Posted on Apr 8, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am
From PRWeb comes this press release about Scala Digital Signage and Viking Line: 
Scala-powered screens used on ferries to inform passengers and promote tax-free shopping
Mariehamn, Finland (PRWEB) March 31, 2009 — Viking Line, a Finnish operator of ferries and cruise ferries, has partnered with digital signage software provider Scala to implement digital signs on board its seven vessels. The digital signage features both informational and ad-based programming, and reaches passengers at various points on its ships.
The ad-based network shows tax-free promotions in the most trafficked areas of the boat near the shops, restaurant and casinos. The information network shows content on large touch screens, including opening hours, restaurant menus, weather, news, entertainment programming, conference information and possible delays.
Viking Line started to look into digital signage for two main reasons. It was printing about 2,000 sheets of paper every day for the cruise program, and screens that could show this information would reduce printing costs dramatically. Viking Line also wanted to use digital and dynamic posters to increase tax-free sales. It felt a digital network would also raise the professional profile and brand image of the ferries.
Viking Line was looking for a supplier with experience. It wanted an established software solution that had been thoroughly tested and developed over time. Viking also needed a system that could grow with its business and handle new areas of usage in the future.
Scala was first chosen to do a pilot in one of its ferries, Mariella. When Viking Line saw that Scala could meet all of its requirements, it chose Scala for all seven ferries. Currently, Mariella runs 15 screens and six channels. By Summer 2009, all of its ferries will have digital signage networks installed.
“Viking Line is impressed with the potential in the software, and so far we have not discovered any limitations. We are very satisfied with the user interface, and I also want to emphasize the latest Photoshop plug-in that has been added to convert Photoshop-layered elements to Scala script,” said Kenneth Kronström, Technical Project Manager of Viking Line.
Viking Line has reduced its printing costs dramatically, and the company now feels much more environmentally friendly.
“Sales of promotional products have increased remarkably since the screens were installed. We clearly see that the customers perceive the message, and they more frequently purchase the promoted products,” said René Engman, Viking Line’s Deputy Director of IT.
Viking Line has already started to think about new digital signage projects. Its next plan is installing screens at the terminals. This is an area where people are typically waiting and would be receptive to information such as the cruise program and promotional products.
Viking Line also wants to develop a new script together with Scala that could show passengers exactly where the boat is at sea. A screen with a sea map and coordinates showing the boat’s position would be continuously updated along the trip.
For more information on Viking Line or other Scala-powered digital signage systems, please contact Lorena Crowley at 610-269-2100, ext.237.
About Viking Line
Viking Line commenced service in 1959, when the S/S Viking began sailing between the Finnish mainland, the Åland Islands and Sweden. Today Viking Line has seven vessels, which sail between the Finnish mainland, Åland and Sweden, as well as between Finland and the Baltic states. With Viking Line, a Baltic cruise from one city to another takes less than a day. Viking Line has a wide entertainment offering: casinos, restaurants, discos and live artists. Operations include passenger services, recreation and cargo carrier services.
About Scala
Driving more than 200,000 screens worldwide, Scala is a leading global provider of digital signage and advertising management solutions. Scala is the world’s first connected signage company, offering the leading platform for content creation, management and distribution in digital signage networks and the first unified platform for advertising management of both traditional and digital signage networks. The company’s digital signage customers include Rabobank, IKEA, Burger King, T-Mobile, Virgin MegaStore, Warner Brothers, The Life Channel, Rikstoto, Repsol, NorgesGruppen and thousands more. Advertising management customers include CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel Outdoor and Magic Media, among others. Scala is headquartered near Philadelphia, USA, and has subsidiaries in Canada, The Netherlands, France, Norway and Japan, as well as more than 450 partners in more than 60 countries. More information is available at www.scala.com.
# # #
Contact Information
Lorena Crowley
Scala
http://www.scala.com
610-269-2100
Posted on Apr 6, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am
Yahoo News brings us this press release about StrandVision LLC:
Plymouth, MN (PRWEB) March 31, 2009 –WestHealth, which provides convenient outpatient health care services in the Twin Cities, has completed the renovation of its atrium lobby with a digital signage system from StrandVision LLC of Menomonie, Wis. The signage, installed in a kiosk, along with a touch screen way-finder directory, greets the 1,700 to 2,000 staff, patients and visitors who go through the Campus Drive facility lobby each day.
