http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/ What we have been up to - all the latest news and projects from the WindowGain UK basecamp en jaymi@lawrencepierce.com Copyright {gmt_date format="%Y"} {gmt_date format="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%i:%s%Q"} http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/digital_outdoor_ad_sales_rocket/ Digital outdoor ad sales rocket despite overall fall in revenue Amy Golding, printweek.com, 19 November 2008 Total outdoor advertising revenue has fallen for the fourth consecutive quarter, although ad sales for outdoor digital screens shot up by 48% to become “the fastest growing medium in the UK”.  According to a report from the Outdoor Advertising Association (OAA), outdoor revenue fell 5.8% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2008 – down £14.1m to £227.4m. OAA chief executive Alan James called the figures “very satisfactory” given the economic climate. “Digital screen revenue continues to grow rapidly with a year-on-year increase of a stunning 48%,” he added. “Importantly, outdoor digital screens’ rate of revenue growth is now outperforming that of online. This makes outdoor digital screens the fastest growing medium in the UK.” The OAA has commissioned in-depth research into the impact of various aspects of outdoor advertising on consumers. To see their digital screens research click here. The digital sector represented 4.6% of total revenues for the third quarter of 2007, compared with 7% in 2008. The report showed that the finance sector had increased its outdoor advertising spending by around 30.7% year-on-year in September to around £25.5m. The business and industrial, travel and transport sectors had also upped spending by 25.4% and 8.4% respectively. The largest recorded spend decrease was in the motor industry, which had cut its outdoor advertising spend by around 33.6% during September. Telecomm, entertainment and media, and retail sectors had also cut their spending by around 13.1%, 9.7% and 9.3% respectively. “Undoubtedly all media are in for difficult times but we believe outdoor will continue to perform well as it offers advertisers such a wide range of targeted opportunities that provide great value and truly effective media solutions,” James added. Coca Cola GB, Unilever UK and Samsung UK were among the companies that had increased their outdoor advertising spending the most during July to September 2008. See the full article at printweek.com. 2008-11-19T09:58:00+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/eyeconic_oxford_street/ WindowGain , the UK based outdoor media contractor and technology company who has recently launched its Hi Max (High Definition – Maximum Impact) network of strategically located large format digital projection screens in flagship UK Shopping Malls is to commence its roll-out of iconic London sites network on Monday 17th of November at the easyInternet Café, 358 Oxford Street. (See article) In Association with Eyeconic Outdoor (a Media 7 company) the dual screen site is situated in the heart of Oxford Street, directly opposite Bond Street tube station and strategically placed between Selfridges and John Lewis. With full audio capability, the HD rear projection screens will be up to 40ft² on the ground floor and up to 80ft² on the first floor and will be the only Digital Outdoor media of its kind in this unique location. Oxford Street is regarded as one of Europe’s busiest shopping streets with average footfall in excess of 4 million per week, and is an obvious location for the launch of the London sites network. The existing tenants at the premises, easyInternet Café, will benefit from incremental revenue for the use of its windows as well as a percentage of screen advertising time. Similar agreements with tenants at other unique London locations are currently being negotiated. Simon Russell, Managing Director of WindowGain UK stated that “Advertising opportunities are everywhere and we welcome any enquiry to discuss these with existing landlords or tenants. With Outdoor Digital screens recognised as the fastest growing medium in the UK, we see some considerable financial windfalls for unique location owners to capitalise on the increasing Outdoor ad spend.” Eyeconic Outdoor, the outdoor division of London based Media 7, specialises in media sales at unique and prominent city based locations.  The exclusive sales agreement with WindowGain for its non shopping mall locations is seen as a significant accomplishment for the specialist agency. Richard Linn, Managing Director of Media 7 comments: “The amount of excitement surrounding the launch of the dual screen on Oxford Street is indicative of the desire of Media buyers to provide a “wow factor” element to their clients. With its size, audio and screen quality, this installation certainly fulfills that requirement.  The amount of booking enquiries has exceeded our expectations and this enthusiasm certainly highlights the desire for more unique London based sites.” 