DailyDOOH

Millennial Media, independent mobile advertising and data platform, has officially launched operations in the Japanese market, headed by John Greiner as managing director of Japan.

Greiner is responsible for leading the company’s operations out of the newly opened Tokyo office.

“Following the opening of our Singapore office in 2011, expanding into Japan was a natural progression as we look to continue working with brands, agencies and developers across Asia,” says Mollie Spilman, executive vce-president, global sales and marketing, Millennial Media. “Our scale, innovative rich media capabilities and industry-leading data asset will allow us to bring a premium mobile advertising solution to the Japanese market.”

Greiner will be responsible for building relationships with developers and publishers, and working with premium brands and agencies to help them execute effective mobile advertising campaigns. He was recently the president of MonkeyPaw Games, and brings over 18 years of experience in the Japanese market.

“Japan is an incredibly advanced and robust mobile market, and there is a tremendous opportunity for brands to reach and engage consumers over mobile devices,” says Greiner. “Millennial Media has the technology and infrastructure in place to bring a unique, premium offering to the region, and we will be looking to immediately capitalize and generate scale.”

With the opening of the Japanese office, Millennial Media now has international offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, Paris, Hamburg and Jakarta. The company has, in total, over 350 employees worldwide and is aggressively hiring in both the United States and internationally.

We have a couple of surprises for the 100+ folks who have registered for our VIDEO WALLS UNPLUGGED Thought Leadership Summit taking place this Thursday in London as part of the #NECshowcase.

Without giving anything away, here (shown above) is just one of them!

You can follow most of our speakers on twitter; @andsoup @AyudaSystems @amigodigital @bobrushby @dhuelsermann @DISE_Signage @EyeOutofHomeUK @JCDecaux_UK @NEC_Display_EU @OpenSplash @Tim_Harvey @Quividi @VUKUNET

Scala, Inc. this week announced the installation of a 400 screen digital communication network at the largest gas station chain in Slovenia. This nationwide network is successfully managed by the leading Slovenian energy company Petrol.

Petrol wanted a centrally managed communication system for promoting their in-store products and chose Scala partner TL 2011 for the rollout.

Matjaž Loborec, C.T.O. at TL 2011 told us “Petrol did very thorough research during their system selection process. After investigating various options they concluded that Scala fully met the solution demands of Petrol and was primarily chosen for its flexibility; illustrated by the perfect integration of the cash register system with the digital communication network.”

30 Slovenian Petrol service stations are now equipped with a total of 400 digital displays – the eyes of customers, who are filling up their cars at Petrol’s gas stations, are caught by small screens integrated in the gas pump installation. These screens are weather-resistant and display advertisements of products that are sold in the station’s store.

Inside the station’s store, customers are welcomed by either one or two full HD screens displaying dynamic products and services ads. At the cash registry counter, a screen displays an overview of the chosen items after scanning. Plus it displays additional product information, sourced through a database that is connected to the digital communication system.

Petrol has experienced a significant increase in sales of the products that are advertised on the screens. As a result the company continues to roll-out its digital signage formula to an ever increasing number of its domestic and international stations. Petrol foresees a growth in number of stations going well beyond its current 300 service stations.

About Petrol

Petrol, the leading Slovenian energy company, is the principal strategic supplier of oil and other energy products to the Slovenian market. Through an extensive distribution network of proprietary service stations, Petrol provides drivers on Slovenia’s roads and highways with a broad range of automotive goods and services and a wide selection of household and food products and other merchandise. Petrol’s principal competitive advantage over potential competitors is its extensive network of 348 modern service stations in Slovenia and abroad.

About TL 2011

TL 2011 d.o.o. is a spin-off fo the company Xnet d.o.o., which has been implementing large-scale IT projects for more than 8 years. TL 2011 specializes in implementing integration of technology into screen networks (signage TV) in shopping malls and large retail chains. As a general contractor, TL 2011 takes care of the acquisition, financing, and installation of hardware. TL 2011 also provides technical support for networks they implemented.

We are a little late learning about this – it happened in April – but were intrigued to see how Outside the Cube, the Agency of Record for Tourism Yukon, employed a unique marketing approach to break through the advertising clutter in Toronto.

“Toronto is a key market for Tourism Yukon but making an impact through all the noise can be a challenge, so rather than just telling Torontonians how great Yukon is, we wanted them to actually feel it,” says Dee Enright, president and CEO of the agency as well as lead strategist on the account. “We wanted to create an experience and have them share that experience. The kind of awe that we see when people come to visit.”

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NCM Media Networks, national cinema network reaching moviegoers on-screen, on-site, online and on-the-go, is strengthening its national ad sales and business development teams as it gears up for its second annual upfront presentation this Wednesday, May 15, at New York City’s AMC Loews Lincoln Square movie theatre.

Beth Hoff

Beth Hoff, who has been serving as senior vice-president of East Coast Sales with NCM Media Networks for the past seven years, will now take on the new role of senior vice-president of marketing partnerships.

