3M eyes big at Indian digital signage mkt

BANGALORE, INDIA: 3M India, world’s leading company into adhesives, abrasives and laminates has developed a software from its Bangalore unit for the new mode of advertising. Now hypermarkets, large format retail chains and smaller outlets in the organized retail space are taking to the digital signage (DSN) advertising in a big way.

With over 10 years of R&D in the field of DSN, 3M now brings an integration of a variety oftechnologies, including software, that culminates in a single end result: a unique and powerful communication medium that provides unparallel opportunities to capture your audience’s attention, build brands, improve customer experience.

Talking to CIOL, Debasish Gupta, general manager of 3M India Limited says, “using digital signage, any retailer can deliver promotional messages, communicate important information, create advertising network and also enhance brand experiences.”

SOLO Edition

High value, low cost entry-level software to get your single screen digital signage up and running with minimum effort but maximum impact.

The 3M DSN SOLO Solution that was developed in Bangalore is a single-PC-based solution allowing you to deploy your own stand-alone display for internal communications, dynamic messaging and other similar applications, says Gupta adding that this is ideal for applications where frequent content changes are not required. The player and the manager software reside on the same PC that is connected to an LCD/Plasma Display. You can create playlists based on the local media files.

Any new content can be imported using media like CDs, floppies, DVDs, and these can be added to the playlist. The user interface is extremely simple and can be learnt with minimal effort. The store manager or the local operator can add and delete files to a playlist from a media database library whenever required and create these new loops. You can create unlimited number of loops and these loops can be individually scheduled to play at a future time and date.

3M's range of digital signage software is designed to support digital signage solutions of all kinds - from single screen executions to worldwide global networks. It is been used by hundreds of customers in dozens of countries to drive thousands of screen displays around the world.

Presently with a team of 15 technical people working here on DSN Technologies, the company has rolled out several versions of the SOLO software earlier. 3M DSN has three software versions: 3M Solo, 3M LAN and 3M Network Edition. In fact, the Bangalore lab provides customization for deployments in the Indian subcontinent. Some of the customization features developed here specifically for Indian Customers include:

* GPRS / GPS Integration for DSN solutions which is currently deployed in Volvo Buses of Bangalore Transport Corporation.

* Railway Ticketing Information that integrates data from the Railway database and outputs into the Digital Signage Software.

* Ticker or Scrolling News Bar that is supported in multiple Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, Kannada etc.

Niche concept

In India the concept is only 1.5 years old and earlier witnessed only promotional drives with no sales but but with 42 inch plasma that was priced over Rs 1 lakh now costing only about Rs 75,000 has resulted in many of the retailers in the organized space taking to it in a big way.

India has about 12,000 screens in the digital signage format, and as per estimates, the country will seen close to 50,000-55,000 screens installed in the next 18 months. As of now, 3M is busy helping Indian customers take the next step forward.

“With more than 50,000 screens to be installed over the next 18 months, India is a huge market for digital signage’s. Yet the plethora of solutions available makes it a difficult choice for customers,” said Prabhu Venkatesh, Business Manager, Commercials Graphics Division, 3M India Limited.

“The concept will help customers to understand and evaluate the best digital signage solutions for their requirements, be it hardware, software, display devices or connectivity,” adds Venkatesh. 3M Digital Signage powers more than 1000 screens in India, of which 600 cater to the retail food and grocery segment.

Now it is not just restricted to retail stores but also gaining in the banking, hospitality, automobile dealer and corporate houses. It is also emerging big in railways and airports.

Content management for single/multi screen systems

3M Solo Edition software can transform business performance with precisely targeted multimedia messages played out on a single screen, or group of screens that all display the same content, all controlled from a single PC. 

Solo Edition’s drag-and-drop approach to installation and scheduling is simplicity itself. You could be displaying high quality graphics plus full motion video and sound in your market place in minutes.

There’s no need for specialist hardware either – Solo Edition runs on any standard Windows XP Pro computer with an Internet connection. Full multimedia compatibility means it is ready to play all standard digital media formats immediately, with no conversion required.

For a targeted single content channel in a particular location, for businesses of all sizes, 3M Solo Edition is the software to choose.

But a few in India are aware of its technology offerings in the digital display market. The company’s optical display films and projection technology is now in use globally in hotel lobbies, airports, railway stations, control rooms, TV studios, retail stores and restaurants.