The Power of Convergence

Over the past year, a tremendous amount of buzz has been generated by the convergence of digital signage and mobile marketing. Advertising agencies and ad networks want to know what convergence means for the future of their enterprises. This article will clear up some of the myths surrounding the buzz and show you how to prepare for the future of digital signage.

Mobile technology will soon be at the center of all cross-media advertising convergence. Look at the numbers and you’ll understand why mobile is already on everyone’s mind: The number of mobile subscribers worldwide rose from 11 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion this year; that number is projected to rise to 4 billion by 2010. And almost all mobile phones are capable of receiving ad content in one form or another.

Before you decide on a mobile strategy, you should understand two things: how mobile marketing works to your benefit, and how to determine the optimal configuration for your digital signage network.

If you’re familiar with mobile marketing, you probably know that it’s next to impossible for mobile carriers to push your ads directly to their subscribers. Meanwhile, mobile Internet is still in its infancy compared to online advertising. As a result, mobile ad content still relies on other forms of media in order to be distributed. But here’s the key: As soon as mobile content takes up residence in a mobile phone, it produces a long-lasting effect.

A Merger That Makes Sense

The key to understanding the changing landscape of advertising lies in the simple fact that mobile ad content forms a symbiotic relationship with digital signage. It does this by solving some of the deficiencies associated with digital signage, such as information recall, distance of influence and lack of long tail marketing opportunities. On the other hand, digital signage is an excellent medium for generating leads from the natural traffic found in public venues.

In addition, mobile increases consumer engagement by offering a tangible benefit on the spot. Before consumers are willing to take part in any commercial activity, they want to know, What’s in it for me? Consumers want answers to these questions:

• Can you deliver the information I need right here? Right now?
• Can you save me money?
• Can I get something for nothing?

A clear Call to Action in the digital signage ad encourages viewers to respond to content that captures their interest. Viewers are given the option of calling in or sending a text message to receive product information and coupons on their mobile phones. Offering prizes for advertiser-sponsored sweepstakes and trivia games increases consumer engagement; few people understand the crucial role that prizes play in subliminally training consumers to look for deals on digital signage screens.

Planning a Mobile Strategy

Sweepstakes promotions create a win-win relationship for consumers and advertisers. For example, a franchise who has store presence in shopping malls is sponsoring a trivia question on the malls’ digital signage network. Shoppers participate by calling in or sending a text message with the correct answer. All participants immediately receive a $5 coupon as SMS to their mobiles. Trivia winners have a chance to win an iPod in a weekly drawing. The iPod winners are notified by SMS after each drawing.

The coupons get consumers into the store even though the trip wasn’t on their original agenda. Although most participants will not be winners, the weekly iPod drawing creates the opportunity to stay in contact with customers by sending them a “Thank you for participating” message as SMS. In addition, every SMS communication creates the opportunity to include a promotional message and a link to a mobile landing page. The goal, of course, is to create as many marketing opportunities as you can.

An optimal mobile marketing strategy must have the ability to:

• deliver content to ad viewers’ mobiles immediately
• communicate with opt-in customers for future promotions
• provide a mobile site that customers can access for future offerings
• deploy text-to-win, voting, polling, surveys and trivia games
• collect marketing data such as demographic information, signage site response rates and ad effectiveness

What kind of resources do you have to invest to implement this type of cutting-edge campaign? Less than you think. Thanks to next-generation software technologies, many components of mobile campaign deployment are fully automated, including: (1) mobile content delivery, (2) winner selection, (3) mobile alerts and notifications, (4) mobile Internet site creation, and (5) capturing of response data from consumers. With the software automation, new campaigns can be created in minutes and deployment cost can be kept to a minimum.

Content Access: An Important Consideration

The final element to consider is the choice of methods for content access. A content access channel makes it possible for consumers to send coupons and other information to their mobile phones. The most widely used channels are text messaging and interactive voice response (IVR). 

IVR allows consumers to call a voice number and enter an ad code to receive content as SMS. Text messaging allows consumers to receive content as SMS by sending a short-code keyword. Some mobile marketing software platforms offer both access channels. You can use either channel independently or combine these two channels in your mobile marketing strategy. The strategy you choose will determine your deployment cost.

