Through this partnership, 3.75 million NBC fans can tune in to their favorite shows and entertainment news, in waiting rooms and dwell areas across Wovenmedia‘s network of healthcare facilities and retail locations in California and the Southeast.

“This deal underscores the importance of Wovenmedia’s next generation networks that allow us to effectively reach consumers in an increasingly fragmented landscape,” said Larry Hart, Senior Vice President at NBC Universal. “Through this partnership we can extend great content and promotional messages to target audiences that are traditionally hard to reach in-home.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with NBC to bring our networks highlights from NBC’s best primetime programming and award winning shows,” said Joellen Jacobs, Vice President Content & Programming at Wovenmedia. “Entertainment and comedy programming are important components of our content strategy; I know that NBC’s great line-up is welcomed by our network audiences.”

NBC Universal joins the rapidly expanding list of Wovenmedia’s top-tier content partners, which includes Access Hollywood, PBS, The Weather Channel, PGA Tour, Big 10 Networks and CNET.

With more traditional networks partnering with digital out of home, it would appear Woven media is right on the money in sourcing this kind of content. Now, if they weave that into a compelling offering for both advertisers and viewers I’d say Woven is one to watch.

If you look at the majority of digital place-based networks their attempts at visually marketing themselves are limited to a few posed shots of actors looking at their screens with a mildly engaged look with a frame grab inserted into the screen.

Hardly the most compelling way to sell your network or position our industry. Then along comes RMG. Kicking sand in the face of mediocrity and launching what is arguably the sexiest campaign for digital out of home to date. Just check out these shots below – they’re gorgeous!

It’s all part of RMG’s Addiction campaign. You can enjoy the full experience here at www.digitaladdiction.tv.

The concept? We’re all addicted to our screens, whether they’re in the palm of our hands or hung on a Walmart endcap. We can’t help but look at them, we watch them, we engage with them on a daily if not minute by minute basis. We’re all craving that digital fix and DOOH screens are no exception. This is a bold and compelling approach, and a smart move on RMG’s part in gaining some buzz for the industry. The campaign was shot by high-fashion photographer Kate Owen who has shot covers for Vogue and Vanity Fair to name but a few.

Rather than fixate on viewership numbers, audience demographics and screen sizes, RMG went for the emotional angle. And, after all, we’re in the advertising business and nothing sells better than when you make that emotional connection. As well as launching the additional website RMG are also publishing a few limited edition glossy books of the campaign and blasting the whole shebang out to 7,000 industry professionals – I was given a copy Monday by Garry McGuire at #DSinvestor and I can testify it’s fantastic, Ed

What’s not to like about this campaign? Not much. Some may quibble about the “addiction” theme, or the hyper-reality of the images, but from where I’m sitting it’s a badly needed shot in the arm for the industry- a kind of DOOH pick-me-up.

A well crafted, sophisticated campaign like this deserves to be recognized, and who knows maybe it could inspire others to put a little sizzle in their marketing efforts and ditch those tired power point slides for good.

Matt Downey, President

Founded in 2010 by ex-PRN’er (we are a legion of many) Matt Downey, Freshwater DMP’s credo is simple: help businesses realize the potential of interactive media in their place of business. For any business, developing a realistic network strategy can be daunting, Freshwater DMP specializes in partnering with both customers and providers to help source hardware, software, content and developing revenue projections.

Over the past year Freshwater has been managing the network strategy for a local Grand Rapids retailer, adding a digital screen solution at the entrances in a few pilot stores. These are 55inch vertical screens displaying vendor ads and retailer specific promotions.

I will personally be interested to see the sales lift or viewership numbers on this when the research is complete. I think entrance screens are a challenge: the shopper mindset at this point in their trip is pretty focused on getting to the products they came in for.

If the content and promotions are compelling and relevant enough the screens can be effective, if not, it’s just more clutter and noise. No doubt with Matt’s years of experience in managing the Sam’s Club account while at PRN, Freshwater have all this figured out.

Freshwater has also partnered with the Interpublic Group, and is providing select programming for their new IPG Lab based in New York, targeting agency executives and key decision makers with interest in digital signage solutions.

Digital signage in the retail environment is an easy one to get wrong – it took Walmart years to figure out the right solution. As more retailers test the digital network waters there’s a real need for companies with the breadth and experience of working in this space to guide and advise them on every aspect of running a network.

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, 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.

“More people playing Farmville than there are farmers” was one courtesy of Steve Gurley of Symon who headed up a pretty interesting session on The Holistic Customer Experience. Along with FK Funderburke -awesome name by the way- from SapientNitro, they talked the audience through a vision of the future that was either breathtakingly exciting or utterly terrifying depending on your point of view.

I’m still debating whether the photo they showed of a 24 month-old child skimming casually through an iPhone screen at a restaurant table as her parents did the same was the shape of things to come or a terrible vision of what’s ahead for all of us.

Mobile and proximity marketing seemed to be the tone of the seminars at this year’s #CETW. And, as they say, why not. It’s permeating everything we do in the industry these days and it’s not likely to stop anytime soon. Garry McGuire’s announcements in his keynote address seemed to only support that; RMG’s partnerships with BlueBite, LocaModa and Groupon are pointing the way ahead for our industry.

Thursday morning’s session on Location Based Mobile Marketing hit on the same subject and offered some good, basic advice for any brand or company dipping their toes into mobile marketing. NFC, near field communications, was an oft mentioned buzz word around the show, generating some real excitement and new possibilities for venues looking for the holy grail of convergence.

And of course, ”convergence’ was everywhere-at least on every presentation I attended, although I didn’t see much evidence of it on the show floor. Touch screen vendors and manufacturers seemed to dominate the expo, making it difficult to discern one from the other. And, if you’re in the business of finding a reliable padlock for your server or a sturdy mount for your monitor, CETW is the place for you.

