Though I better get one in August or I'll start to look lazy!  We have some news to share.  Some of you may noticed an article out last month about FutureMedia's launch of an out of home TV network.  We're delighted to announce that CampaignManager has been selected and is now deployed.  Phase one is 1,000 screens and phase two sees 10,000 screens deployed.  At 10,000 it counts as one of the largest networks deployed anywhere.  FutureMedia's network will extend to the Big Bazaar and Pantaloons shopping malls throughout India reaching a mind boggling 200 million shoppers anually. 

PRESS RELEASE: Ryarc CampaignManager powers one of the largest digital signage deployments to date

21^st August 2007

Ryarc Media Systems has announced their digital signage software will power Future TV, the first move by Future Media towards an in-store advertising channel across their Indian retail network and one of the world’s largest digital signage deployments. A subsidiary of Future Group, Future Media will initially roll out 1,000 screens in over 35 Future Group stores in the top six metros of India as the start of a planned network of 10,000 screens.

CampaignManager, Ryarc’s digital signage software, will be the backbone to Future TV becoming the first branded out-of-home (OOH) TV network across retail outlets in India. The footfall expected across this network is 2 Million people each week. According to Partho Dasgupta, CEO of Future Media, “When you get people to notice your brand or product in store, the intent to buy will always be much higher.”

Ryarc’s CEO, Fergal Ó Ceallaigh, said “Competing with global blue chip brands with large advertising budgets can be difficult, but in the end, it’s the quality of the software and the service you provide to customers that shines through and not the hype.  Future Media needed a solution that was powerful and scalable enough to run a truly huge network and yet, not require a team of IT professionals to run it.   We were delighted when Future Media chose our technology after almost a year of careful research.  The size of this deployment is truly impressive; our technology will deliver content, news and advertising to 100 million viewers annually.  That’s comfortably greater than most national broadcasters and is a testament to the growing reach of out-of-home digital.”

Anup Kotekar, Business Director, Future Media said that “We are pleased with the support rendered to us by Ryarc in terms of flexibility & software customization.”

N. S. Padmanabhan, Product Director, Future Media said that “We are extremely satisfied with CampaignManager’s features, functionality and robustness. Its outstanding user-friendly interface isolates the user from all complexities. Our test runs have all been successful with no software glitches.”

CampaignManager is a complete digital signage software solution with remote management, publishing, monitoring, logging, proof of play and versatile playback capabilities. This user-friendly software allows flexible arrangement of display zones. CampaignManager delivers Flash animation, video, live web content, RSS tickers, images, live video capture and digital (DVB) and analogue TV in a seamless channel.

CampaignManager has been designed from the ground up to be instantly familiar to users of common PC applications. No specialist training or knowledge is required. Combining a user friendly interface with unparalleled scheduling power and flexibility, CampaignManager is the clear choice whether you wish to run a single display, or a global digital signage network.

The technology architecture for Future TV has been managed by Konzern Infotech. The Director of Konzern, Dhruv M. Trivedi, said “The service and support we received from Ryarc was exceptional. I couldn’t have asked for a better software platform or a better team to work with. CampaignManager has exceeded our expectations and delivered a very powerful digital signage network that is very easy to manage.”

Ben Mooney, Sales and Marketing Manager of Ryarc, said “We’re delighted to see CampaignManager headlining one of the largest digital signage deployments to date. This is an exciting project not only for those involved, but for the entire digital signage industry.”

About Ryarc Media Systems (http://www.ryarc.com/)

Ryarc Media Systems is a digital signage software company whose technology powers distributed media applications around the globe. Ryarc’s core product is CampaignManager, an end-to-end Digital Signage management platform.

The Ryarc team has been working on creating the CampaignManager product since 2001. Ryarc has representatives in Australia, New Zealand, India, and The European Union. Each year, Ryarc delivers over a billion impressions worldwide to an impressive blue chip customer base.

About Future Media (www.futuremedia.in)

Future Media India Ltd. is a part of the Future Group, which owns Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central and manages multiple retail formats catering to a wide cross-section of the Indian society, capturing almost the entire consumption basket of the Indian consumers. Future Media was incorporated on 8th March, 2006 and the operations were started from 1st January, 2007.

Future Media will give brands a chance to communicate with the active consumers, who consume through media properties in print, television, radio, and visual signage spaces. The company is expected to rollout different channels across different formats.