Research shows that text messaging is most popular among younger demographic groups. Older audiences are less likely to know how to text message—and therefore less likely to participate in text message campaigns. On the other hand, everyone knows how to call a voice number and enter an ad code from a keypad. An additional benefit of IVR is that the use of short-code keywords requires advertisers to pay a monthly fee; IVR ad codes incur no charges. Unless you’re running a campaign that targets a younger audience, always use IVR as your access channel.

Short Term Goal

What does this mean for the future? The answer is clear: Digital signage networks will increasingly equip their ads with mobile response capability. Now is the time to start planning your mobile strategy. One suggestion is to work with a provider who can help you set up a test campaign. Once you’re familiar with the process, you’ll discover how easy it is to merge these two applications, especially since no hardware or software integration is required.

According to a recent survey, mobile is the most important emerging media, followed by digital signage. Due to their symbiotic relationship, the convergence of digital signage and mobile responses is sure to give rise to a powerful and effective advertising medium.

About Mobi33: Prepare for the Future Today

Learn more about how to put the power of convergence to work for you at mobi33.com. Mobi33 was the first company to develop a mobile platform that enables ad content to be accessed and delivered over multiple channels, including voice and SMS. Our interactive cross-media solutions maximize the effectiveness of any digital signage network. We also provide auto-generated mobile and online sites as landing pages for advertisers to conduct long tail marketing. 

Visit mobi33.com to set up a test campaign.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA— Thomson’s Premier Retail Networks (PRN) won four awards for In-Store Media at the 2008 “Design of the Times” awards ceremony, held at the In-Store Marketing Expo (ISME) at the Las Vegas Convention Center on November 13. Presented by Shopper Marketing Magazine, the Design of the Times competition recognizes the in-store marketing industry’s best display and retail promotions.

Three promotions created by PRN swept the “Mass Merchant – In-Store Media” category of the competition, winning Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. PRN also took home a Silver award in the ”Supermarket/Grocery: Non-Food Items – In-Store Media” category.

PRN won the Gold Award for a spot that was featured on the TV Wall in the Electronics Department at Walmart. The lighthearted storyline of the spot centered around a young couple announcing the impending birth of their first child using the Skype video and voice service.

The Silver Award went to PRN for a Display TV™ endcap promotion launching Kraft’s Oreo Cakesters, introducing shoppers to the new product. The innovative point-of-purchase media experience delivered a double-digit increase in sales lift.

PRN’s work earned the Bronze award for a series of “Everything HD” educational spots illustrating the benefits of owning an HD television to Sam’s Club Members, helping to position Sam’s Club as an HDTV authority.

The second Silver award went to PRN for a series of “Checkout TV™ Spring IDs,” branding spots that play on monitors at checkout lines and provide an engaging experience for shoppers while they wait in line at the store.

“We are honored to be recognized by the In-Store Marketing Institute for our expertise in producing effective advertising content in the retail media space,” said Richard Fisher, PRN president. “We share this achievement with the progressive retailers and advertisers who have collaborated with us in making these great ads and we look forward to continuing to achieve great results for our retail and advertising partners.”

Display TV™ is PRN’s multi-media retail media system that delivers engaging product messaging for new and seasonal products at the point-of-sale. In addition to the ISME awards, content produced by PRN for Display TV™ has also been honored this year with a Fourth Screen Award at the Out-of-Home Digital Media conference, an Outstanding Merchandising Achievement (OMA) Award from Point-of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) and a Golden Hammer Communications award for Point-of-Purchase advertising at the National Hardware Show.

PRN’s Checkout TV™ network presents engaging programming on more than 19,000 screens, entertaining and informing shoppers while they wait in line at supermarket and retail locations.

Thomson’s Premier Retail Networks, Inc. (PRN) enables retailers and manufacturers to reach consumers in over 6,500 leading retail stores worldwide. PRN works with retailers, content partners and advertisers to create in-store programming that engages, informs and motivates consumers where they shop. PRN’s programming alliances include major television networks and other media properties, as well as movie studios, record labels and magazine and newspaper publishers. PRN’s retailer customers include Acme Markets, Albertsons, Best Buy, Carrefour, Circuit City, Costco Wholesale, Jewel-Osco, Pathmark, Sam’s Club, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Star Market, and Walmart Stores.

Contact:
Mike Foster
The MediaTile Company
831-439-8786
Email Contact

NEC Display Solutions of America, a stand-alone provider of commercial LCD displays and projectors, today announced it is the recipient of the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Enhancement in the Global Digital Signage market. 

