TMM Sells FNAC Roku, Not Scala

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

Even with a Paris correspondent (the wonderful Russ Curry from Iconic Images) it’s sometimes hard keeping up with the antics in Paris. Word reaches us (not by Russ I hasten to add) of much sniggering in the French DS community and allegedly some rather angry people in Scala…

As Russ wrote a week ago, TMM are up for a couple of awards at APCAD’s ‘Golden Screen’ Awards Ceremony in Paris in early February. Anyway it seems that the FNAC deal (that well known French retail chain) which TMM won has some history and some ‘colour’.

Allegedly TMM and their CEO Michel Barronier made a huge effort AND lots of really extensive pre-sales with ( … wait for it … ) Scala France ONLY to change horses mid-bid for a low cost bundled hardware / software solution from Roku.

An insider also alleges that he (Monsieur Barronier) neglected to tell Philippe Lemaire of Scala France that they had changed horses!

Therefore in the meantime Philippe is supposedly trumpeting the nice win nationwide for Scala – all then goes quiet and Scala only find out much later that TMM have won with another application direct from FNACs IT director!

Whoops.


14 Responses to “TMM Sells FNAC Roku, Not Scala”

  1. Quoi Says:

    It is so that the originel sales lead come from Scala to TMM, Mon Dieu, Merde Alors! Nice people in TMM.

  2. O Maze Says:

    You English have an expression ‘ birds of a feather flock together’. This is true in the instance of Scala and TMM.

  3. Michel BARONNIER Says:

    The best and necessary way to give good news to our market is first to REALLY check the information. I have never met Russ Curry, never the less, I know that FNAC is an historical customer of TMM since 2002 in digital signage wich is our main activity since 1992. All this information of Russ Curry are WRONG and I invite him to have a meeting and clarify that … and then maybe he will be OK to become a member of APCAD first french digital signage association to give right information to the right man in the right place.
    I just want to mention that TMM is up to the POS Golden Screen Award with FNAC using ROKU technology AND a Corporate Golden Screen Award with BNP-PARIBAS project using SCALA software, which are 2 wonderful projects !

  4. Lemaire Says:

    Interesting post ! This is the second nice post I have the chance to read about SCALA in France from the last 3 years in this blog !
    Nice to see that journalist ( is it the right word !?) check and double-check the information they publish. One more time 90% of your post is fully crap ! Next time your “famous and wonderfull” Iconic guy ( fully unknow in France) would be inspired to double check his information.The Digital signage market diserve good content to grow ! I thought it was the same for you guys !

  5. Canard Enchaine Says:

    Mon Dieu, the 2 birds of a feather mentioned by your earlier post are hot and bothered like a dwarf monkey going to be cooked by the cannibals for lunch or dinner. So to clarify the facts, TMM won the FNAC project using ROKU technology but DO NOT tell if first they partnered with SCALA. And LeMaire says it’s 90% crap. Where is the 10% of truth then M. LeMaire? If I was Inspecteur Cluseau, I would say you are, both you and MB are worried and telling crap. I say a lot of anxious phone calls between the 2 of you to try and find a PR solution this afternoon. The truth is known and both you know the ugly truth! The industry of DS in France also knows for sometime.

  6. Serious DS Professional Says:

    This is amazing stuff from 2 so called ‘respected industry leaders’ in France. Really gentlemen have you so little to do with your time that you both lower yourself to dignifying this blog with a response? Move on both of you, no doubt there was more than a hint of poo in the rarified air of France. Sure you did bend the truth but it is not an executable offence. Learn from your mistakes and don’t repeat them. I dislike the monkey comparison above for M. Baronnier, he is in my knowledge more of a Reynard or fox!. I cannot comment on the Scala man, perhaps he is the innocent chicken here!

    Viva Roku

  7. Oeuf Says:

    The Scala man is an oeuf, an egg and a bad egg too not a chicken. Giant ego and a lot of hot air

  8. Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief Says:

    Clarification from the author of the post (me, myself, I)

    1. None of this rumour or information came from Russ Curry. My point was badly made – the point was supposed to be ‘EVEN WITH’ a Paris correspondent it is hard to keep up with gossip and rumour – that was NOT supposed to mean that the gossip and rumour came from the same. DailyDOOH prides itself on having local contributors in Paris, Prague, San Francisco, Beijing etc etc. but gossip comes from all quarters so please do not “tar Russ with the same brush that you may tar me with” – I wrote this post!

    2. We would have thought that Scala France would have learnt by now “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel” (Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish playwright, poet and humorist)

  9. Monsieur Lapin Says:

    “Having a dedicated local presence in France allows us to expand on the work of LCS, our longtime distributor in this country, through recently established partnerships with leading companies in the digital signage such as TMM Communications, MyPlasma, SCC, Artistic Images, IBM and RVB (an Altavia company)” said Mr. Elizaga a few years ago when Scala France was established.

    And so Michel BARONNIER are you still a Scala VAR or are you not? Do you sell Scala at all or do you now sell Roku. Why did you sell a Roku solution to FNAC when you could have sold Scala?

  10. Pierre Mirjolet Says:

    Michel, first of all congratulations on the nomination. Irrespective of the ins and outs of what you pitched to FNAC in the early days my question is “if you are still a Scala VAR why did you sell ROKU into this account?”

    Furthermore why? Is it cheaper, better, faster or do you make more profit on it?

    Lastly what does Scala think of one of its better known VARs selling in competitive software?

  11. Serious DS Professional Oslo Says:

    Now that many of the animals in the farmyard and their excretion are displayed along with the infamous egg, please call Noah and his Ark to load up all the farm. Why? The idiotic antics of Scala and it’s VAR TMM are verified as true by the level and degree of response. Despite the size of Scala and their marketing muscles, they have a lot to learn about PR management. TMM caught them and produced the chicken before the egg. Then they gave the shell of the egg to Scala.

    Oscar Wilde also said’ A cynic is somebody who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing’.
    Well done TMM on your commercial coup d’etat and the potential awards.

  12. Serge Le Clerc Says:

    Mr.Baronnier and his Scala partner are making this game for 2 years now, no surprise!

  13. Jerome Moeri Says:

    Mr Cotterill, thanks for making the French DS market a bit more transparent to us. Meanwhile, FNAC made the decision to move forward with an entry level product. As a supplier having invested time and money on this project, TMM made the deal which is kind of realistic behavior. Why would someone blame TMM?

  14. Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief Says:

    Jerome no-one (I think) is blaming TMM for anything. As you say we are just trying to help our industry be more transparent. If I were Scala I would be furious at TMM but I would also want to understand why any of my VARs were not selling Scala when they had signed up to do so. Cheaper alternatives undoubtedly exist (of course we even have people offering ‘free’ software) so what is it that Scala has (the brand we keep telling SCALA it’s your BRAND) that keeps VARs on the ‘straight and narrow’ as we would say in England.

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