Glasgow’s subway lights up Signagelive-powered digital out of home display network

Harp Visual selects Remote Media’s Signagelive for Primesight’s digital signage advertising solution; partners with Key Systems, Samsung and Scotland TV for full display solution on historic system

GLASGOW – Stations along Glasgow’s historic subway system are lit up with targeted digital advertising and information displays powered by Remote Media’s Signagelive digital signage software platform.

Digital display panels operated by the outdoor advertising firm Primesight are now running at five stations in the city’s circular subway system, operated by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. Networked, addressable digital displays are positioned in the public concourse and entry areas, on platform walls, and across the track at the Partick, Shields Road, Hillhead, Buchanan Street and St. Enoch stations. The cross-track displays are the first of their kind in the UK.

“The project is a tremendous example of integrating digital not only into a set of venues, but also into Primesight’s business operations and the lives of Glaswegians,” says Jason Cremins, CEO of Remote Media Group.

“This is a really exciting project for us.  It allows advertisers to deploy up-to-the-minute creative executions in various day-parts,” says Keith Lammie, Regional Director of Primesight, noting several advertisers including B&Q and Nestle are already live on the network.

The Signagelive open standards content playback software is integrated into six-sheet format display enclosures developed by Harp Visual Communications. The Rhino e55 LCD displays incorporate an embedded PC and networking gear that helps drive a 55” Samsung SM550EXn panel. Using Samsung’s latest LED backlight technology, the panel consumes only 90 watts of power, substantially reducing the depth of the enclosures. “Power consumption is reduced by 200 watts versus the competing LCD, and that means a reduction of up to 50% heat,  which is very important in the underground environment,” notes Ian Abernathy, Head of UK Sales for Large Format Display.

The IP66-rated weather-proof displays use structural steel and laminate protective glass to withstand environmental conditions and tampering. Harp does extensive work in passenger information and dynamic signage systems and is the prime contractor for the supply, installation, maintenance, and day-to-day running of the installation, allowing Primesight to focus on media sales.

To effectively target and schedule digital advertising, Signagelive is integrated with Key Systems’ Fusion software, which Primesight uses to manage the full life-cycle of advertising on the static 12 sheets, 6 sheets, 4 sheets, escalator panels and carriage cards also sold for the Glasgow subway system. “The combination of Signagelive and Key Systems gives Primesight ultimate control of its digital inventory from a single entry-point, alongside their traditional out of home media,” explains Ian Morris, Clients Service Director at Key Systems.

Advertising is blended with dynamic news, sports and weather information in data feeds provided through a unique partnership with Scotland TV, and integrated with Signagelive. An STV new segment runs every 3.5 minutes. “We’re delighted to be able to engage with subway travelers using our comprehensive news content,” says STV Senior Advisor  David Connolly. “With around 15 million passenger journeys a year, this innovative partnership creates a unique opportunity for STV to connect with an existing and new audience in a brand new environment.”

Signagelive is an open standards, web-based digital signage platform designed to support anything from small private corporate networks to large enterprise networks with 1,000s of end-points. The UK’s Digital Signage Manufacturer of the Year in 2009, Remote Media has a global reputation for making effective use of emerging web services and media technologies to provide a platform that is current, flexible and highly affordable.

Signagelive will be demonstrating its media targeting capabilities, along with other hardware and software innovations, at the Customer Engagement Technology World show Nov. 10-11 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. Visitors are encouraged to come by Booth 240 to see the product range in action and sign up for a trial.

Company Background

Signagelive is a product of Remote Media Group, a limited company based in Essex, England. Signagelive has a large, fast-growing and diverse client base of clients, globally, that covers everything from small businesses to major retail banners like Harrods and Thomson (TUI Travel). We’re known for innovation – leading the sector in the adoption of new technologies and standards – as well as for a solution that offer enterprise-grade capabilities and support at entry-level pricing.