Display Channel News | A New Concept in Media

A New Concept in Media: Brand-Networking - Launch of Brand News Network

July 27 2001, London, U.K. - Digital View, the pioneering LCD monitor manufacturer and media company, is launching the revolutionary Brand News Network (BNN), a brand-networking company which will provide a network of screens with advertising and news content in retail outlets across the country.

Already installed in 100 stores, some of which are Spar, Costcutter and Londis outlets, BNN screens are 15 inch flat panel video monitors placed in the most visually accessible areas of shops, with the aim of reaching customers at point of purchase. Retail outlets suited to the medium include stores which stock multiple brands and have a high incidence of impulse purchase, such as tobacconists, newsagents, grocers and chemists - where 73% of purchase decisions are taken at the point of purchase.

One of the most unique applications of BNN's screens is the ViewPOS cash register, essentially a shop-till with a large screen attached to the top. The ViewPOS cash register displays arresting images which cannot fail to make an impact on customers when making purchase decisions. Since BNN provides the new till for free, shopkeepers have been more than happy to take advantage of such a hi-tech edition to their stores.

Brand-Networking through BNN offers advertisers an innovative opportunity to promote brand awareness and influence the target market in a way that directly affects purchase decisions. With the facility to offer advertising on a national, regional and even local basis, advertisers can launch their products and target their markets as and how they wish, pinpointing it down to the nearest postcode if necessary.

Advertisers currently trialling this new medium include major confectionary brands, satellite TV channels and other London services. The results prove conclusively that promoting brands in this way drives sales.

The programming consists of a series of 30-second digital videos run on a loop and can be updated remotely using BNN's communications network. The screens are also able to accommodate slides, photos, text information as well as video, and the intention is to include other content, such as news and weather reports to provide a useful and entertaining source of information for customers.

James Brenner, the commercial director of BNN, comments, "We offer a highly versatile medium for advertisers. By uploading onto the screens remotely, we can change the type of adverts playing instantaneously. When the temperature rises 20 degrees, we run adverts for ice-cream. Everything is scheduled to maximise impact so newspapers run in the morning, whilst family entertainment TV shows appear early evening.

"As the media market fragments, companies are finding it harder to ensure that their message is heard - with BNN we take your message directly to the decision maker at the moment of decision. This is a truly innovative marketing medium all the more striking because it is unusual. Quite simply, our technology of flat video screens and quality video stream are already proven to enhance brand awareness and increase sales."

Brand-Networking marks a new departure in the high-growth ambient media sector - so new in fact that the BRAD directory has decided to create a completely new 'Point of Sale' classification underwhich to list BNN.

Store owners are keen to sign up to the network, as the increased sales bring benefits to all parties and feedback from customers is enthusiastic. Rather than being intrusive, the screens create a vibrant impression and enhance the ambience of a local store.

BNN intends to roll the network out to 1000 different stores in Q4 2001.