Put simply JR and 10 other train companies in Tokyo are collaborating to create one media: 27 displays in 20 Tokyo stations run by the 11 train companies themselves.

Much has been made in the mainstream (and our industry) press along the line of ‘M_______ R_____ billboards coming to Tokyo railway stations’ – our sources tell us that Quividi software is being used to do the audience measurement which makes us think that Vanten also must have a hand in the system somehow – since as far as we know they are the sole distributor of Quividi in Japan.

We won’t comment on the blimen’ M_______ R_____ references any more as it’s all just codswoddle (now trying look that up on the ‘Interlink’).

開放標準不只在網際網路隨處可見，即使在新興的數字告示產業，開放標準已蔚為風氣。兼顧容易取得、擴充性、多功能的 SMIL 開放標準 (時序性多媒體整合語言)  即是一個例子。它將帶來哪些新機會與挑戰？德商 42media Group 將在2010年七月14日舉辦 SMIL 研討會，與客戶一同討論其重要性。

數字告示產業將走向標準嗎？拭目以待！

Chinese girls in Kilts now there's a thought...

Mandarin and Scottish speaking Kommando brand ambassadors promoted Scotland to Expo Visitors as a great place to live, work, visit and do business.

The work actually coincided with (Scottish) First Minister Alex Salmond’s visit to China last week to pursue Sino-Scottish business opportunities in key sectors including renewable energy, tourism, education and textiles.

Kommando technologies, PixAngels and NomadX roamed the high footfall event promoting, on overhead LED NomadiX screens, a digital video showcase of the best Scotland has to offer.

Photo marketing teams, PixAngels took photographs of the visitors to the UK Pavillion, printed the photographed on the spot and handed them over in a Chinese language Scotland-branded frame.

Whether its Singapore, Manila, Seoul, Hong Kong or Shanghai – the song remains the same, big media is finally acknowledging that digital is re-writing everything. The mindshift from mass communication to intimate conversations with the customer have taken root – and the message is no longer in control of the brand.

But can digital truly be the new Tri-media in this parallel world?  let’s review the statistics;

• mobile phones out number desktops – making mobile internet the primary way people keep connected with their social networks and with friends.
• broadband proliferation (fueled by 3G, 4G mobile web + broadband availability) has had consistent growth year after year
• most people in the region spend over 50% of their time out of the home; – this of course is the most compelling reason that digital place based and outdoor advertising has recently started to get a bigger slice of the media budget.
• the astronomical cost of a broadcast media buy in the region puts traditional advertising way out of reach of SMEs marketing budgets, which makes digital a more cost effective and measurable channel to communicate with customers.

Along with the shift in consumer behavior, the strategies that brands and agencies create campaigns are also changing. Previous mobile SMS campaigns were one-way extensions of traditional media that were used to enhance awareness and reach. But, the current projects I work on today- break with the ‘broadcast’ strategy and focus on what mobile ads can do best- combine the context of a location with a digital mode of conversation that Asian customers are accustomed to use to share their intimate details of their lives (SMS/MMS) simply put – A 2-way mobile campaign that provides a solid loyalty currency are all you need to get your customers to tell you a lot more about themselves and their friends- providing deeper insights than just the typical age, occupation and geographic location of most opt-in SMS campaigns.

Asia’s interest in digital placed based advertising as the third ‘pillar’ of the new tri-media trifecta can only be described as ‘viral’ – with agencies and their clients desperately trying to understand the emerging channel.  Some consider DOOH as the ‘anchor’ to the mobile campaign, others see it as a way to create newer, innovative experiences that use mobile as the ‘mouse’ or ‘click-through’ mechanism for digital retail merchandising.

The digital out of home industry in Asia is rapidly moving out of its nascent stage, but it still exhibits the symptoms that plague the Western market (i.e. lack of subject matter expertise, measurement standards, and fragmentation) But that’s where the similarities end. I have it on good authority that there is an unprecedented initiative underway to create a single industry organization that will span all countries of Asia with hopes to provide a way for its members to evangelize, educate and best of all collaborate on things such as technology purchases, market research and cross-network media buys.

From an attendee’s perspective, the conference had a lot to offer by way of mobile, broadcast and communication technology seminars, and the exhibit floor was vast, definitely a multi-day event if you were to walk every exhibit hall.

From an exhibitor’s perspective, perhaps not quite as reciprocal. Although there was a steady flow of attendee traffic between sessions, it was by no means as heavily attended as the NAB show in Las Vegas.