The award recognizes NEC’s ability to formulate and successfully implement aggressive customer service strategies within a highly competitive market. Frost & Sullivan said NEC’s broad product portfolio comprising high-performance digital signage displays, coupled with its solutions for content building, have significantly enhanced value to its customers. 

“NEC Display Solutions has successfully exploited its ability to provide new products and enhanced services, while capitalizing on its global footprint,” said Industry Analyst Abhigyan Sengupta at Frost & Sullivan. “The company has also displayed an uncanny ability to understand customer requirements and service customized solutions, thereby delivering on customers’ expectations.” 

The Customer Value Enhancement Award is presented each year to the company that has best demonstrated the ability to expand its customer base, while maintaining its existing one, with more innovative value creation and enhancement strategies than competing vendors. 

“It’s an honor to be recognized for all facets of our digital signage solution,” said Pierre Richer, President and C.O.O. at NEC Display Solutions. “NEC goes above and beyond selling hardware, but provides the infrastructure, logistics and financing to set up a complete digital signage network. This award recognizes these differentiating qualities and is further proof of our customer-centric strategies aimed at offering a total solution.” 

NEC provides digital signage solutions with expertise in hardware and software consulting, financing, system configuration, deployment services, maintenance and service and support. Over the past two years, NEC has positioned itself as a general contractor, partnering with clients to provide a complete service solution. This includes a large variety of displays and client server-based infrastructure that run digital signage systems through media engines along with software and logistics. 

In judging the Customer Value Enhancement Award, Frost & Sullivan tracked company market positions, and those exhibiting significant growth are noted. Customer base and revenues are compared year-over-year to monitor customer response and market expansion. A company is considered a candidate for the award when it continues to demonstrate solid growth rates from market expansion and customer retention. 

Headquartered in Itasca, IL, NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc., is a designer and provider of innovative desktop LCD displays, professional-grade large-screen LCD displays, a diverse line of projectors and integrated display solutions. NEC Display Solutions develops leading-edge visual technology and customer-focused solutions for a wide variety of markets, including enterprise, professional, education, medical and digital signage.

Public release of Free Digital Signage is around the corner.

We pushed back the release to October 13th so we can fix a few more issues before we open the doors.

We want you to be impressed with the Signage presentation software we created so we are working day and night to fix all issues at hand.

We need to deliver a quality solution that you and your customers can benefit from … thus the delay in release !

What’s in store for the near future We have hundreds of features lined up including tuner card support, global weather RSS and much more. We are overwhelmed by the positive feedback we have been getting and we thank you for your support. Stay tuned as we are almost ready.

Want to be a reseller ?

We have been getting lots of requests for reseller accounts.

MediaSignage presents a great opportunity to Digital Signage resellers due to our lower cost of ownership, multi OS compatibility and ease of deployment.

Our inexpensive solution presents a real breakthrough and allows resellers to finally rollout signage solutions to all businesses, large and small. The reseller platform will be available at the beginning of 2009.

If you have questions, suggestions or any other feedback please drop us a quick email so we can stay in touch…

You can contact us at mstech@mediasignage.com or reply to our online blog or even drop a post on the online forum

VOLLMER
Rupa Patel, 972-488-4790
rupa@vollmerpr.com
or
The Digital Signage Show
Joelle Coretti, 203-371-6322, ext. 209
joelle@jdevents.com

Software specialist Stratacache announced last week the creation of a $25m acquisition fund targeting technology and media companies in the digital signage and digital out-of-home (DOOH) markets. The focus of the fund will be products and solutions that compliment Stratacache’s digital signage offering, ActiVia. Stratacache cites falling advertising budgets as forcing many early stage companies in the marketplace into financial difficulty.

Amadeus Capital Partners
Roy Merritt or Jason Pinto,+44 (0)20 7024 6900
or
PR for Amadeus
Chantal Ligertwood, +44 (0)7976 229 210
or
Wellington Partners
Frank Boehnke, +44 203 00 61535
or
PR for Wellington
Stefan Schwartz, +49 (0) 175 52 27 111
or
Ithmmar Bank
Carolyn Prowse, +973 17584005
or
PR for Ithmaar Bank
Taimour Raouf, +973 17 584 038
or
EnQii
Ajay Chowdhury, +44(0)7803172103
or
Urmalena Gomes, +1 212-675-7820 x 2217

Singapore – Leading Linux-based digital signage provider 1-2-1View announces the launch of gender distinction for its InterFaceTM viewer validation technology. The turnkey solutions provider launches this as part of a single systems platform to remove installation uncertainties like deadlines, compatibility issues and increased costs by eliminating the need for third party software integration.

