Blockbuster Unveils New Outdoor Kiosk
Blockbuster is introducing a new outdoor DVD-rental kiosk, extending its deployment of Blockbuster Express™-branded DVD-rental kiosks to more convenience store and smaller-footprint, 24-hour retail locations.
The SelfServ Entertainment 2381 kiosk from NCR Corp. features a 19" touchscreen display that is specially designed for viewing in sunlight. A 26" LCD screen at the top of the unit can be used as digital signage, and all units are fitted with an ATM-grade anti-skimming magnetic stripe reader (MSR) to help prevent fraud.
Alex Camara, V.P. and General Manager, NCR Entertainment, said, “Consumers will benefit from easier access to their favorite new release and classic DVDs in accessible, 24-hour locations.”
Sony Displays New Electronic Reader
Sony is using this interactive display to help introduce its new electronic Reader. The display features interactive video to educate consumers about the new product, and it allows shoppers to try using the Reader.
The display features high definition video output, lift-off and motion-sensitive content triggering, and audio switching to deliver sound playback directly from the products being demonstrated in sync with the video presentation. The display is flexible, and can be set up in different configurations to meet different size requirements. This display was created for Sony by Winntech, (www.winntech.com), a Kansas City, MO--based display firm.
Monster Displays PowerCenter At Best Buy
Monster is featuring this Monster Power In-Line Display at Best Buy stores. The header is designed to mimic the front panel of a Monster PowerCenter while incorporating a 10.2" monitor showing customer benefits. The video content can be easily updated in the field. The display ships a plug and play unit.
A custom clear acrylic top on the upper Monster PowerCenter lets consumers see the interworking of the electronics. The left side of the display is designed for an ergonomic shelf that allows a complete flipbook reviewing all 4 products. Each shelf has adjustable hole patterns to accept multiple Monster PowerCenter SKU’s. This display was created for Monster by Kosakura, a Santa Ana-based display firm.
Barnes &Noble Displays nook eBook Reader
Barnes & Noble has launched nook, the Barnes & Noble eBook reader, which marries innovative technology with access to the company’s digital store of over one million eBooks, newspapers and magazines. For fast connectivity, nook is the first eBook reader to provide, at no additional costs to customers, both 3G wireless access on AT&T's mobile broadband network and access to Wi-Fi for Barnes & Noble in-store browsing and enjoyment. And to help friends share their joy of reading, nook is the first eBook reader to offer digital lending for a wide selection of eBooks. Barnes & Noble has created stunning storefront displays for nook.
Mercedes Opens Mercedes-AMG Performance Centers
Mercedes has opened Mercedes-AMG performance centers in top Mercedes dealerships across the country. Mercedes-Benz and AMG have a long history deeply rooted in high-speed performance racing cars. The AMG brand, “Designed for the racetrack, Ready for the roadway,” still is the performance division for Mercedes, and raises the bar on luxury vehicle standards.
Recently, the exhibit and retail experience company MC2, Inc., (www.mc-2online.com), headquartered in Chestnut Ridge, NY, was tasked by Mercedes-Benz to design, fabricate, and install 30 state-of-the-art performance centers at high-end Mercedes dealerships throughout the U.S. The goal was to provide each client with a customized retail experience reflective of the luxury brand.
To achieve a unique, individual sales experience, MC2 created separate platform displays for each car model so as to achieve a one-on-one, uninterrupted time between the sales representative and customer. To engage customers and convey the luxury brands' high-speed performance attributes before stepping into the car, MC2 integrated modern design elements with new technology such as LCD screens placed within sleek, branded panels accented with large graphics of AMG vehicles as racing cars on the road. The result is a hands-on experience where customers have the luxury of an undivided sales experience.
FedEx Office Introduces Design & Print Center Kiosks
FedEx Office has introduced its Design & Print Center solution, a digital self-service tool for creating and ordering custom business cards, letterhead and marketing collateral. This new application makes it easy for small business customers to get professional print products that help create brand identity. Customers can quickly and easily customize any selected template in the Design & Print Center gallery or upload their own unique design. All orders are processed, shipped and delivered within seven business days via FedEx with no delivery charge.