Two of the show highlights from my perspective were…
• Heavyweight’s like Docomo, Samsung and Sony paraded out several interesting digital media convergence devices. Low-end and mid-range mobile smartphones are showing up in the market to fill the unique Asian niche market of the “secondary” phone or as an upgrade phone for the lower-SECs. In all cases, manufacturer’s and telcos are bundling affordable LBS, apps markets and concierge services with a new breed of value engineered smartphones.
• Enterprise class cross-media digital distribution and content management systems. These solutions incorporate the control and management of broadcast, mobile, online, digital out of home content in a single platform.

Based on what I saw at the show, it’s apparent that Singapore’s digital signage industry is still in its nascent stages. Not more than 6 exhibitors in all!

The most interesting part? – some of these groups have a government subsidy from the Singaporean government.

In Wanda’s case, it is an expansion of its relationship, with the installation of three additional IMAX systems in the cities of Quanzhou, Wuhan and Dalian. These theatres are in addition to the four IMAX locations the exhibitor already operates and the seven IMAX locations it currently has scheduled to open. The agreement brings the total number of IMAX theatres to be operated by Wanda Cinema Line by the end of 2012 to 14.

Five of the 14 IMAX locations operated by Wanda Cinema Line are scheduled to be opened and available to consumers in time for the highly-anticipated release of ‘Aftershock’, the first Chinese film to be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience.

In early June, IMAX and Stellar Investment Co. Ltd., a leading Chinese entertainment and media company that operates a network of 15 theatres across major Chinese cities under the name Stellar Cinemas, made an agreement to install two digital IMAX theatre systems into multiplexes in Shanghai and Beijing. The first location is scheduled to be installed in the Shanghai Stellar Zhengda Multiplex in Shanghai in time for the release of ‘Aftershock’. The other location is scheduled to be installed in Beijing as part of a new complex which is expected to be completed in 2011.

The People’s Republic of China is IMAX Corporation’s fastest-growing market, with more than 50 IMAX theatres scheduled to be operating in China by 2012.

The new facility will significantly expand the company’s production capabilities, with the Christie Solaria projectors scheduled to roll off the assembly line in July. Production will begin with the Christie CP2220 and the Christie CP2210, with the Christie CP2230 to follow. The Shenzhen factory will initially feed the Asia Pacific market, freeing up capacity at Christie’s North American plant to increase supply to the rest of the world.

The conference was well attended by approximately 250+ invited VIP guests, which just so happened to be the agency’s top clients and the country’s biggest brands.

The most refreshing part of the conference was the roster of speakers (not including myself, of course) ZenithOptimedia collected an elite group of the region’s visionaries that currently work in traditional media to talk about how digital experiences and social media has changed their industry.

A very impressive keynote was delivered by Mr. Harpreet Kaintel – the Chief Strategy Officer for Zenith Optimedia Asia Pacific. He outlined successful case studies of campaigns around the region that made the mass communication channel – personal. In all cases, the strategy was to create unique multi-channel experiences that included both traditional and digital approaches.

Key Highlights:

I’ve said it before – digital out of home in Asia is getting more than just lip-service from the regions media agencies. When a reputable agency like ZenithOptimedia gives a nod to place based media, enough to include it in their annual conference, you can bet big things are on the horizon for our industry.

This week’s Parallel Worlds bring us big news that Asia’s digital out of home industry has reached a significant milestone. It’s been confirmed that the establishment of a multiple country, regional association to help advocate, evangelize and educate on placed based media is soon to be officially announced. The official name is still a well guarded secret (I know what it is) until the final legal documents are processed.

The new entity includes a confirmed board of membership from various countries like; The Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam (the inclusion of India, Korea, China and Japan is still open, but unconfirmed as of today).

The move to create a regional entity bodes very well for Asia’s digital out of home communities since it too struggles with the fragmentation, mis-information and challenges that hamper the western hemisphere’s efforts to mainstream this new media channel. The new group will be headquartered out of Manila (for financial and logistical reasons) with provisions to establish support with local charters of the same association in each respective country.

This self-titled “Asian alliance” has contacted 2 key organization in the US, it plans to affiliate itself with either the DSA or the group formerly known as OVAB (DPAA) to help enhance its credibility as well as promote the selected group’s guidelines and standards. The selection of which group is still under review.

Yours truly has been working feverishly behind the scenes as a key advisory board member as well as the defacto traveling DOOH “evangelist” who preaches on the virtues of establishing a single association to represent all of Asia.

Once in place, the regional association will provide the much needed cohesion and focused grassroots support for all regional industry efforts to socialize digital out of home as well help facilitate potential regional media buys. The “alliance” of countries will also make it easier to penetrate the barriers for entry into the Asian markets for western companies, solution providers and hardware manufacturers that have considered international expansion into the largest, untapped DOOH market in the world.