Ecast has invested almost $100 million in its platform over the last eight years and $120 million is managed each year through its network, Cooney says. What began as a digital pay-to-play jukebox grew into a scalable platform that eventually caught the interest of advertisers.
"Once we got to 10,000 locations (in 2007), we were in as many locations as there are Starbucks," he says. "One of the nice things about the platform is that we can target by region, demographics, and down to the user level... You really have to be smart and savvy in how you deliver that to not turn them off."
While the company aims to maintain 10,000 locations in the hospitality market, it's eyeing retail for its next phase of growth. "We think that there's a natural place in a grocery store for a virtual wine connoisseur," Cooney says. "We can bring cost-saving measures to free up employees to serve other customers. That's an area where we feel we're going to get some traction early on."
Because Ecast's platform is built around touchscreens "we can give highly granular data to all the stakeholders," he explains. "The fact that it's totally measurable at every level is something that separates it from almost every other out-of-home media. It's really the web brought to the out-of-home market. We think that we give them a platform and tool that not only reaches them, but gives them ROI."
Adcentricity
From its headquarters in Toronto, Adcentricity manages more than 140,000 out-of-home screens spanning 89 network partners across North America. The company acts as a buying and planning agency for companies looking to buy ad inventory on these platforms -- essentially a one-stop shop for in-store digital screens.
"We have an enormous ability to enable the selling and advertising on all these platforms," says Adcentricity's President and founder Rob Gorrie.
"While the science part of our business is really about the planning and buying, realistically this business is as much art as it is science," he says. "These networks are all completely different, they have different capabilities, some have Bluetooth, some have touchscreens. The easiest way to look at this is sort of wrapping it into that new media triad because these are all connected and they can be activated by mobile."
The number of eyeballs you can reach at these locations is staggering, he says. "This business gets results. It's very efficient. It's a cost-effective inventory, and it's a great place to be spending your money these days," Gorrie says. "We're sort of the dark horse of digital."
The average CPM at one of the locations that Adcentricity manages is between $7 and $12. However, a medical office, for example, commands CPMs of more than $30.
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