What are the business opportunities and industry trends in Digital Signage and Retail Media Networks? New Business Opportunity SIG, Meeting March 10, 2005 As reported by Chad Caines ccaines@candassoc.com

Dylan Jones, Senior Creative Director PRN Dylan Jones is Senior Creative Director for PRN (Premier Retail Networks), the nation’s largest in-store media network which is located in over 5000 stores nationwide with over 180 million viewers a month. He is responsible for developing and pitching ideas to clients such as: Disney, Pepsi Co, P&G, Unilever and the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart stores Inc. His role also includes production supervision to ensure that the production team is executing the correct vision for PRN’s clients and their brands. Dylan is an international, award-winning broadcast and advertising specialist with over fifteen years of creative and senior management experience. Prior to joining PRN he used his thorough understanding of broadcast marketing, production and business experience working with the worlds largest broadcasters and media companies to launch cable TV channels in Europe including work with Turner Broadcasting Networks – Cartoon Channel; and Sci-Fi Channel UK.

About PRN Corporation Founded in 1992, the PRN Corporation operates the PRN Network, the largest in-store television network in the United States based on the number of consumers reached each month. Through the PRN Network, PRN enables national and local advertisers to target consumers in over 5,000 leading retail stores in all of the 210 media markets designated by AC Nielsen in the United States. PRN works with retailers and advertisers to create in-store television programming that includes entertainment, news, product information, advertising and community content. Retailers carrying the PRN Network include Best Buy, Circuit City, Costco, Pathmark Stores, Ralphs, SAM'S CLUB, Sears, ShopRite and Wal-Mart Stores. Based on information provided by several third-party research firms and retailers, PRN Network is watched more than 180 million times each month by consumers in retail stores. PRN's headquarters are in San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit www.prn.com. <see the video of this presentation> Click here to download a copy of Dylan's presentation slides (Powerpoint 31mb) To save this link to disk, right click using Windows and "Save target as..." or control click using Mac and "Save link as...".

The highlights of Dylan’s presentation. Media Where It Matters is PRN’s tagline. For us, it’s not just a tagline. [At PRN] we are finding new ways to create content that works in the store environment. 70% of brand purchase decisions are made in the store. You can imagine the impact that that has on advertising. If you are in the camera department buying a roll of film and you had a choice of buying Kodak or Fuji, an advertisement presenting the advantages of color and quality may help you decide on what brand to buy. It is a very powerful message to have right there at the [point of sale]. PRN is in about 5000 stores throughout the country. Wal-Mart is our largest customer. Our medium is a combination of sight sound and graphics. Our reach covers the USA. We can target specific demographics and regions. We can schedule content for a specific time of day or time of the year. The Hispanic market is a huge growth area for us as well.

PRN Storewide networks. We can segment our larger store locations with strategic marketing zones. In Wal-Mart stores, Action Alley segments household items, the Wall of Eyes is located in the home entertainment department, and the Banana Bin. Apparently, the Banana Bin is [longest] dwell area for any store. So, somebody said, let’s install a monitor in the Banana Bin. We have a 42 inch plasma [display] hanging above the Banana Bin that will play specific content for food oriented programming. Originally, when first we got started, we were only [broadcast] in the home entertainment department. In the past seven or eight years it has really grown from there. [We also broadcast] a separate channel in HD TV for the home electronics department that plays music videos, movie trailers, video game footage and some HD content from advertisers as well. So, actually we deliver multiple channels. We have the storewide which delivers the 4:3 standard and the HD 16:9 high definition channel for the home electronics department, and then have department focused channels in other key areas of the store – such as Pharmacy. Delivery For Wal-Mart we deliver a 2 hour show every two weeks that can be refreshed with pieces of new media at any point that is compressed into an MPEG file. At any one time we can have up to 250 versions of the show playing throughout the US. Programming Programming on the Wal-Mart television network is a combination of custom creative content, supplied commercials from our advertisers, Wal-Mart corporate messaging, and seasonal content. Custom creative content is what much of my team works on. The Home Electronics Networks (HEN) is [delivered to] Best Buy, Sears, Circuit City stores. In Best Buy we have to deliver everything completely in high def (HD) format. It can be originally in 35 millimeter [film] and then transferred to HD or it can be native HD. [On the HEN network] you will see a lot of theatrical movie trailers, music video, and original HD content that will [showcase] the [brilliance of the HD format]. This type of content helps us meet our retail partners need by helping them to sell HD televisions. In selling an HDTV set seeing is believing and our proprietary technology allows our signal to be played simultaneously on analog sets and the HD sets which gives the consumer the opportunity to discern the difference in visual experience for themselves. Your Channel plays at [supermarket] checkout [stands]. Right now we are in Ralph’s, Shoprite and Pathmark stores in the East Coast. This a huge growth area for us this year and targets a very powerful demographic - women. The screen display is divided into three pieces. The lower third is reserved for news, weather and sports information. The center panel is reserved for local advertisement. The flash panel on the side is geared for [customized updates]. For example, if a movie was opening on Friday, we would place the movie trailer in the center panel and we could put the movie start times at the local theater on the Flash side panel. Your Channel is very different than the storewide and electronic [network]. Your Channel is not necessarily about selling people items in the back of the store, although it is a powerful awareness builder and can be used to build awareness of the launch of a new item coming to the store soon or an event such as turkeys going on sale for Thanksgiving next time they visit. It’s about relationship building between the customer, the retailer, and the advertiser.

