lifestyle of consumers who shop at Footlocker’s 1,144 U.S. stores. He has also worked for such past-and/or-present clients as Champ Sports, The Athlete’s Foot, Harley Davidson, Nike, Coca-Cola and numerous others. Recently, he’s been working on digital network content for Barnes & Noble and, in association with agency Miller Zell, on creative for cell phone carrier MetroPCS.
“We’re a single source solution, that can provide the full picture: hardware, software, creative, production, monetization,” says Kushner. “We’re technology agnostic, using whatever we feel suits our clients’ needs.”
Also part of the company is its In-Store Network, MediaPlace’s own advertising sales company that can and does sell advertising for FootLocker and other networks MediaPlace does work for.
“We’re a boutique player that works cross-platform,” says Kushner. “For example, we packaged an entire employee event including a film for Coca-Cola’s 100th anniversary in the New York region.”
With his background of providing creative for digital networks, Kushner should be an active participant the DSE Lightning Round. We’re told that the experts will field questions on the fly, the only requirement being that they under the general heading of ‘digital signage/DOOH content’. Beyond that, anything goes. Panelists’ responses will be limited to 60 seconds, or less, to keep the dialogue moving quickly from topic to topic.
Anything you’ve ever wanted to ask about content, this is your chance!