Most off-the-shelf digital signage systems that intend to use viewer validation tools have to undergo an integration process. This involves the overcoming of hardware and software compatibility issues, the fine-tuning of validation-to-player synchronization problems and the coordination of log report functions. These issues often have the potential to drag installation deadlines and result in increased costs.

By mounting a regular webcam on the screen, the media player’s software can differentiate gender and immediately react by swapping to more relevant content if instructed to. Otherwise it can continue playing its scheduled programming.

Gender distinction also expands the categorization of InterFaceTM’s validation logs to detect and count viewers, measure attention span and ‘Opportunity to See’ foot traffic count at the point of display - all of which can be translated to spreadsheets for convenient analysis.

“Although the digital signage industry is growing strongly, its greatest hurdle has always been quantifying the effectiveness of ad campaigns and measuring the return on investment by advertisers. With the addition of gender distinction to InterFaceTM, we can really give advertisers the advantage to target the right audience with the right message at the right time and give them the full report to prove it,” comments 1-2-1View CEO, Alfred Chong. “Our solution will give clients more cost-effective systems with predictable installation timelines and help them stretch their advertising dollar all at once.”

About 1-2-1VIEW

1-2-1VIEW is a provider of digital signage systems that are based on Linux and are built on proven consumer electronics platforms. 1-2-1VIEW’s turnkey hardware-software solution is network controlled and scalable to an infinite number of screens. With award winning, lightweight media players and web based management, 1-2-1VIEW is combining the most advanced technology with low cost of ownership in a dedicated digital signage system that is affordable for any budget. www.121view.com

Scala convened the annual Scala Connected Signage Conference on September 15 - 16, 2008 in Philadelphia.

Exton, PA (PRWEB) September 30, 2008 — Scala, the leading provider of end-to-end solutions for the connected signage market, today announced it convened the annual Scala Connected Signage Conference on September 15 - 16, 2008 in Philadelphia. The conference was held in the days leading up to Digital Signage Expo East.

The conference hosted 139 Scala Certified Partners, customers and industry partners from the 16 countries throughout the Americas and Oceania regions. The conference gave Scala Certified Partners and customers a chance to interact with the 35 Scala employees present, learn about how to optimize the use of Scala’s Ad Manager and InfoChannel products and learn where the industry is headed in 2009.

The integration of Ad Manager and InfoChannel is part of Scala’s 2009 goal to simplify the digital signage ad-buying process for media buyers
The conference provided an opportunity for vendor partners to network with partners and other attendees. An exhibition and networking area featured screen providers such as LG, Sharp and Samsung, as well as connectivity and content providers Magenta Research, Minicom, Avocent, Matrox and Accuweather.com, and “whitebox” manufacturers such as Equus Computer, DT Research and MediaVue.

Robert Koolen, Scala’s president, said in his opening remarks “the purpose of the conference was to usher in a new era for digital signage and advertising management. With the acquisition of MISC and its Ad Manager product in April, Scala has been working to expand its digital signage footprint to include managing content for both traditional and print signage. The result is what Scala calls ‘connected signage’, a term that encompasses all forms of signage and dynamic media in the out-of-home environment.”

“For Scala, the numbers tell the story for the past year,” says Gerard Bucas, Scala’s CEO. “Scala saw a 69% sales growth in U.S. sales in 2007. While the digital signage industry sales have been growing at a 20% CAGR over the past year, Scala’s global sales have grown at a 40% CAGR.”

“The integration of Ad Manager and InfoChannel is part of Scala’s 2009 goal to simplify the digital signage ad-buying process for media buyers,” says Jeff Porter, industry pioneer and Scala’s EVP. “The biggest challenge is financing rollouts. The goal is to connect all of the dots for media buyers - they’re screaming for solutions.”