Most FedEx Office Print & Ship Centers now feature a Design & Print Center kiosk. Customers can quickly browse the design templates, customize their selection, upload logos and images from a USB drive or CD, and order the finished product in just minutes.
Tanger Outlets Deploy GiftWise Kiosks
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers has signed an agreement to deploy Self-Service Networks GiftWise kiosks across five of their popular shopping centers. For Tanger, the GiftWise kiosks represent additional gift card selling locations conveniently positioned in areas of the property not served by a staffed customer service desk.
Laura Atwell, V.P., Marketing for Tanger Outlets, said, “We are excited to add the GiftWise solution to our gift card sales strategy. GiftWise gives us an effective way to expand the visibility of our gift card program, while offering improved convenience for our shoppers.”
"Self-Service Networks is pleased that Tanger Outlets has chosen to deploy the GiftWise kiosk solution,” said Rick Wessels, Exec. V.P., Self-Service Networks. “These all-weather units offer outdoor properties a unique opportunity to improve card sales by adding new selling locations or moving sales out of the management office.”
Baby Genius Launches New In-store Displays
Pacific Entertainment, which has built Baby Genius into a world-renowned brand of musical edu-tainment for infants and toddlers, is poised to expand on its leadership position in the pre-school marketplace with a new merchandising and marketing campaign.
At the foundation of the campaign is a new line of 24 individual Baby Genius early learning and development toys from toy manufacturer, Battat Inc., which have launched at Walmart stores nationwide.
New Retail Stores Connect Consumers With the Best of Microsoft
Microsoft has opened its first retail store in Scottsdale, Arizona. Designed to give shoppers a chance to experience the best of Microsoft and its partners, the store offers customers a select line of laptops, netbooks, all-in-one PCs, Xbox consoles, Windows Mobile phones and one of the largest selections of third-party software titles in any store. “Our customers have told us they want choice, better value and great service when shopping for technology, and that is what we will deliver through our Microsoft stores,” said David Porter, Vice President of Microsoft Retail.
The design of the stores is uniquely Microsoft, with four “zones” that focus on different types of technology experiences. Laptops are on large cedar tables, with seating so shoppers can sit and tinker. The walls are lined with giant LCD screens that envelop the space with landscapes and product images. Below the images, stylish all-in-one PCs are set up with Zunes, Xbox consoles, headphones and widescreen displays, demonstrating how all the items work together to create a multimedia experience. Toward the back of the store are laptop bags and an array of software titles. There is a gaming zone featuring a 94-inch widescreen, with seating and an array of controllers to play with. The store design is centered on three core principles: elevating customer choice, providing more value and delivering great service.
Zondervan Releases Interactive,Virtual Bible
Zondervan’s Glo is a new interactive, virtual bible with HD video and documentaries, high-resolution images, zoom-able maps and 360-degree virtual tours. Glo is the Bible “re-imagined for a digital world.”
Additional content includes more than 500 virtual tours, 7,500 encyclopedia articles, 2,400 high-resolution photos, 700 pieces of artwork, 3.5 hours of HD video, 150 maps and more, allowing users to immerse themselves in the Bible.
Apple Introduces Multi-Touch Magic Mouse
Apple has introduced the new wireless Magic Mouse, the first mouse to use Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch technology. Pioneered on iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads, Multi-Touch allows customers to navigate using intuitive finger gestures. Instead of mechanical buttons, scroll wheels or scroll balls, the entire top of the Magic Mouse is a seamless Multi-Touch surface.
Yoostar Launches Home Entertainment System
The Yoostar™ home entertainment system will be available for purchase at Bloomingdales stores nationwide, and at all Best Buy outlets. The Yoostar entertainment system allows you to film yourself right into famous movie scenes, where you can perform with, or replace, the original actors. Users can then upload their performances to www.yoostar.com and share them on their favorite social networking sites.
The Yoostar system includes a studio-grade web cam with built-in dual microphones, portable green screen, and Yoostar software that is PC and Mac compatible.