2008-11-17T11:07:01+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/limited_space_partners_with_windowgain_to_launch_ad_hd/ Limited Space has agreed a 7 year commitment with WindowGain, the technology company behind high definition large format rear projection screens, to be the exclusive sales partner for WindowGains network of flagship UK shopping malls from 1st November in a deal worth £9.5m. See DailyDOOH article Limited Space is an Outdoor media owner specialising in advertising opportunities within the premium end of the UK shopping centre market. Their existing mall product, Adlift, applies high quality posters to the entire surface of the lift doors and is the largest face to face format in shopping malls. Brand extensions of Adlift include Adlift Panoramics which are giant bespoke banners located at the centre of the malls and Adlift Experience, a complete brand experience solution. Limited Space has seen its Adlift portfolio more than quadruple over the past 18 months and now sits at 800 sites across 64 premium malls with plans of reaching 75 malls by the end of the year. The pioneering new technology will enable clients to showcase TV ads, movie trailers and digital content with full audio and high definition visuals for the first time in shopping malls on a network of screens up to 110sq/ft in size. Limited Space will launch the network as AD HD alongside its existing shopping mall format Adlift. Utilizing 3M’s patent Vikuiti screens and Panasonic HD projectors, the AD HD network will initially be located within 12 premium UK shopping malls including The Bullring, The Metro Centre, Bluewater and Meadowhall with all of the sites located in high footfall areas. Plans for rolling out distribution into Adlifts existing portfolio will continue during 2009. Simon Russell, Managing Director of WindowGain UK believes this agreement “is an exciting step in the growth of the business and will provide a premium digital solution in UK Shopping malls through a proven sales partner.” Matt Gordon, Managing Director of Limited Space explained the motivation behind the agreement. “We are constantly looking at enhancing our portfolio and the synergy between our products was clear from the outset. It will offer a range of innovative and flexible advertising solutions to our clients. Our current expansion into digital was a natural progression and the commitment from WindowGain to develop rear projection technology in the premium shopping mall environment was key to this strategy.” 2008-09-30T07:38:01+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/3m_bluewater_shoppers_stunned_by_giant_digital_display/ Bluewater, one of the most innovative and exciting shopping and leisure destinations in Europe today, is reaping the benefits of an ultra-large format window screen installed by WindowGain in a vacant store front on the Thames Walk mall. Shoppers are instantly attracted to the screen, which combines Vikuiti Rear Projection Film and Whispering Windows audio speakers to present powerful, full-colour multimedia content, including rollercoaster footage and an underwater aquarium video. “Retail property owners are expected to pay 100 per cent business rates on store units whether they are empty or closed for refurbishment,” commented Simon Russell, Managing Director of WindowGain’s UK office. “Learning how to maximise this vacant retail space by transforming entire window fronts into eye-catching and dynamic display screens that not only entertain shoppers but also generate ad revenue for the owners is a highly appealing proposition.” Managed by Lend Lease Real Estate Investment Service Limited, Bluewater is one enormous success story in terms of location, construction and annual footfall (averaging 30 million). Digital media is high on the company’s property development agenda and when WindowGain introduced this new and exciting display medium the commercialisation team saw it as a fantastic opportunity. “It’s been a real pleasure working with WindowGain simply because of the energy and dedication of the team in getting the screen installed and up and running in only four weeks,” said Ross McCall, Commercialisation Manager for Bluewater. “When shoppers walk past the screen they stop in amazement and children run towards the giant turtles - there’s no missing it on Thames Walk.” The retail window front features a giant 102 sq.ft Vikuiti Rear Projection Film, making it one of the biggest Vikuiti Film installations in the UK. Turnaround needed to be quick which meant that a standard screen was installed prior to Vikuiti Rear Projection Film. Once this was removed and replaced by Vikuiti Film, the difference was plain to see in terms of the vast improvement of image resolution and contrast. Vikuiti Film excels in huge atrium locations where there is bright ambient light. Images appear clear and crisp, and its wide viewing angles allow messages to be seen for longer. “Our Vikuiti Rear Projection Film continues to impress high street retailers and shopping centre owners who want to increase footfall, promote their brand, differentiate themselves and enhance their visual appearance,” said Billy Evans, Sales and Marketing Manager for 3M’s Optical Systems division. “The cooperation we have formed with WindowGain is testament to this success - WindowGain’s UK office is in the process of building premium relationships with the best shopping centres in the country. In addition to Bluewater, other installations incorporating Vikuiti Film include Crystal Peaks in Sheffield and The Centre MK, Milton Keynes.” Vikuiti Film is being used with multiple DLP projectors, Whispering Windows audio speakers as well as WindowGain’s own patent pending edge-blend process. Content is created by WindowGain’s marketing agency Lawrence & Pierce until fee-paying advertisers come on board and content can be tailored specifically for them. Positive interest has already been received on the media buying side from two of the UK’s leading outdoor, out-of-home communications agencies. 2008-05-13T15:54:00+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/boston_dot_com_signs_on/ Boston.com signs on as media sponsor for WindowGain’s Downtown Crossing Network. WindowGain is pleased to announce Boston.com as the new media sponsor for the Downtown Crossing Network. As part of its marketing strategy, Boston.com has signed on with WindowGain as a way to extend its reach to the digital out-of-home space. In order to maximize the impact of the campaign, WindowGain and Boston.com have created six, dynamic templates that mimic the look and feel of the Boston.com website. The dynamic templates will display actual news from Boston.com via RSS feeds. These embedded RSS feeds will allow pedestrians to see headline stories from different sections of the powerful news site in real time.  