We thought that Eye Corporation were in line to win this business but Media Week [1] thinks (or knows) otherwise.
This is quite big news for digital out of home and our interpretation of the (possible) announcement is as follows…
- CBS outdoor and not Clear Channel or Titan might win what is ostensibly a traditional shopping mall contract (you would expect Clear Channel or Titan to win these sorts of ‘traditional’ deals)
- Avanti Screen Media or Vision Media Group (previously ScreenFX) not involved (did not pitch and / or were not asked to pitch)
- The mall could be almost entirely comprised of Digital Screens – a European first and should be a cause of excitement in the digital screen industry
- If CBS Outdoor win, then this is Digital Screens in a Shopping Mall in direct competition to traditional Clear Channel and / or Titan AND digitally Avanti and Vision Media Group
That latter point would put pressure on Titan to do more digital in its traditional shopping malls.
Clear Channel’s deal (still to be made official) to do the media sales on Vision Media Group’s 22-strong Mall network is starting to look like a really clever move by both parties.
There is a difference between hanging TV screens in landscape mode from the ceiling in a mall a la Avanti and (early) ScreenFX installs (Vision Media Group plan to replace all of their screens with Iconic Pods [2]) and using digital portrait screens, floor mounted in place of traditional 6 sheet posters.
This could be very exciting.
CBS set to sign £60m Westfield contract
Isabella Piasecka Media Week 19-Feb-08
LONDON – CBS Outdoor is poised to win the estimated £60m internal advertising contract for Westfield London, the £1.6bn shopping centre due to open in West London this year.
CBS has been confirmed as the preferred bidder for the shopping centre’s internal ad sites and is expected to sign a contract shortly. The contract is understood to be worth at least £60m, over a minimum of seven years.The win, which follows a competitive pitch at the end of last year, marks the outdoor contractor’s first move into the domestic retail sector. CBS, part of the international media and entertainment group, CBS Corporation, already has a strong heritage in retail advertising in the US and Ireland.
In the UK, however, CBS has to date focused on transport advertising, such as buses, trams and the London Underground. It will manage all traditional and digital media sites inside the new centre.
The internal sites will be almost entirely digital, including a network of LCD screens in major walkways. The shopping centre’s car parks, also part of the internal contract, will feature traditional outdoor formats.
Westfield London awarded its £3m media planning and buying account to Arena BLM, after a final shoot-out against Universal McCann, handled by pitch consultancy AAR. It has yet to finalise the award of its external ad contract. At 150,000 square metres, the centre will be the biggest shopping centre in Greater London, rivalling retail areas such as Oxford Street and Covent Garden.
The centre will include four main stores, around 265 speciality shops,restaurants, a cinema, a health and beauty retreat and a gym. According to a Westfield spokesman, the new centre has a catchment area of 2.7 million people, with an estimated combined retail spend of £5bn.
The Westfield win will provide a major revenue boost to CBS. It picked up the £1.5bn ad sales contract for the London Underground in May 2006, covering 275 stations, 33,000 poster sites on stations and 88,000 panels inside Tube trains.
It is rolling out a range of new formats on the Underground, as part of a £72m project that will include the launch of cross-track projection and digital screens.
More information on the Westfield shopping mall can be found at http://www.westfield.com/london/ [3]