Dan Thomas, a television and digital ad sales veteran of nearly 20 years, joins NCM to take over the leadership of the national sales team in New York as senior vice-president of East Coast sales.

In her new position, Hoff will focus on new business development, as well as work with NCM’s national clients to help brands make the most impactful use of cinema advertising on-screen, on-site, online and on mobile devices. She will now report to Bennett Fogel, executive vice- president of sales and marketing partnerships with NCM Media Networks.

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According to a report in The New York Times, which we got via HONG KONG (MarketWatch), we quote “A U.S. hedge fund run by Daniel Loeb has accumulated a 6.5% stake in Sony Corp. and has called for a breakup of the Japanese electronics major, Loeb, the founder of hedge fund Third Point, is pressing Sony to spin off its entertainment arm, which includes one of Hollywood’s biggest film studios and one of the world’s largest music labels. Loeb, 51, reportedly flew to Tokyo over the weekend for three days of meetings with government officials, regulators and senior Sony executives”.

This time, Godzilla is a Jewish Hedge Fund guy from the U.S. named Daniel Loeb

Japanese companies are always tough to raid as there is a lot of law protecting them, but this is likely a serious matter as you can see Loeb has amassed a 6.5% stake in the company.

No doubt (and before certain lawyers get on our case, this is our F***ING OPINION), this is the first wave in the coming Japanese consolidation in Consumer Electronics.

Deals like this are tantamount to admitting that they can’t out fight the Koreans.

We’d say watch for the same chop up, split up, of folks like Panasonic, Sharp, etc.

The specialist retail advertising agency Gratterpalm, has provided digital expertise to the new UK ‘Mary Queen of the High Street’ TV series, which airs this month and appears in tonight’s episode.

The Leeds-based agency was approached by Optomen Television to provide expertise on retail technology and innovation for the series that focuses on rejuvenating tired UK high streets.

The iconic seaside town of Margate was one of 12 successful teams bidding for funding from the Government ‘Portas Pilot Towns’ initiative AND ‘Kiss Me Quick’, a once traditional sweet shop is transformed into a boutique seaside gift emporium in the Tuesday 14th May second show.

Gratterpalm created a nostalgic look back into Margate in its heyday with edited 1970’s footage from South West Archive, playing across a triptych of digital screens, installed with media partner Mediazest.

About Gratterpalm

Gratterpalm specialises in creating retail ideas for some of the country’s fastest moving retailers and FMCG brands including Asda, Greggs, DFS, Coral, Arla Foods and Morphy Richards. Established in 1978, the Leeds-based agency boasts a 150 strong team of retail experts who create powerful ideas that get results.

The International Sign Association Board of Directors has voted to approve 16 regional sign associations as official ISA Affiliated Associations.

This is a key step in an ongoing ISA effort to develop a new membership structure that will: better serve sign company members, increase the synergy between local associations and ISA, and strengthen the industry as a whole by developing a common direction and voice.

Local sign companies, which previously would have become both ISA members and regional association members, now join an ISA Affiliated Association and as part of that membership also receive an ISA membership and all the programs and services it offers.

To become an official ISA Affiliated Association, each regional association must meet certain criteria and its board of directors must vote to pursue the designation.

Lori Anderson, ISA president and CEO, says, “When we began the process of reorganizing our membership, we believed that this would strengthen both ISA and our regional affiliates and increase the level of service both organizations could offer members. The positive reception by these associations and their boards of directors indicate that they, too, see the potential in this stronger relationship.”

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Last week an anonymous comment appeared on one of our Izon Media’s posts claiming that at least five people were let go on the 9th May 2013.

We haven’t heard anything recently (and since Admiral Hipper promised to ring us back last time in late April – at least twice but never did, there’s little point in reaching out for a comment) BUT (there’s no smoke without fire) huge amounts of ‘PRN’ and Izon Media’ Google search traffic hit the DailyDOOH today for some reason.

We’re looking forward to attending the NCM Upfront this week in New York – that will be our first time attending the event, Ed.

NCM Media Networks, national cinema network reaching moviegoers on-screen, on-site, online and on-the-go, will host its second annual upfront luncheon presentation event May 15 at New York City’s AMC Loews Lincoln Square movie theater.

NCM Media Networks offers blockbuster opportunities for brands to reach over 700 million moviegoers a year. NCM is America’s number one network on weekends, consistently ranking higher than most TV and cable networks on Fridays and Saturdays. For advertisers, NCM’s FirstLook pre-show program is a video option that features the reach of broadcast and the highest levels of big screen engagement.

“Cinema rules the weekends when TV viewership is lowest,” says Cliff Marks, president of sales and marketing with NCM Media Networks. “With some of the best engagement, recall, and likeability in the media business, cinema is the one place where marketers know that their ads will be seen, providing the perfect complement to their traditional TV media plans.”

NCM’s Cliff Marks will be presenting at The DailyDOOH Investor Conference which is being held in New York 23rd to 24th October 2013.