The digital sign mix includes WestHealth’s mission statement and values, as well as announcements for community events such as food drives, fund raisers, etc. It also carries local weather and maps, and health news that is available on the Internet and streamed by the StrandVision server.
“We were attracted to StrandVision’s ease-of-use, low cost, subscription pricing and convenience,” said Cindy Kehus, information services coordinator/information security officer. “We planned for it during the renovations by running a network connection to the kiosk. All we had to do was add the 42-inch LCD screen and a personal computer, and the signage system was set to go.”
Available as a subscription service that is delivered over the Internet, StrandVision provides content directly to clients’ digital signage receivers. Subscribers simply log onto the StrandVision Web site where they can fully manage their digital signage content by making their selections from a number of StrandVision’s predefined options, upload and schedule pages, and add pictures and graphics. All updates appear on the local screen in a few minutes.
The WestHealth digital sign is easily updated by adapting existing marketing materials. Executive Assistant Joyce Rubin uses Adobe InDesign to design or adapt the pages. She then converts the designs to a standard graphics format for posting to StrandVision. This level of expertise with the StrandVision system was achieved without training. Rubin simply logged onto the StrandVision site and experimented with the optional design formats.
About StrandVision:
StrandVision LLC delivers low-cost, Web-based Software as a Service (SaaS) digital signage through a patent-pending approach that delivers content to subscribers’ LCD and plasma displays, as well as computer screens and Web sites. StrandVision’s service distributes text and graphics pages, including advertisements, video content, and national and local weather and news. It is ideal for medical and dental offices (patient education), libraries, banks, retailers and industrial distributors (video merchandising), employee break rooms (events and benefits), non-profit and religious organizations (member and supporter communications), and other applications.
StrandVision also offers PC-2-TV.net, a fully digital, high-definition (HD) personal computer-to-television adapter for use with digital signage and many other applications.
StrandVision Digital Signage services and PC-2-TV.net are available directly from StrandVision and through registered affiliates and system integrators (http://www.strandvision.com/?installers). Additional information about StrandVision is available at http://www.strandvision.com, by calling 715-235-7446 or emailing sales (at) strandvision.com.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
EDITORS – For further information:
Mike Strand
StrandVision
715-235-7446
mjstrand (at) strandvision.com
Sandy McLaughlin
Soucy Communications Group
781-898-7305
smclaughlin (at) scg-pr.com
Posted on Apr 1, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am
Check out this fantastic street-level interactive display that Monster Media, in partnership with Havas’ Arnold MPG, designed and installed for Carnival Cruise Lines!
Carnival Cruise Lines has introduced a street-level interactive display called the Carnival 
Aquarium, designed and installed by Monster Media in partnership with Arnold MPG. If you live in or near Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, or New York, you’ve got easy access to these HUGE interactive animated aquariums. The aquariums are all located in high traffic pedestrian areas, and are there so passersby can have fun!
Here is what Digital Signage Today has to say about it:
Carnival’s multi-market media campaign features body responsive interaction, oversized vinyl graphics and voice controlled mobile integration. Consumers can dial in a six-digit provided code to create a fish based on the tones of their voice and then see their customized fish appear in the interactive display area. By using their cell phone as a remote control users are able to guide their fish to discover all the program has to offer.
Smart move, Carnival! People will tell their friends about your digital signage, and those friends will tell THEIR friends, and people will have good things to say about Carnival Cruise Lines. I would also predict that while people have their cell phones out, interacting with the signage, they will also be much more inclined to use that cell phone to spend some serious money with Carnival Cruise Lines.
DOOH, Digital Signage, FrameMedia, Interactive marketing, Scala, SignChannel, Wireless Digital Signage
Arnold MPG, Carnival Cruise Lines, Digital Signage Today, FrameMedia, Havas, interactive aquariums, interactive signage, Monster Media