Blue Spark Technologies, a leading supplier of thin, flexible printed battery solutions, and Novalia, a leading designer of printed electronics products, recently signed a joint marketing agreement to launch “Interactive Printed Media”products with applications for P.O.P. displays and packaging. Technologies include programmable chips and conductive inks, used along with traditional graphic inks, and thin, flexible “green” batteries as a primary power source. For more information, visit (Web site) www.bluesparktechnologies.com or (Web site) www.novalia.co.uk
Altierre Corp. has introduced Dynamic Messaging, which brings the power of animation to its line of digital tags and signage. This innovation has been made possible thanks to a new display chip created by Altierre. The new chip harnesses proprietary circuits and algorithms to allow information to be flashed on a screen or alternating various screens of information. By providing high-level programmability, the chip has the capability of handling multiple sequences of animation. The chip conserves battery power, allowing Altierre’s display tags to display animation while maintaining their five-year battery life. For more information, visit
(Web site) www.altierre.com
CatGenie Debuts Cat-vertising Campaign In LA
CatGenie recently partnered with marketing agency, Suite Partners, and Orlando, FL-based Monster Media, to raise awareness for CatGenie, an automatic litter free cat box that flushes waste and cleans itself. Through the use of unexpected graphics and live cats in a 'cat-habitat' storefront window, CatGenie and Monster Media developed the purrfect display to grab the attention of passers-by. The entire display is 30 feet high and 70 feet wide. Steven Yampolsky, President, PetNovations, said, “This unconventional ad that has never been done before and is sure to resonate with consumers.”
New Giving Cart Is Introduced To The Supermarket Industry
Time Domain Corp., the leader in ultra wideband real-time location systems and Klever Marketing, (www.kleverkart.com) have introduced the first installation of Klever's Giving Cart™ System with Time Domain's Precision Location Ultra Wideband System (PLUS®) in The Market, a privately owned Park City, Utah supermarket. This enables retailers to dynamically communicate promotions and advertisements to customers as they shop, optimizing the shopping experience and driving sales.
The system, which includes interactive wireless display units that attach to shopping cart handles, enables The Market to target promotions to shoppers at the point-of-selection. The units are tracked in real-time and automatically alert customers to promotions as they go through the store.
“The combination of our precise PLUS technology with interactive wireless displays brings the internet shopping experience to the traditional brick and mortar retail space,” said Greg Clawson, Sr. VP, Sales & Marketing at Time Domain.
Good Housekeeping Tour Reaches 11 U.S. Cities
In celebration of the 100th birthday of the Good Housekeeping Seal, the magazine’s famous emblem of quality, Good Housekeeping magazine has created an interactive, traveling exhibit that recreates the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, where product evaluations are conducted. Visitors will see the various tests products must go through to earn the Seal. GHRI on Tour presented by IKEA will make stops in 11 markets, transported via an environmentally-responsible low-emission vehicle. Visitors can also enter to win a room makeover from IKEA.
Culligan is sponsoring the Kitchen Appliances & Technology Lab, where the performance of all appliances and utensils used in preparing food are reviewed. GHRI on Tour also features an additional six interactive labs with diorama-style windows that provide a look inside, along with a video of each lab's director explaining the products he/she evaluates. The exhibit also includes areas devoted to the magazine's environmental initiatives; and touch screen TVs with trivia games.
Niemann Foods & American Digital Signage Pilot In Store Mobile Messaging Program
American Digital Signage was chosen by retail chain and grocery operator Niemann Foods to provide an integrated digital marketing program wrapping digital signage and mobile text messaging to communicate store announcements and sales promotions to customers for a pilot at their Quincy, Illinois County Market store.
This opt-in service provides instant access to customers, ensuring they never miss an opportunity to save as they are shopping. Consumers are alerted to the free program via the American Digital Signage network LCD monitors located at the check out lanes.
“Retailers are looking for more cost effective means to show value to their customers,” said Drew Bernstein, EVP Sales & Marketing, American Digital Signage. “NFI is taking advantage of the one of the things people carry with them at all times, their mobile phone and informing them as they go through checkout with our digital screens.”
