Introduction

Activate The Space (ATS) has recently completed the design and integration of the new Champs Sports location at 10 Times Square in New York City. ATS provided several LED walls including a massive two storey wall on the side of the escalators and the media playback engine for the large outdoor LED wall on the front of the building.

Champs Sports, a division of Foot Locker Inc, celebrated the opening of its New York flagship location in Times Square. Following the move from the brand’s former Times Square footprint, the new multi-level property at 10 Times Square is nearly four-times the size of the previous location boasting 8,160 square-feet of premium retail space.

Opportunity for Digital Signage

In addition to the indoor LED systems, Activate The Space also designed and integrated a multi-zone Bose Audio System complete with new ATS Core Control touch panels.

Core Control enables operation of the entire Audio and Video systems, as well as providing Activate The Space Technical Services the ability to operate or interrogate the AV systems, via the Cloud from any device, anywhere and at any time.

HD Media Playback is provided using our Brandcast Solutions powered by Signagelive and IAdea.

Key project requirements and challenges

Brandcast is powered by Signagelive media playback and cloud-based scheduling solutions, which power the large outdoor LED walls on the facade of 10 Times Times Square.

Activate The Space Creative handles the interior LED content and the exterior LED content for Champs Sports. ATS Creative provides everything in-house from Motion Graphics, Video Editing, Text, Static Image and HTML Social Media feed moderations.across all the brands available at Champs Sports.

Designed to be flexible, “The Arena” layout allows Champs Sports and its vendor partners to tell key stories in new and creative ways, enhancing the customer shopping experience.

Within this new layout, leading athletic brands will have elevated brand experiences with cross-category product offerings, allowing customers to easily navigate by brand and identify sought-after products more efficiently.

The flagship store will serve as a hub that demonstrates the brand’s core values – We Know Game – embodying, celebrating and advocating for all of those who participate.

Bryon Milburn, VP and GM, Champs Sports

At Champs Sports, we are always looking to bring the best retail experiences to our customers, and to establish ourselves as the go-to destination to find leading athletic brands. The Times Square store offers the best assortment of the top brands that shoppers know, love and have come to expect from Champs Sports.

The new store has a prominent exterior presence with an LED display spanning 68 feet by 23 feet across prime Times Square real estate. Inside, there are four additional digital screens to allow for robust, interactive storytelling throughout the customer journey.

To complement its digital in-store presence, Champs Sports commissioned artist Andrew Thiele to create lasting brand visuals representing the spirit of New York City – from the five boroughs to notable landmarks, arts and sports teams.

Chris Pelzar, CEO & Managing Partner, Activate the Space

Champs Times Square is the 2nd full store Flag Ship implementation of Signagelive we have used for Champs Sports. In addition to the stores massive indoor LED Displays which were designed and integrated by Activate The Space, we also utilise Signagelive for the large outdoor LED wall as well playing branded content 24/7 in Times Square.

For the past few months Activate The Space has been busy re-designing and replacing our legacy Digital Signage Software of choice for almost (10) years and now in new designs we favour using Signagelive in almost all cases. The reason for this are simple. With Signagelive we have a vast choice of Media Playback Hardware to choose from. This allows us to choose the best hardware platform for any particular project or need. In addition, Signagelive being inherently cloud based, allows to programme the content on any device, from anywhere and at any time. This has led to a huge increase in productivity for our creative team who handles the Content Management for Champs Sports along with many other brands in retail.

Signagelive has proven to be a great choice for our legacy projects and new designs moving forward. We are happy to partner with them as they are more knowledgeable and responsive than any other company we have done business with in our (12) year history.

Jason Cremins, CEO and Founder, Signagelive

The new Champs Sports store in Time Square demonstrates how digital signage has become core to design and customer experience for progressive retailers. Activate The Space understand how to work with major retailers and brands to turn their ideas and stories into high impact digital environments. We are proud to be associated with such an iconic and high profile project.

Introduction

Notcutts Garden Centres Ltd is a private limited company, it operates 18 individual garden centres across England and has been supplying plants etc. for over a century. Proud to be family-owned and independent, their core values of quality and customer care remain the same as when they first started. Their garden centres are run by dedicated teams of horticultural experts and gardening enthusiasts.

21st Century AV plan and implement AV solutions for many of the world’s most demanding clients. Their detailed knowledge of the industry means they have established working relationships with the very best manufacturers and technicians, to create seamless solutions which both excel today and which will continue to deliver in years to come.

Tell us a little about how you are using Signagelive?

It’s being used to show menu prices and special food promotions within the restaurant areas, also product information throughout the stores, and some stores have outdoors kiosk points showing seasonal offers. We are also using the device in the retail store to present various POS and to direct customers to certain key locations in store.

There are other SaaS-based digital signage options out there, why did you choose Signagelive?