Scala will host its Connected Signage Conference for EMEA and Nordic regions on October 8 - 9, 2008 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

About Scala:
Scala is a leading global provider of digital signage and advertising management solutions. By combining digital and traditional signage systems, Scala has become the world’s first connected signage company, offering the leading platform for content creation, management and distribution in digital signage networks, and the first unified platform for advertising management of both traditional and digital signage networks. The company’s solutions are used in retail, education, entertainment, government and other industries for diverse applications such as retail advertising networks, corporate communications (employee TV), traditional and digital billboards, digital menu boards, digital posters, cable TV, hotel lobby signage, gas pump toppers, outdoor advertising, interactive kiosks, etc. Scala pioneered the digital signage industry and today drives over 200,000 screens worldwide; more screens than all competitors combined. The company’s digital signage customers include Rabobank, IKEA, Burger King, T-Mobile, Virgin MegaStore, EuroDisney, McDonalds, Warner Brothers, The Life Channel, Rikstoto, FuelCast, Repsol, Shell, NorgesGruppen and thousands more. Advertising management customers include CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel Outdoor, Magic Media, Reagan, Adams Outdoor Advertising, among others. Scala is headquartered near Philadelphia, USA and has subsidiaries in Canada, Netherlands, France, Norway, Japan and also over 450 partners in more than 60 countries. More information is available at www.scala.com.

©2008 Scala, Inc. 350 Eagleview Blvd. Exton, PA 19341. Scala, InfoChannel, and the Exclamation Point Logo are registered trademarks of Scala, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective organizations.

###

(1888PressRelease) September 30, 2008 - Jerusalem, Israel — Minicom Advanced Systems , the world leader in Digital Signage player-to-screen connectivity and KVM control solutions, has selected C&C Partners as its exclusive representative in Poland. C&C Partners recently set up a website highlighting Minicom products: minicom.ccpartners.pl

“After working with C&C Partners in Poland for the past three years we have decided to deepen our relationship with them,” said Ronni Guggenheim President, Minicom Europe. “This is thanks to their established track record in sales, integration, client service and retention. Their understanding of the Polish market is excellent and commitment levels are very high. This fits into our long-term commitment to the Polish market, which is strategic for us.”

“This relationship is perfect for C&C,” says Arthur Hejdysz Commercial Director of C&C Partners. “We have become leaders in the fields of KVM and digital signage installation and we’re looking for a stable and reliable partner as a supplier to the market. We expect this relationship to be a good basis for future growth.”

C&C Partners is a 16 year old trade-advisory company headquartered in Leszno, Poland. C&C offers its clients products and solutions relating to telecommunications, building solutions and security systems. The company has 100 employees spread out in 4 branch offices throughout Poland and recently established a brand new 2000 m 2 logistics center in Leszno.

Minicom Advanced Systems manufactures KVM solutions for the management of servers and computers that facilitate control of enterprise and corporate IT environments. The company is also a leader in the manufacturer of distribution and innovative extension solutions that provide the Last Mile™ of player-to-screen connectivity for digital signage systems . Minicom is an Intel Capital portfolio company and was named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA. Founded in 1988, Minicom operates in over 70 countries, with headquarters in Israel and regional offices in North America and Europe.

Sad news came floating in late last week regarding LocalVision digital signage. The company, based out of Olympia, WA was run by Jim Coran and a great enthusiastic team. We got word from Morgan Runyon this last week that the company has closed its doors due to the economic downturn.

We worked with Jim, Sandy, Morgan and the gang on some rebranding, SMS mobile marketing solutions, and reseller opps. earlier this year. So, it was sad news to us that they’ve had to close up shop. LocalVision has done some great work running its own network as well as partnering with digital signage networks across the country.

With the recent announcement regarding a change of the guard for Wireless Ronin (along with their somewhat shaky financial situation), it will be interesting to see who survives when the smoke clears from the financial crisis America is going through at the moment.

We wish the whole team good luck in their future endeavors.

Tech Image (For Omnivex)
Lawren Markle
626-345-9746
lawren.markle@techimage.com

Netkey SaaS Gains Momentum with Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Network Operators

Netkey Inc.
Robert Ventresca, 203-907-0227
Vice President, Marketing
rventresca@netkey.com

In 2007 Rick Engels, former chief financial officer of Petters Group Worldwide, was appointed CEO of BroadSign International Inc….

MINNETONKA, Minn., May 17, 2007 — Broadsign International, a worldwide provider of digital signage software, announced today that Patrick (Rick) J. Engels will join their organization as President and Chief Operating Officer. He comes to Broadsign from Petters Group Worldwide, where he served as their CFO and Media/Marketing portfolio manager.

It’s probably not good for Broadsign that Petters Group, who just happen to be Broadsign’s largest shareholder, is currently under US Federal investigation.

Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX), a leading provider of voice services, data services, and IT product solutions, today announced the launch of an on-line video aimed at educating businesses on the basics of digital signage, including how to choose media players for streaming content and RSS feeds.

The video, titled “An Introduction to Digital Signage” and part of the Company’s ongoing “Tips for Techs” series, begins as a “video white paper,” explaining why so many industries are embracing digital signage as a way to market and disseminate information in high-traffic areas. The video then discusses media players and the other components of digital signage deployments, from simple to complex, and how to choose a system according to one’s needs and budget. (To view the video, visit http://www.blackbox.com/Library/Video/Player.aspx?VID=61.)

“This video helps companies understand the value and benefits of digital signage,” said Mario Calabro, Black Box Product Manager for Digital Signage. “It shows how digital signage has been used to increase sales, improve communications, and motivate employees. Digital signage is an economical way for every company to effectively reach and message their audience. It’s perfect for lobbies, checkouts, restaurants, trade shows, and elsewhere,” he said.

Companies interested in digital signage can also visit Black Box’s microsite, which is devoted to helping organizations of any size understand, plan, and deploy digital signage. The site covers everything from basic terminology to successful planning to overcoming potential pitfalls. Plus, it has products for fully implementing a networked digital signage solution with RSS feeds and other streaming content.

Customers interested in learning more about digital signage solutions from Black Box should contact the Company’s free Digital Signage Support Center at 877-877-2269 or visit the Web site at http://www.blackbox.com.

About Black Box

Black Box is the world’s largest technical services company dedicated to designing, building, and maintaining today’s complicated data and voice infrastructure systems. Black Box services 175,000 clients in 141 countries with 189 offices throughout the world. To learn more, visit the Black Box Web site at http://www.blackbox.com.

Black Box® and the Double Diamond logo are registered trademarks of BB Technologies, Inc. Any third-party trademarks appearing in this press release are acknowledged to be the property of their respective owners.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Aug. 26, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:RNIN), a Minneapolis-based worldwide digital signage provider, today announced that it has entered a three-year agreement to provide its RoninCast(r) digital signage solution to the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires. The RoninCast solution will be implemented throughout the new Windsor Family Credit Union (WFCU) Centre in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, which will serve as the home arena to the Spitfires upon its opening in late 2008.

“We are very excited to bring a high-tech edge to the WFCU Centre arena with our RoninCast digital signage network. This system will allow the Spitfires team to meet a variety of communication needs all through one platform. Our Wireless Ronin office located in Windsor is especially excited to be able to support their hometown hockey team,” said Robert Whent, president of Wireless Ronin Technologies Canada. “This is a great example of the success we’re seeing across various industries which, in turn, is driving the growth of our company.”

Twenty-nine NEC LCD screens using RoninCast digital signage software will be located throughout the facility to provide an enhanced experience for visiting sports fans. By using RoninCast’s scheduling and display zoning features, the Windsor Spitfires will be able to broadcast game coverage and other facility and event information throughout the venue, as well as provide a new advertising revenue source for the team. The scheduling and management of content will be performed by Wireless Ronin from the Windsor office.

“The RoninCast displays are going to be a key element in creating a high-energy and exciting atmosphere for our team’s games,” said Bob Boughner, a former professional National Hockey League player, and the current president, general manager and head coach of the Windsor Spitfires. “With this system we will be able to give corporate partners an outstanding opportunity to reach out to an amazing target market as well as enhance the game experience in the concourse areas by having the ability to broadcast the games to spectators anywhere in the facility. Having this company right here in Windsor played a big part in us choosing Wireless Ronin.”

“With the acquisition of Windsor, Ontario-based McGill Digital Solutions last August, we have been able to add an incredible team of talent that is allowing us to reach customers worldwide in a new way,” said Jeffrey Mack, chairman, president and CEO of Wireless Ronin Technologies.

The new 302,000-square-foot WFCU Centre facility features a spectator bowl arena with a capacity of 6,500 visitors, and will also include three community ice rinks and other multi-use facilities. As the new home of the popular Spitfires hockey team, the WFCU Centre will host 34 OHL home games per season, averaging approximately 5,000 spectators per game. Additionally, the venue will be host to the 2008/2009 OHL All Star game next February, and is expected to regularly host concerts and other special events.

