Scala Partner Techmedia Contributes to Major Outdoor Display in Australia

APN Outdoor’s largest digital sign attracts advertisers with prime location and easy content management

When APN Outdoor planned to develop one of the largest outdoor digital signs in Australia, it also wanted to simplify the content management process for its team and advertisers alike. APN Outdoor turned to technology partners Techmedia and Barco, and after more than two years of approvals and planning, the 121-foot-wide, 11-foot-high (37 meters by 3.5 meters) sign launched in September 2008 across from Melbourne’s busy Flinders Street Station, atop the historic Young & Jackson Hotel.

Using Scala software supplied by Techmedia, APN Outdoor’s advertisers have access to a template to create and customize the look and feel of their content. Once completed, APN Outdoor can schedule it to run within 24 hours. Advertisements run for 7.5 seconds, allowing for eight different ads to appear in a 60-second loop. The images are projected onto 147 Barco SLite 10XP FX LED tiles, which are dustproof and waterproof to withstand Melbourne’s hot and wet weather.

“When looking for partners on this project, we considered factors ranging from reliability, durability and the capability to expand into a nationwide network,” said Paul McBeth, APN Outdoor’s General Manager, Marketing. “Most importantly, we found that Techmedia and Barco had an international track record, and they had experience with comparably sized projects.”

“Based on the flexibility and scalability that APN Outdoor was looking for with this project, we knew that Scala software would give them everything they needed and more,” said Norman Cantrell, Techmedia’s Managing Director. “We were able to train APN Outdoor’s staff within days, and the Barco team was also easily trained to manage the player component that attaches to its screen.”

The outdoor sign has featured advertisers ranging from Foxtel and Coca-Cola to Sony and Audi, and many others have reserved space through the rest of 2009.

APN Outdoor plans to continue investigating opportunities for digital signage in the Australia out-of-home advertising industry.

About Scala

Driving more than 300,000 screens worldwide, Scala is a leading global provider of digital signage and advertising management solutions. Scala is 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 digital signage customers include Rabobank, IKEA, Burger King, T-Mobile, Virgin MegaStore, Warner Brothers, The Life Channel, Rikstoto, Repsol, NorgesGruppen and thousands more. Advertising management customers include CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel Outdoor and Magic Media, among others. Scala is headquartered near Philadelphia, USA, and has subsidiaries in Canada, The Netherlands, France, Norway and Japan, as well as more than 450 partners in more than 60 countries. More information is available at www.scala.com.

Source: Scala