Cohen Says Don’t Discount

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

Phil Cohen, president and CEO of CareMedia Holdings, Tampa, had a recurring theme during his talk to his fellow network owners at the Digital Signage Investor Conference last week in New York: “Don’t discount!”

Cohen said that an investor has a number of things he must look at: the management; whether the business makes sense; will it play measurable content; whether the context is right; the advertising rates and how they relate to the CPMs, among others.

On the network side, “You must be able to prove your audience, to show the recall rate,” he said. Cohen’s own networks are geared specifically for their specialty audiences: Kid CARE TV; Pet CARE TV; and Women’s HealthCARE TV; in pediatricians’, veterinary and obstetrician/gynecologists’ waiting rooms, respectively. With these, commercials are developed for the specific environments and tend to get high recall because of their one-to-one messages.

Among the ‘takeaways’ that Cohen put forth for network owners are:

  • “Invest time in planning;
  • “Decisions you make the onset will impact the long-term investment;
  • “Be clear about your goals and ROI expectations;
  • “Be clear about what you are delivering;
  • “Test! Advertisers are buying proven results.”

And, of course, “Don’t discount!”


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