David Teichner, the CEO of the rapidly expanding Channel M out-of-home network, said that they are adding a Dallas office.
In less than a year, Teichner's network has grown from 7,000 to 20,000 locations. It is also tailoring an in-store promotion to publicize Bungie Studios' "Halo 3" for the Microsoft Xbox 360.
Chris Gayton, former VP, Associate Media Director at Arnold and at the same time the Senior Director of Media and Promotions for Gap/Old Navy, has been hired as vice president of marketing. He will now lead the network from Los Angeles. Former RadioShack Marketing Manager for sports and events Tim Eaton was hired as the senior account director to head up or monitor the Dallas office. He will also manage the video for the 3,750 GameStop venues which form part of the Channel M network.
Teichner said that acquisitions such as ScreenPlay advertising in Seattle, last fall, as well as the market itself contributed a lot in the rapid growth of the network. This is the reason for his saying that he and the others in the industry formed the Out-of-Home Advertising Bureau association about a year ago. He uttered that everyone is getting hot on reaching consumers out of home, from the perception of advertising venue demand.
Teichner added that he viewed the Channel M business model much like ‘a cable set-up’; with each store a subscriber paying for the target content that includes advertising. He further said that the challenge in advertising is to offer the broadness of demographics, but their first step was to lock up the real estate. Avenues such as MyGym and EBGames outlets form part of the network.
As regards to recent custom content delivery, Channel M administered a campaign for Mazda Speed 3 with a tie-in to the Electronic Arts' game Need for Speed and each Mazda part of all Mazda Speed 3 cars were overlooked to really have the best quality. The EB Games and GameStop venues bagged a first look at game-play footage that features the Mazda in the action. The tournaments were filmed for later distribution and the Microsoft/Halo 3 sneak peak is expected to run at more than 3,000 venues.
Teichner, who said that one of the goals of the bureau is to standardize out-of-home metrix, continued that most agencies are attempting to embrace this. But, he further explained that the reality is that it is yet to be a line item in the budget. This is the reason why they have formed an advisory board with agencies. He inserted the statement that it is not an easy buy.
Tags: old navy, electronic arts, microsoft xbox, halo 3