About Wireless Ronin Technologies

Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. (www.wirelessronin.com) is the developer of RoninCast(r) digital signage, a complete software solution designed to address the evolving digital signage marketplace. RoninCast digital signage provides clients with the ability to manage a digital signage network from one central location. The software suite allows for customized distribution with network management, playlist creation and scheduling, and database integration. An array of services are offered by Wireless Ronin to support the RoninCast software including consulting, creative development, project management, installation, hosting and training. The Company’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “RNIN”.

The Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3208

This release contains certain forward-looking statements of expected future developments, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect management’s expectations and are based on currently available data; however, actual results are subject to future risks and uncertainties, which could materially affect actual performance. Risks and uncertainties that could affect such performance include, but are not limited to, the following: estimates of future expenses, revenue and profitability; the pace at which the Company completes installations and recognizes revenue; trends affecting financial condition and results of operations; ability to convert proposals into customer orders; the ability of customers to pay for products and services; the revenue recognition impact of changing customer requirements; customer cancellations; the availability and terms of additional capital; ability to develop new products; dependence on key suppliers, manufacturers and strategic partners; industry trends and the competitive environment; and the impact of losing one or more senior executives or failing to attract additional key personnel. These and other risk factors are discussed in detail in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, on May 9, 2008.

Wireless Ronin(r) and RoninCast(r) are registered trademarks of Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks referred to above are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc.
Media
Holly Heitkamp, Marketing Specialist
(952) 564-3560
hheitkamp@wirelessronin.com

Padilla Spear Beardsley
Investor Relations
Al Galgano
(612) 455-1720
agalgano@PSBPR.com

Software as a service (SaaS), often referred to as a hosted application, has proliferated in many business application areas over the past few years—with Salesforce.com as one the earliest and best-known pure SaaS applications. Two years ago, established digital-signage software maker Rise Vision—whose customers include Villanova University, eTrade Financial, and ING Direct—made the decision to “bank [its] business on software as a service” and rebuilt its entire digital-signage content-management system as a hosted application, according to Ryan J. Cahoy, the firm’s managing director. In its latest move, Rise Vision announced a new program allowing third-party resellers to become private network operators of the Rise Display Network service. Digital Signage Update spoke with Cahoy to get his take on the advantages of the SaaS approach and the opportunity for AV integrators to offer their own branded, private-label signage solutions to customers.

Digital Signage Update: Hosted applications have been making inroads into the business world for some time, particularly for data-driven applications that don’t require large amounts of bandwidth. The SaaS approach is not so common in the digital-signage space, where bandwidth requirements for graphics and video are much higher. What convinced Rise Vision that the signage market was ready for SaaS?

Cahoy: Our company had been doing digital signage for 15 years and had a sophisticated system. Two years ago, we took a new look at the whole thing—we said that the Web is coming along, bandwidth and hosted application capabilities are increasing, and Salesforce.com has gained tremendous ground with something as complex as someone’s customer-relationship-management application. So we made a conscious choice to throw away everything and completely rebuilt our functionality for SaaS. Now we believe the industry is moving toward this approach. In conversations 18 months ago, users couldn’t see someone else hosting their signage, but now we’re seeing big shifts in mindshare towards software as a service. For us, it’s reached that critical-mass point.

How difficult was the transition to SaaS? Has Rise Vision reached the level of functionality you were able to offer in a traditional installed-signage application?

We do quarterly releases of our software—our customers can get timed, predictable releases on a regular basis—and six months ago, we hit the critical point in terms of our core functionality. We may not have everything under the sun today, but clients know they are getting more and more functionality with each release.

What are some of the advantages you feel are provided by the hosted approach to digital signage?

By offering regularly updated hosted software, we can help clients get advantage out of signage that they can’t predict yet. To give you an example from the educational market, we’re on about 150 campuses around the U.S. Previously, emergency management alerts were not a feature of our product. But after the [April 2007] Virginia Tech shooting, we got tremendous numbers of requests for emergency management, and within three months were able to meet client demand and deploy it. And the advantage to being hosted was we didn’t have to run around with CDs to update client systems—we just flipped a switch, and everyone was up and running in a day.

So what are the disadvantages to the SaaS approach?

The only significant disadvantage we find relates to connectivity. High-end government installations can be problematic where there is no access to the Internet. For example, the CIA or FBI have networks that are totally locked down—the SaaS model doesn’t work without that accessibility via the Internet. Another place I run into this issue is at tradeshows and other events, and with networks that have a lot of mobile sites. In some cases of mobile signage, where it’s troublesome to get Internet access, it can cause some grief using this kind of model.