If I had one criticism of the show it was that the floor featured few exhibitors featuring real innovation – the innovation seemed to be coming from behind the podium.

Other than that, I think Lawrence and his team did a standout job in putting the event together, the floor was spacious and looked great. I also liked the tech talk pods – the pre-built screens worked really well in keeping out the sound from the floor. As one who was presenting, this was a welcome addition.

Finally, it was definitely a huge bonus having CETW in my home town. Easy commute, no pat-downs and no hotel rooms; lovely. We hope they’ll come back this way again and maybe persuade a few more of our Silicon Valley innovators to get off their arses and get involved in the show. Maybe a special ”innovators showcase’ on the exhibit floor would entice them or perhaps more free beer.

Without giving too much away, Garry’s big on the power of digital out-of-home to engage, entertain and inform active consumers as they go about the business of their day. So, we can expect some highlighting of major industry trends and digital out-of-home best practices, coupled with some great case studies that get to the heart of what makes DOOH such a powerful tool for advertisers.

We also know RMG walks the walk when it comes to integrating proximity marketing, mobile interaction and social networking on its screens, so we can expect some insight around location- based offers as the next ‘killer app’ in DOOH.

I’ll be at CETW, tweeting and firing off reports for our ever-demanding Editor-in-Chief and also presenting a seminar on ‘Peeling back the onion of content’. Come and check it out. It’s all about content without the tears!

They have signed a multi-year deal with PRN to supply high definition programming, creative services and advertising sales. Why is this important? Well, let’s face it, the only good news out of PRN over the last few years have been a few mediocre press releases about another deal to offer their advertising sales team to other digital out of home networks.

With Best Buy pretty much off their radar, Studio Squared taking most of the Walmart creative, PRN desperately needed another retailer to brag about. Far from being just another ad sales deal, seems this time that PRN have bagged the full-service retailer they’ve been trying to sign for years.

While it’s good news for PRN, it’s also good news for our industry. The more retailers that embrace a digital network in their store, the better. It’s a rising tide that lifts all ships. Plus, BJ’s obviously “gets” the programming part of the equation: you can’t sell HD TV’s by showing crap content on there. If only a few more networks out there understood this, the DOOH landscape would look so much more attractive.

And, speaking of wholesale. How’s this latest deal going to affect the PRN sale, which seems to have stalled more times than the Irish Economy? It’s anybody’s guess at this point, but with a few more BJ’s to sweeten the pot, PRN may well look a much more attractive proposition.

SmartNetwork/End-Cap-Detergent

Presenting with their media and content partner, Studio Squared (which is essentially a chimera of Walmart, The Martin Agency and Media Vest) they unveiled some compelling sales lift numbers for their end-cap program.

According to marketing director and Smart Network general manager James Beck, the company’s online media program delivers 1 billion ad impressions per month to an audience of 32 million monthly unique visitors – visitors spend an average of 15 minutes on the site each visit.

Allegedly when that program is COUPLED with the Smart Network the digital media program has a monthly reach of between one-third and one-half of the U.S. population.

Bill McMullen, general manager of Studio Squared who works with suppliers to develop campaigns for the Walmart digital media program shared a couple of specific case studies..

1. a breathing-strip manufacturer purchased an endcap campaign, in which a 90- to 120-second message ran on endcap screens with product positioned around it. While the program was running, the brand saw a 100 percent sales lift on the specific product, determined by testing versus a control group
2. the retailer wanted to increase the number of shoppers that opted in to receive discounts and offers via SMS. It staged a four-week campaign in which shoppers were told that if they’d sign up by dialing a specific code, they’d get exclusive announcements of new “Rollback” offers. During the four-week period, the retailer saw a three-fold increase in daily opt-ins

Not surprisingly, the sales lift numbers are pretty impressive and it’s compelling stuff BUT I’m asking myself a few questions about the relevance of these numbers when it comes to the overall Smart Network.

I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that if you put a compelling enough commercial on a screen next to that product, you’re going to lift sales.

The question is, how is the rest of the network performing. How are the vertical screens in food and grocery lifting sales? What about screens at checkout? What about the much lauded ‘Welcome Screen‘ at the entrance (a kind of digital greeter without the drawl) How are they measuring those, other than with viewership numbers?

There are a few realities about “end-cap tv” that should be pointed out. Walmart stocks millions of products and launches hundreds of new products on the shelf every week, and if you’re lucky enough to be chosen for an end-cap program, then you’ll also find yourself with a healthy sales lift number!

The reality is you can’t of course give every product in the store an end-cap display, so how are all those other ads performing? Brands are spending money all over the Smart Network, I’d like to know what the RIO is on those other screens.

I’m glad Walmart are sharing these numbers, but right now it’s like McDonald’s touting the healthfulness of their salads when we all know it’s all about the Big Mac.

Good piece in today’s New York Times which you should be able to read here

I won’t rehash the whole story here, but it’s another encouraging article on how Digital Out Of Home is gaining ground and converting skeptics.

High fives to Clear Channel for creating a very cool, compelling out of home experience that may just make waiting for the bus fun. The screens are clear and colorful with content that’s fun to engage with, and with anybody with a passing knowledge of San Francisco, the whole idea of playing for your neighborhood is a smart idea.

We could have done with a little more instructions on how to play (it took a few frustrating taps and blank looks as we figured it out) and for anybody used to the rapid response of an iPad or iPhone, the response times were a tad slow. However, the screens are built to withstand a speeding bullet as well as a San Francisco earthquake, so we can live with a little delayed gratification.

All in all, we’re on board with the Bus Stop Derby. It’s nicely executed, engaging content, good fun to play and passes the time when you’ve got bugger all else to do. What’s not to like?