Adaptability and it suited our clients’ needs – also content can be updated centrally and pushed out company-wide. We have also found the online live chat support to be of great help and the team has been very helpful in providing support for any issues but also the development of new features.

What were the reasons for implementing a digital signage network?

To show promotions and seasonal offers. However, this has now expanded into a mixed array of point of sale, café menus as well as promotional displays.

How were these objectives being met previously?

They were small 10” screens updated with USB key at each point, and printed posters / A1 display boards.

How did you build a business case internally for Signagelive?

The business requested displays of this type as they seemed to be very successful and “on-trend” at the time so no business case was needed.

What is the best thing about Signagelive, in your opinion?

Adaptability and it suited our clients needs – also content can be updated centrally and pushed out company-wide. Additionally, the support network has been very impressive.

What is your favourite feature?

Scalability and the ability to completely customise every section / part of every display and menu.

Did you face any challenges during any part of your project implementation? How were these resolved?

Being completely new to Signagelive and digital signage meant we had to pick things up quickly. However, with the Live Chat functionality which comes as part of the solution, it meant they were always on hand to help us regardless of whether we were querying issues.

How has business improved since using Signagelive?

Too early to say at this stage, as to the positive impact in revenue as a result of the digital signage, we will be monitoring this in the future months.

Lee Rogers – IT Systems Coordinator – Notcutts

Very customisable and incredibly versatile, we are pleased with the product overall.

Debbie Seward – Business Development & Relationship Manager – 21st Century AV

21st Century AV Ltd have integrated Signagelive into a number of clients and when Notcutts came to us with a requirement we didn’t hesitate to recommend the Signagelive platform as a solution. With its ease of use, integration and functionality Notcutts rolled out the platform across all new sites and into those being refurbished, with more sites planned for the future and a partnership with 21st Century AV Ltd as its AV preferred partner.

Aferdita Qesku – Director of Sales – Signagelive

Working with customers like Notcutts really shows how digital signage has crossed borders in terms of suitability for use as well as of course return on the customer experience. What started off as an original idea for QSR menu boards grew into new possibilities of adding value to the customer journey, through wayfinding, POS integration etc. It is down to knowledgeable partners whom we work with which this would be possible to achieve.

Background

Models Own is a cosmetics brand that was originally founded in 2008 by Ministry of Sound’s CEO and his brother. The company has historically promoted its product range via “Bottleshop” – style pop ups located on the premises of well-known high street brands, including Boots and Superdrug.

In 2014, Models Own received investment from a Saudi retail empire and has since expanded its core offering to include lip and eye products, as well as associated accessories. Models Own opened its first global flagship store in Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, East London in late 2016, closely followed by a second store in Trinity Leeds, and is currently Europe’s fastest growing cosmetics brand.

The requirement

Further to the growing success of its bottleshop concept, Models Own wanted to enhance its retail presence and grow its market share by opening a flagship store that would serve both as a “beauty playground” for its customer base and as a new product launch pad. The company wanted to utilise the benefits of digital signage, such as great visual impact and the ability to increase footfall in the store, to engage their teenage market customers even further.

Models Own began researching digital signage providers and finally selected Digital Messaging Company, DMC, (a leading supplier of turnkey digital signage systems) to design and install a purpose-built digital signage system that included two high impact videowalls to meet their instore artistic and promotional requirements.

DMC in turn selected Signagelive as the preferred technology provider because of its cloud based capabilities, its technical expertise and video synchronisation capabilities on high-power videowalls.

Key project requirements

• To deploy two videowalls to serve as visual focal point in a flagship cosmetics store
• To deploy two window displays in portrait to attract attention and increase footfall
• To retain customer attention through the display of colourful and eye catching video content
• To ensure all displayed content rendered and synchronised correctly, with the ability to update or change information at the push of a button
• To provide a flexible model that could be scaled up to meet future requirements

The digital signage network

In Westfield, the digital signage network comprises 10 x 65” high brightness LG displays, set up in a 5 x 1 configuration format, to create two stunning videowalls that run down either side of the store entrance. The window displays comprised 2 x Samsung 75” displays.

In Leeds, the digital signage network comprises 6 x 65” high brightness LG displays, set up in a 3 x 1 configuration format, to create two stunning videowalls that run down either side of the store entrance. The window displays comprised 2 x LG 65” displays.

The videowalls are used to showcase makeup artists working on models, to promote new product ranges and special offers, to showcase makeup bloggers highlighting real world product usage, or to broadcast live in-store demonstrations. Giving customers the feeling of being surrounded by on-screen entertainment, similar to a cinema experience.

The LG displays are controlled by IAdea media players preloaded with Signagelive’s cloud-based software to ensure that all displayed content synchronises seamlessly across the two videowalls. Not only does the content look spectacular, it can be easily updated or modified at the click of a button by DMC without any involvement from instore staff.

