Real-Time Auditing Revolutionizes Digital Signage
ANC Sports Releases Comprehensive In-Game Data Reporting Application
(Purchase, NY, December 1, 2010) – Over the past ten years, digital signage has evolved to change how sports and entertainment events are presented.
While the new light emitting diode (LED) Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision™ signage system at the Air Canada Center has helped create a dynamic, energetic and entertaining atmosphere, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has found the enormous amount of features have developed new challenges.
“Since we utilize such a large amount of different content, we needed to limit the amount of human error possible when selecting which animations to display, as well as ensure the accuracy of the information we report to our corporate partners,” said Dwayne Brown, technical producer at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
On any one night, the Air Canada Centre will feature over 100 individual graphics or animations. While offering the venue and its corporate partners with an unprecedented amount of visuals to connect with the consumer, which graphics were displayed when can be difficult to track.
Therefore, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment partnered with ANC Sports Enterprises to create the first comprehensive LED real-time auditing system available in the sports and entertainment industry.
“We turned to ANC, who has been our partner for the past ten years to push the limits of digital signage software technology,” said Brown.
The result is a Windows oriented system that plugs into ANC’s patent-pending VisionSOFT operating system, displaying how long each piece of content has been featured during a game in real time.
“ANC’s patent-pending applications are the most innovative control system in sports and entertainment, however similar to all technology platforms we are consistently searching for ways to advance our software,” said Mark Stross, executive vice president of technology development, ANC Sports.
The data collected guides the Air Canada Centre’s staff as to which animation needs to be displayed, as well as when. The real-time audit system informs the operator how long a specific piece of content has appeared since the gates opened, how long during each period or intermission, as well as what percentage of time used compared to the time allocated.
Tracking the exposures independently or in a group, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment can provide data to their corporate partners at anytime during or after the game.
“The data is extremely valuable to our marketing department, as well as our corporate partners,” Brown said. “We can now easily and quickly identify which sponsor graphics should be displayed more often or maybe featured during the game as opposed to intermission.”
When one of Coca-Cola’s animations was scheduled to be displayed for six minutes during a recent Maple Leaf’s game, the operator knew that halfway through the third period, he needed to play the content for 53 more seconds before the end of the game.
“The real-time auditing opens a dialogue between our marketing department and sponsor,” said Brown. “Imagine a game which the outcome was not in doubt, enhancing the chance that some fans might leave early. In theory, we would know which corporate partners still had not received their full allotment of time and could offer the opportunity to move the remaining exposure to the start of the next home game when the arena would be full.”
Since the audit system flows through ANC’s VisionSOFT, it is a simple feature to use that will change how game presentations are summarized. Additionally, the real-time audit application is automated so the staff can continue to control the displays with no additional employee assistance or operational cost.
“The Air Canada Centre challenged our technology team to simplify event reporting based on their corporate partners’ requests,” added Stross. “We look forward to creating new applications with the venue that will continue to change the dynamics of game presentations.”