Interactive. PRN’s interactive system allows people to scan a [music] CD underneath the interactive box and they will get a 30 second preview of that CD. At the same time the preview is running, we will play a lower third commercial as well so there is no space that goes unadvertised. We also create previews for video. There is a whole division [at PRN] devoted towards cutting up the music videos and CDs into a 30 second preview and then loading them up to these sites for people to look at. In Store Creative One of things that we found working in the in-store environment is that shorter is better. It has to be short. The bulk of my time is spent with advertisers talking about what I can do different from their national campaign. What can I do that will have an impact and really reach out to people?

The ten spot The regular 30 spot does not necessarily work on in-store network tv. So we have develop the ten spot. These spots are only ten seconds long. Frito Lay's MPEG Doritos MPEG "Located in the salty snack aisle". Giving people direction is important. Our ten second spot is: 1) Tell me what the product is 2) Give me one benefit about that product 3) Tell me where I can get And move on. That’s what our ten second spot is all about. The 20 spot Sometimes we do mix up the commercial lengths. Nothing we do is longer than 30 seconds. Our average spot is 20 seconds long. Here is an example of how you can use sound to get the best results. The Lion King MPEG Sound is very important. Who is not going to look up when they hear the Lion King Circle of Life song? This next spot was a custom piece we made on a tight budget. Doritos Music Downloads MPEG Bright graphics and a hot music track by Lindsay Lohan helps when you’re selling inside the store. That [spot] was [produced on] a tight budget and is why we shot digital stills and animated everything in AfterEffects. You can have fun with it. [Our creative team] is always working on multiple projects at one time. It’s usually two [clients], sometimes three. The way we distribute our media, we allow a lot of time for approvals from the very first storyboard to the final production. The approval process is a lot of work but it has to be that way. Here is another example of one of our custom creative spots. This ad is for a body spray called Tag made by Gillette. Gillette came to us and said that the spot had to be sexy, it had to be raunchy and appeal to guys age 16 to 18. Which, of course, is a problem when you’re dealing with Wal-Mart as they have very specific standards compliances. So, we came up with a solution. If you can’t show sexy people walking around in the store, then maybe you can show sexy products. TAG MPEG [That was] a very visual ad. We used 3D graphics designed to catch your attention. Opportunity I have been [with PRN] for about four or five years now. It’s exiting to be on leading edge of advertising. I think in the future I see much more sophistication [in retail networks] and I think it’s going to explode the next few years. [At PRN] we look for people that have good experience in short form production. Writers who can be very conceptual and designers that can turn on a dime [are good creative prospects]. I think we need people that can help us invent this language. We are also looking for small production companies that are very efficient and produce quick and quality work in a short time. Dylan’s Q & A session Question: What is the benefit for the people who shop at these locations. Answer: The benefit comes by enhancing the shopping experience. 70% of brand decisions are made inside the store. We provide information to help [the shopper] make those decisions. Question: What percent of the production is produced in the Bay Area. Answer: I think about 80% is produced here.

continue with more of our NBO SIG web edition. Guest Speakers Kevin Massy | Dylan Jones | Steve Davis

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