Pharmavite Launches Digital Signage Program
Pharmavite, a global leader in the dietary supplement industry, has placed LearnSomething’s ShopperAssist(TM) digital signage in aisles and at endcaps in drug store and supermarket chains. From an LCD screen with ten user selectable buttons, shoppers will be able to access brief videos on choosing the right vitamin solutions for everyday dietary needs.
LearnSomething's ShopperAssist allows shoppers to select their area of interest from a menu and view brief multimedia segments by medical experts. Shoppers will be able to select segments on bone & joint help, heart health, women’s health, mood & stress relief, prostate protection and other timely health topics.
Pharmavite’s Chief Customer Officer, Skip Aldridge, said, “Our approach with Nature Made vitamins has always been that our success begins with educating consumers to help them make decisions based on their nutritional needs. We believe ShopperAssist can be an important component of that ongoing initiative.”
Mallvision360 Digital Network Launched
Access 360 Media has launched Mallvision360 Digital, kicking off with an exclusive, multi-year relationship to provide editorial content and advertising programming for more than 900 screens in the OnSpot Digital Network in 49 Simon Property Group malls across the top 20 DMAs. Mallvision360 Digital will reach an estimated 140 million shoppers monthly. Access 360 Media is integrating the OnSpot Digital Network into Mallvision360 Digital, with programming on the HDTV screens to include lifestyle, entertainment and educational content as well as premium advertising. For more information, visit www.access360media.com.
ShoptoCook™ Display Offers Meal Solutions
This ShoptoCook™ Display helps shoppers discover new meal ideas in the aisle of the supermarket. This interactive display enhances the shopper's experience through engaging simple and convenient meal planning resources. Complete meal planning and health and wellness modules (diet suggestions) are delivered. The display drives traffic to the center store and increases sales. For more information, contact General Display, Industrial Park Road, Medway Industrial Park, Medway, MA 02053. (Web site) www.generaldisplay.net
Interactive Schlage LiNK Endcap Display
This interactive Schlage LiNK Endcap display for Lowes includes product spinners and an LCD video with push button selection. It features a large back panel to explain features and benefits. Schlage wanted to create an eye-catching endcap display to promote its new LiNK product that educated the consumer, promoted the brand and the interactive feature allowed the customers a hands-on experience with the product. This display was created for Schlage by SMS, 760 Lakeside Drive Unit D, Gurnee, IL 60031. (Web site) www.selectmarketingsolutions.com
Pioneer Pro DJ Retail Experience Display
The Pioneer Pro DJ Retail Experience was designed to be inviting and informative for any level of user. The consumer has a chance to see what combination of products are available with a touch of a red selector button. To achieve the simple tactile experience, an advanced, yet easy to use, switching system was developed. Custom metal trusses, DJ cases, lighting, sharp video, detailed print graphics were all used to give the display a ‘Wow Factor.’ This display was created for Pioneer by Kosakura & Associates, 2215 S. Standard Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92707. (Web site) www.kosakura.com
Modular DK Shop System
Walls+Forms, Inc. has introduced the Modular DK Shop System, a modular display system, that is easy to install. Based on lightweight, high load carrying aluminum frames, the system features easy-to-change color plates (panels) and a full range of accessories. Once installed, the system gives store staff the freedom to change a wall in minutes, or an entire store in a few hours. Power outlets and security devices are hidden behind the plates, leaving no cables or wires exposed. For more information, contact Walls + Forms, 204 Airline, Coppell, TX 75019. (Web site) www.wallsforms.com
Focus Display Group offers an Aerodynamic 7” LCD Media Player for point-of-purchase display applications. The 7” LCD Media Player is designed for shelf and wall mounting, and can easily be incorporated into all types of displays. The unit has a memory of up to 4GB. It is offered in several colors, including black, red, blue and white. For more information, contact Focus Display Group, 10328 Highland West Drive, Escondido, CA 92029. (Web site) www.focuspackaging.com