How well does your SaaS platform work with wireless digital signage?

Wireless vs. wired—to us, it’s mostly irrelevant. If you have wireless Internet, with a media player behind the screen that’s wirelessly connected, the positive is that it’s wireless. The negative is that you don’t have as big a pipe, so that sometimes can cause problems with large video files.

What benefits do you offer to AV integrators who work with your SaaS platform?

For an implementer, our platform makes things easier for them. A lot of them are comfortable with the hardware, but the software was always the unknown, the scary piece of the puzzle. And when you’re setting up servers onsite, there’s a lot of complexity. With SaaS, you install, plug into the Internet, and let someone else remotely configure the network. So it reduces the challenges, and has really opened up the opportunity for installers to offer a complete system vs. the hardware only.

Moreover, installers are getting squeezed for margin on the hardware. But there’s still decent margin for integrators on the software side of things, and if they want to pick up a broader-scale business, they can private label the software. This way, integrators can build a recurring stream rather than “hang and bang.”

Talk about your private network operator announcement. How does it work, and how difficult was it to make this capability available on your SaaS platform?

A reseller or AV integrator can personalize the platform to make it his or her own digital-signage offering. On the back end, we’ll still host and manage all the content, but it allows our reseller partners to put a personal face on it.

There were a lot of little tweaks to give them the ability to manage the portal—but from an overall architecture standpoint, it’s not like building from scratch. And the neat thing we’ve done is build a scalable architecture—we can nest operators within an operator and have multiple levels of the hierarchy. From a service standpoint, resellers have access to the system to troubleshoot and resolve issues. No longer do they have to worry about PC Anywhere or VPN access to their customers’ networks—those challenges are cut down by the SaaS model.

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 2, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:RNIN), a Minneapolis-based worldwide digital signage provider, today announced it will exhibit, sponsor and speak at the Digital Signage Expo East being held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia September 17-18, 2008.

“Digital Signage Expo East is a new mid-year show from the producers of the Las Vegas Digital Signage Expo. We have been a long-time supporter of this show which has become the premier event for Wireless Ronin to reach out to our target markets. We expect this new East Coast show to provide us some of the same great results we’ve seen over the past years at Digital Signage Expo,” said Jeffrey Mack, chairman, president and CEO of Wireless Ronin Technologies.

Wireless Ronin will be exhibiting its RoninCast(r) digital signage software in booth number 201 as well as supplying the digital signage for the event itself as part of the Presenting Sponsorship. Award winning applications of RoninCast software will be on display in the booth showcasing customer projects including Chrysler, Ford, menu boards for KFC, and Thomson Reuters.

Representatives from Wireless Ronin will speak on various hot industry topics each day of the show. Scott Koller, executive vice president of sales and project management, will discuss digital signage financing and how to post a RFI/RFQ. Linda Hofflander, vice president and chief marketing officer, and Alan Buterbaugh, senior vice president of business development, will lead roundtable discussions on proof of play for digital signage and interactive applications.

“The results we attribute to these shows are directly tied to the quality attendees who show up each year. Professionals participating at the Digital Signage Expo East will be specifically interested in the technology and services we have to offer,” said Ms. Hofflander. “The growth and excitement surrounding these shows truly reflects the atmosphere in the industry today.”

Digital Signage Expo East is being held September 17-18 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and is a bi-annual East Coast show to complement the Digital Signage Expo held each year in Las Vegas during February. Full conference details are available on their website as www.digitalsignageexpo.net. Wireless Ronin also offers a show discount for attendees on its website at www.wirelessronin.com.

About Wireless Ronin Technologies

Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. (www.wirelessronin.com) is the developer of RoninCast(r) digital signage, a complete software solution designed to address the evolving digital signage marketplace. RoninCast digital signage enables clients to manage a digital signage network from one central location. The software suite facilitates customized distribution with network management, playlist creation and scheduling, and database integration. Wireless Ronin offers an array of services to support RoninCast software including consulting, creative development, project management, installation, hosting and training. The Company’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “RNIN”.

The Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3208

CONTACT: Wireless Ronin Technologies
Media
Holly Heitkamp, Marketing Specialist
(952) 564 - 3560
hheitkamp@wirelessronin.com

Padilla Spear Beardsley
Investor Relations
Al Galgano, Investor Relations
(612) 455 - 1720
agalgano@PSBPR.com