The Breakthru Digital Signage Blog

Dads heading off on a half-term break or for a spot of shopping with the kids are the target of an interactive outdoor advertising campaign from Ford. In a media first, Ford is using digital dual screen advertising to keep youngsters entertained while targeting the family man at shopping malls and airports.

Ford Galaxy’s launch campaign was booked with JCDecaux and JCDecaux Airport through Kinetic and Mindshare and the creative agency was Ogilvy.

Running from 24th May until 7th June 2010, the campaign targets the male audience during their free time with the kids. JCDecaux’s 6-sheet advertising sites have been specially adapted to carry two interactive digital screens, the top one offering a video and a menu of information about the new Ford Galaxy with the bottom screen providing interactive games for the kids.

While dads browse the latest information about the new Ford Galaxy model, their children can choose from a selection of interactive puzzles and pair’s games and even submit their name to the leader scoreboard.

Sam Bird, Head of Innovate at JCDecaux said, “We are delighted that our first ever joint mall and airport campaign is using our new dual-screen 6-sheet panels. The long-dwell times at shopping malls and airports make them ideal environments for interactive digital campaigns, catching audiences when they have time on their hands and are in the right mindset to engage with the advertising.”

There are 6-sheet dual screen specials at Heathrow Terminal 5, Gatwick, Luton, Edinburgh and Glasgow and two 6-sheet dual screens in shopping centers Bluewater, Birmingham Bullring and the Trafford Centre. Ford Galaxy has also booked 6-sheets and billboards at airports, malls and rail. The Out of Home activity is part of a wider campaign for Ford Galaxy which includes online and the press.

Source: All About Outdoors

In what is a small feather in the cap, Breakthru Digital India is featured amongst the “25 start-ups under Rs. 10L, by Outlook Money in their current issue (dated June 2, 2010). Synopsis of the article below.

THE SOLDIERS OF SMALL ENTERPRISE (Cover Story)

We take a quick look at 25 ventures which were initiated with minimum capital and now are making waves in their own little way. Read on to find out

Breakthru Digital India LLP

• Launch date: December ‘09
• Name of entrepreneurs: Venuraj Janakarajan & Venkatesha Munivenkatachari
• Seed Capital/ Source: Rs. 4.5 L / Self
• Business Description: Specialised e-signage company focused on providing simplified communication solutions
• How it makes money: Selling customised digital signage platforms for specific communication needs
• Required skills: Technology prowess (hardware, software, electronics and networking), content aesthetics (relevance, creativity)
• The WOW factor: Helps clients engage and influence  the audience in a wide range of controlled environments
• How it is marketed: Direct sales, online marketing, social media, word-of-mouth influence and strategic parttnerships
• Performance: Currently has 15 clients

Source: Outlook Money Issue dated 2 June 2010

BroadcastAsia returns for the 15th year on 15 – 18 June 2010.  Acclaimed as the one-stop event for Asia’s digital multimedia & entertainment industry, the annual exhibition and conference convenes industry professions, decision makers, vendors and buyers to network and build alliances.

More details

Digital signage is the perfect mechanism for communications in every business.  Digital signs can be updated instantly with content created and controlled by you.  Company alerts can be scheduled to announce office closing or special events.  Digital signs are also a great mechanism for training employees.  Distribute your networks across lobbies, break rooms, across office locations, across country locations. Customize your programming to support employees regionally.

IDEAL LOCATIONS FOR DIGITAL SIGNAGE AT WORKPLACE

• Reception
• Lobbies
• Canteen
• Training rooms
• Waiting rooms
• Lounge
• Factory
• Branch offices

ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL SIGNAGE FOR WORKSPACE

• Collaborative communication: Digital signage brings synergy to the communication efforts of the company’s top management, PR, sales, IT, marketing, hr, admin, manufacturing and financial departments
• Enhances communication reach: With digital signage you gain synergy and deeper control of your communication strategy across your facilities, geographies and stake-holder segments including visitors, employees, customers, vendors, partners and media who visit the campus
• Improves communication efficiency: Digital Signage will refresh your corporate communications by allowing you to quickly and easily deliver timely, engaging content to the sign down the hall, or to the other side of the world with a click of a button
• Multi-media communication: Today, corporate communications are spread around web pages, email, memos and bulletin boards. Digital signage software can combine these media files into a single vibrant channel
• Supports go green initiatives: Reduce printing, delivery costs and waste from posters and fliers

Through an experimental class at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business that tries to use social media for the public good, a trio of students posted a video to YouTube this spring promoting an organization that hopes to save the lives of millions of prematurely born babies in India and other developing nations by creating an innovative low-cost baby incubator.

A version of the students’ video on behalf of the nonprofit organization Embrace soon will be appearing on digital billboards across India, after it was noticed on YouTube by the CEO of Digital Signage Networks, India.

For more:  Seattle Times

Today’s kids are also referred to as screenagers… a generation that spends their life shifting between screens… from PC, Mobile, TV, Cinema and video consoles. It is no surprise then that the usefulness of digital signage is finding its fastest adoption at schools, colleges, universities and other out of school education institutions.

Educational institutes across the globe are using digital displays to transmit important information to students and staff. Before digital displays were used, notice boards were the only option for a school, college or university to relay such important information. Now with digital signage, messages can be uploaded centrally and displayed on digital notice-boards across the campus, no matter how spread out the campus is.

Digital signage has also been useful for classrooms where the traditional chalkboards have been replaced by a more dynamic method of education.

Many schools and colleges now have an outdoor LCD display or other digital outdoor signage device at the front of the building to relay information about upcoming events. Informing the local community, parents and potential students what is happening with the walls of an educational establishment is now a lot easier thanks to the use of outdoor digital signage.

Outdoor signage systems like these do have to be protected though, which is why many education establishments use outdoor LCD enclosures to house their exterior digital signage. Not only do these protective LCD enclosures guard against the weather but they also provide a good defense against impacts – ideal for use in schools and colleges where there is a risk of accidental or deliberate damage.

ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL SIGNAGE FOR EDUCATION

• Create impact for messages and videos in high definition
• Communicate instantly and efficiently
• Engage, inspire and motivate your students and staff by displaying their creativity and achievements throughout the campus
• Ideal for reception areas, hostels, cafeteria, library, administrative offices, labs, auditoriums, waiting rooms and high-traffic common areas
• Easily add time, location, rss, weather, news feeds and timely broadcast alerts
• Deliver time sensitive information, inform, educate and entertain viewers
• Reduce printing, delivery costs and waste from posters and fliers

Digital signage is a new generation video display platform (LCD, LED, Plasma, projected images, etc.)… created to deliver digital content (dynamic information, advertisement and other communication)… over a controlled network  of screens (stand-alone or connected through networking technology)… deployed at almost any out-of-home location… where people gather, eat, work, train, shop, entertain, walk by and wait

In short, digital signage is a new generation video display platform created to deliver digital content over a controlled network  of screens deployed at almost any out-of-home location.

Digital signage is considered the fifth screen (after cinema screen, television, personal computer and mobile device).

Warm welcome to the official blog of Breakthru Digital India LLP. This blog will focus on the emerging digital trends and especially highlight views on how to harness digital technology for simplified communication solutions.

We welcome you to partner with us in sharing, discussing, learning and discovering bold and breakthru digital signage ideas.