Bridgestone Golf is inviting customers at PGA Tour Supersstores to take its Ball Fitting Challenge. In-Store Touchmedia, a div. of In-Store Experience used its Flex-Media™ modular display system to create an end cap display which integrates a 15" interactive touch screen monitor with 144 dozen golf balls. By answering four contextual questions, the system recommends the best ball for a particular style of play. For the retailer, the unit collects key analytics including the number of times the unit has been used along with product recommendation counts. For more information, contact In-Store Experience, 49 Richmondville Ave., Westport, CT 06880. (Web site) www.instoreexperience.com
Harbor Industries, Inc. has developed a new interactive system for conveying product messaging. The in-TRAC™ system (patent pending) is a sliding interactive LCD monitor that changes information as it is moved in front of different products. The monitor slides on a powered 12 V DC rail allowing the consumer to receive desired product messaging. If additional information is needed, the consumer can access it using the optional touch screen. The screen can be mounted portrait or landscape. Content can be delivered using either a compact flash card or web based option whichever is best for the retailer. The system is designed to be incorporated in a point of purchase display, on gondola shelving or on slat wall. For more information, contact Harbor Industries, 14130 172nd Ave., Grand Haven, MI 49417. (Web site) www.harbor-ind.com
Focus Display offers its VideoPro Snap Lock Frame with Edge Lite LED Back Lite and 7" LCD Media Player. The unit coordinates graphic with video presentation with frames sizes 18 x 24, 24 x 28 available. The frame color is brushed aluminum and black. For more information, contact Focus Display Group, 10328 Highland West Drive, Escondido, CA 92029. (Web site) www.focuspackaging.com
Bauer is using this interactive kiosk to promote its skates in sporting goods outlets. The permanent display attracts shoppers with vibrant graphics. The video presentation highlights the features of Bauer’s line of hockey skates. This kiosk was created for Bauer by Diamond Marketing, 11512 N. Port Washington Road, Suite 102, Mequon, WI 53092. (Web site) www.diamondmarketing.net
Synsor Corp. has developed an innovative end cap that features an interactive LCD for Eastman Kodak Co. at Office Max stores. The LCD has a continuous silent attract loop and on-demand consumer information feed. This interactive end cap design varies depending on store footprints; however, all displays capture the consumer's attention with a bright flat-panel LCD screen. Consumers select one of three, bright-red buttons to start a voice-over informational segment about Kodak's digital product of interest; a Kodak EasyShare Digital Camera, Pocket Video Camera or Digital Frames. The featured products are located directly under interactive displays, making it easy for consumers to purchase products. Software is downloaded to smart cards, which are housed inside the display so there is no software configuration necessary. For more information, contact Synsor Corp., 1920 Merrill Creek Pkwy., Everett, WA 98203. (Web site) www.synsor.com
Kosakura created this Linksys Wireless Home Audio display. The interactive display demonstrates the Linksys Wireless Home Audio, Router, and Media Player. Product information videos are engaged by the customer. All Linksys product is securely mounted for theft resistance. The display is constructed of powder coated metal, frosted plexiglas and direct printed MDF. For more information, contact Kosakura, 2215 S. Standard Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92707. (Web site) www.kosakura.com
Industrial Image Inc. offers a touch option with its FlashView Ad Players which adds touch screens to point of purchase displays to customize the message. FlashView displays are industrial quality LCDs with flash memory in secure metal chassis to mount in POP displays. Open frame or with a variety of options, this digital signage solution is available at an economical price. For more information, contact Industrial Image Inc., 2665 Pine Grove Rd., Suite 400, Cumming, GA 30042. (Web site) www.industrialimage.net.com
This freestanding tower boasts a 7" LCD display that highlights the unique story of the MBT brand as well as showcases up to 8 pairs of men's or women's MBT branded shoes. Its white, streamlined metal construction creates an impactful brand statement. The sleek display allows the consumer to experience the high quality level of MBT product. The MBT Integrated LCD Tower Shoe Display was created by SMS, Inc., 760 Lakeside Drive, Suite D, Gurnee, IL 60031. (Web site) www.selectmarketingsolutions.com
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