This short video shows how the content is displayed at the Models Own Westfield store:

Benefits of Signagelive

Signagelive’s cloud based digital signage network platform has provided DMC with a centralised facility to run and manage 4 x panoramic video walls as well as a series of window displays on behalf of Models Own.

Video and promotional content, which is created by Models Own, is re-purposed, animated and scheduled by DMC on their behalf, and then uploaded onto Signagelive’s digital signage network platform, providing a centralised repository to store content and eliminating the need for onsite servers.

New content can be deployed onto just one display or across all deployed displays in the stores at the click of the button. Signagelive ensures that all uploaded content is rendered and synchronised correctly to display across the videowalls as a seamless image, to create a wow factor visual experience.

The future

Models Own launched its flagship store in late 2016, followed by Leeds in early 2017, and over the forthcoming months, DMC is expecting to roll out video walls across further new stores in the UK.

Mark Rodol, CEO, Models Own

The digital video walls have helped to create a powerful in-store atmosphere, promoting our brand and promotional activity with impact and at speed. The 360 degree solution provided by DMC has ensured we have the latest tech to match our in-store vision, installed and fully managed, providing a hassle-free and completely flexible solution.

Anna Mutch, Marketing Manager, Models Own

In such a fast-moving environment, it’s important that we deliver our brand, product launch and social media content to screen, on time, looking stunning every time. DMC’s creative support and technical expertise gives us what we need to make this process seamless and straightforward. We look forward to working with DMC on new stores in the near future.

Ian Gabbie, Director, Digital Messaging Company

Models Own have pushed the creative boundary with their in-store digital signage, making it a great project to be a part of. We’re looking forward to working with Models Own to create many more stellar video walls. Signagelive is scalable and platform-agnostic, which means we expand the digital signage network quickly and easily, without being limited to particular display types or configuration formats.

Jason Cremins, CEO, Signagelive

The visually stunning Signagelive solution delivered by Digital Messaging Company (DMC) for Models Own, provides a great example of how retailers are incorporating digital signage into the fabric of their store design, generating maximum impact. Our agnostic approach to supporting digital signage players and SoC displays has enabled DMC to utilise LG, Samsung and IAdea technology in a single retail store whilst all being managed, monitored and updated from our Signagelive platform.

Signagelive’s cloud-based platform enables Teo to provide B2C and B2B customers with interactive service facilities

Teo, the leading telco and home entertainment services provider in Lithuania and part of the Telia Company, has implemented a digital signage network powered by Signagelive to enhance customer services activities.

The digital signage network, which has been installed and commissioned by Hansab UAB (a leading provider of innovative technology solutions in the Baltic region) is being used to display promotional content on video walls and large touch screen display in customer service centres located in busy shopping malls in Lithuania’s three largest cities.

The company had previously been reliant on standalone displays and USB drives for all promotional activities. This was an inefficient use of resource and promotional campaigns were often fragmented because of the time needed to manually update individual displays installed in different locations.

Signagelive was selected as the preferred digital signage platform provider because of its cloud-based capabilities and multi-vendor support, which meant that that Hansab could mix and match display types to accommodate specific location requirements.

The digital signage network comprises 4 x different configuration Samsung slim bezel video walls and associated 65” touch screen display so that customers and businesses alike can enquire about new services, such as Wi-Fi, cloud services or CCTV. When the interactive display is idle, the network has been configured to make use of Signagelive’s kiosk-mode facility, comprising a series of pre-scheduled videos that play on a loop to further promote Teo products and services.

All content is uploaded and stored on Signagelive’s cloud-based digital signage platform and using its enterprise-class management dashboard, the telco can create and roll out promotional content and customer service notices to the different locations in real-time, with the ability to modify that content on demand if necessary.

Signagelive’s cloud-based platform ensures the individual displays are synchronised on the LAN and that content is rendered correctly to display on the different screen types, creating a dramatic visual experience for B2C and B2B customers.

“Teo has recently expanded its product portfolio to offer more services to customers,” comments Dovydas Stukas, Head of Digital Signage and AV solutions group at HANSAB UAB. “The digital signage network powered by Signagelive has provided them with a centralised facility to manage campaigns and benefit from interactive capabilities.”

“A changing communications landscape means that telecoms providers must be creative in their marketing activities if they want to retain customers,” comments Jason Cremins, CEO of Signagelive. “Our digital signage platform allows large organisations like Teo to quickly roll out powerful digital signage networks that support static and interactive content, taking digital signage services to the next level by increasing engagement.”

The digital signage network has provided Teo with a centralized facility to run and manage its promotional activities. Hansab provides a network management service, logging onto the network periodically to make sure there are no connection issues and that the digital signage solution is performing optimally.