The campaign will also highlight various upcoming events and special promotions for boston.com. An Example of the dynamic content that will run in Downtown Crossing. The campaign will run on WindowGain’s displays in Boston’s Downtown Crossing area - where over 240,000* pedestrians travel on a daily basis.  The Downtown Crossing Network is a part of Boston Art Windows, a joint project of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the City of Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, local artists, and property and business owners. *Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority 2008-02-14T11:53:00+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/windows_of_opportunity/ Company’s projection system could turn acres of glass into multimedia billboards. By Thomas C. Palmer Jr. The Boston Globe Globe Staff / February 11, 2008 Adam Dell was walking on a beach a couple of years ago when it finally came to him how to market his multimedia company, located on Seventh Avenue in New York. He returned home, worked on some new imaging software, rigged up projection equipment in his office, and cast an image brightly advertising his company on the office window - so thousands of passersby would see it. “The phone rang within 15 minutes, saying, ‘We could use something like that,’ “ said Dell. “I thought it was a joke from one of our employees.” It wasn’t. Dell, 35, now lives in Boston and is chief executive of WindowGain Inc., a company founded on the idea of using empty windows for digital media. He is partnering with a prominent Boston developer, John Rosenthal, to brighten up drab storefronts nationwide, put acres of vacant glass in high-visibility locations to use, and make some money along the way. WindowGain installed a temporary display of 80 square feet in a window in company chairman Rosenthal’s parking garage on Lansdowne Street near Fenway Park, displaying messages for the Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, and the movie “Michael Clayton.” It instantly started earning thousands of dollars of revenue. “That was really a demo we used to raise money to start the company,” said Rosenthal, best known as the prospective developer of One Kenmore, a mixed-use complex near Fenway Park, and owner of the large billboard with anti-violence messages facing the Massachusetts Turnpike. Walk down Washington Street near Downtown Crossing, and you’ll see a relatively small - 25 square feet - but brilliantly lit slide show, an example of what this new industry is assembling for pedestrians in urban areas. There, at 395 Washington in the old Barnes & Noble space, passersby witness a little light propaganda from the City of Boston, including a Harborwalk promotion, in a rotating visual gallery mixed in with information from sponsors like the Massachusetts State Lottery and Verizon Communications Inc. The same messages are being shown on a window at 52 Summer St. With a goal of dressing up Downtown Crossing, the Boston Redevelopment Authority has partnered with WindowGain on the displays. Others will light up in the old Filene’s building, while it is being redeveloped, and at a location soon to be vacated on Winter Street. “It’s an innovative way to activate empty storefronts with new technology,” said Randi Lathrop, who has overseen the Downtown Crossing pilot projects. WindowGain isn’t the only company developing the ability to turn glass of almost any size into a platform for outdoor communication. Neoscape Inc., the Boston company that creates visuals and virtual reality presentations for developers, is experimenting with its own version of the technology for one of its big multi-property clients. “It’s creating an immersive, experiential type of display that invites people to learn more about what’s going on at a particular site,” said Robert MacLeod, president of Neoscape. “It’s almost as if the building itself is becoming an art installation, aimed at conveying a particular message.” It would seem a simple idea to take a piece of projection equipment - something like the ubiquitous PowerPoint projector - and aim it at a sheet of glass to display an image on the other side. The problem was getting a high-definition picture bright enough to be seen in the sunlight as well as at night. “We need a lot of lumens,” Dell said. He said a normal PowerPoint projector operates with 3,000 to 5,000 lumens, a measure of brightness. “Our total is about 30,000,” Dell said. That means using multiple projectors - usually four to six, arranged closely together in a rack - that split the image being projected into pieces. The genius of WindowGain, Dell said, is that he and his partners have developed the computer software that knits the images from all the different projectors together on the glass, so viewers don’t see it in all its parts. “You have an array of projectors,” Dell said. “It warps and blends the images so there are no lines or seams or gaps.” The company continues to develop the proprietary system and has applied for patents. The city’s regulations for outdoor advertising currently allow new-age images like these in three areas: the Theatre District, the Lansdowne Street club district, and around the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Lathrop said an exception was made at Downtown Crossing for public-information messages that could fill in some of the existing commercial holes. “We’re really concentrating on Downtown Crossing right now,” said Lathrop, who is considering projecting a citywide calendar of events. But the other neighborhoods may see installations soon. “In those districts you could do a lot more advertising,” she said. While the Washington Street window was relatively small, limiting the size of the projected image, a pilot installation that Dell’s team put up briefly on Mason Street was 130 square feet - about the size of the ceiling of a small room. Thin support columns between panels of glass that interrupt the image are no problem, Dell said, often even adding an artistic element by breaking a wall-size frame into pieces. Rosenthal became involved after he got a call early last year from Dell, who was still living in New York and had read about Rosenthal’s huge billboard along the turnpike, on the back of his parking garage. “I said I had to meet this guy,” Rosenthal said. A property owner, Rosenthal saw the potential instantly. “In real estate, vacancy is your enemy,” he said. The ability to advertise on empty windows you already own was compelling, he said, and he signed up another real estate developer, Steve Samuels, to join in developing WindowGain. “He said, ‘Absolutely brilliant. I’m in. Where’s the business plan?’ “ Rosenthal recalled. Since Dell didn’t have one, they collaborated, and WindowGain now has space in Rosenthal’s Newton offices. “Windowless space,” Dell noted. WindowGain can project almost anything of visual form: slides, flash graphics, animation, full-motion video, movies. Even RSS feeds from the Web or Web pages can be shown, or “dynamic data,” such as headlines that are constantly updated. WindowGain has agreed to partner with boston.com, the website affiliated with The Boston Globe, which will provide content for six months at the Downtown Crossing locations. Dell majored in biology in college but has always worked with computers and been a visual artist. When he got that first call in New York from a business wanting to make use of his new advertising system, it was both exciting and disappointing. The call was from a furrier, who wanted to increase sales during the upcoming holiday season. Dell’s longtime business partner is Prem Hira, a friend who helped him start both the New York and Boston companies - and who’s a 15-year vegetarian and won’t even wear leather shoes. “We decided we didn’t want to do anything like that,” Dell said. Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at //';l[1]='a';l[2]='/';l[3]='';l[22]='"';l[23]=' 109';l[24]=' 111';l[25]=' 99';l[26]=' 46';l[27]=' 101';l[28]=' 98';l[29]=' 111';l[30]=' 108';l[31]=' 103';l[32]=' 64';l[33]=' 114';l[34]=' 101';l[35]=' 109';l[36]=' 108';l[37]=' 97';l[38]=' 112';l[39]=' 116';l[40]=':';l[41]='o';l[42]='t';l[43]='l';l[44]='i';l[45]='a';l[46]='m';l[47]='"';l[48]='=';l[49]='f';l[50]='e';l[51]='r';l[52]='h';l[53]='a ';l[54]='= 0; i=i-1){ if (l[i].substring(0, 1) == ' ') document.write("&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";"); else document.write(unescape(l[i])); } //]]> © Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company. 2008-02-11T11:26:00+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/panthers_checkout_advertising_spots/ Coach Mike Ellis and players Eric Nelson and Kevin Bergin visited one of three new giant screens in Nottingham city centre that will advertise Nottingham Panthers games. The Nottingham Panthers have signed a nine-month advertising contract with WindowGain UK. Gary Moran the General Manager of Nottingham Panthers IHC said �??The GMB Panthers already enjoy a high profile and within the sport of ice hockey we lead the way when it comes to finding new and different ways to promote ourselves. When I first saw the WindowGain screens I knew straight away that they would be a perfect fit for us. Our sport is fast and furious but it also exciting, colourful and pretty to watch. I can�??t wait to see our product emblazoned across the WindowGain screens in Nottingham, I know before it starts it is only going to help strengthen the already strong brand that is the Panthers�?�. Click here for the story on thisisnottingham.co.uk 2008-02-08T10:48:00+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/storefront_transformation_at_the_broadmarsh/ WindowGain transforms entire storefront into Digital Display at the Westfield Broadmarsh Centre, Lister Gate, Nottingham, UK. Westfield Broadmarsh is one of the premium shopping centre’s in the East Midlands with an annual footfall of approximately 18 Million visitors. The main hall also offers the main foot route to both the bus and train stations making the centre and the Lister Gate route one of the busiest in the city. As a result most of the major retailers have a presence in or around the centre. In addition many independent retailers see it as a must location. The 70sqft screen is located at the North entrance to the centre and next door to the popular Nottingham Caves tourist destination. 2008-01-21T10:17:00+00:00 http://www.windowgain.com/uk/news/the_panthers_strike_again/ Nottingham Panthers choose WindowGain UK for all Digital Advertising at Westfield Broadmarsh Centre, Lister Gate, Nottingham, UK. WindowGain UK is delighted to announce the signing of a nine-month advertising contract with the Nottingham Panthers. Gary Moran the General Manager of Nottingham Panthers IHC said: �??The GMB Panthers already enjoy a high profile and within the sport of ice hockey we lead the way when it comes to finding new and different ways to promote ourselves. When I first saw the WindowGain screens I knew straight away that they would be a perfect fit for us. Our sport is fast and furious but it also exciting, colourful and pretty to watch. I can�??t wait to see our product emblazoned across the WindowGain screens in Nottingham, I know before it starts it is only going to help strengthen the already strong brand that is the Panthers.�?� 2008-01-14T03:35:01+00:00