Cisco and Shaw Theaters transform the retail industry with digital signage

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Cisco and Shaw Theaters transform the retail industry with digital signage.

Cisco has announced that Shaw Theaters, Singapore's oldest and largest entertainment company, deployed Cisco Digital Signs at its flagship Shaw Theatres Lido in Orchard and the new Shaw Theatres nex in Serangoon. Shaw Theaters will utilize retail solutions and technology from Cisco to capture the attention and purchasing power of today's customers by offering dynamic content.

Having entertained generations of Singaporeans for more than 80 years, Shaw Theatres is committed to adopting new technologies to engage the new generation of cinema patrons.

With Box Office and Ticketing screens being a core part of the operations of a movie theater, reliability of high definition streaming content is critical to Shaw Theatres' business.

Cisco Digital Signs, part of the Cisco Digital Media Suite, provides Shaw Theaters with centralized streaming and delivery of real-time content such as movie schedules and trailer videos, to multiple digital media displays connected to their theatres.

This includes dynamic content such as movie show times with indications as to whether a movie is selling fast or sold out, promotional videos advertising and branding, all of which improve customer experiences at the movie theater, while reducing inefficiencies in operations management.

The complete solution was developed by the Cisco Enabling Platform Innovation Centre (EPIC), a technology centre designed to help retail service providers (RSPs) build and deliver services over the Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) in Singapore.

Cisco EPIC, together with NexLabs and Nexus-On-Demand, developed the solution using a platform-as-a-service approach. This solution offers Shaw Theaters a cost effective, multi-tenanted, cloud-based, online content management system to provide a fully managed trusted and reliable infrastructure for content distribution and playback across multiple locations.

With an open architecture, Shaw Theaters can customize and build unique workflows where content can be updated at any time and from almost anywhere through a Web browser.

Having access to the platform through the Internet provides mobility and immediate access to the digital assets, which results in efficiency and allows the company to enhance its operational manageability and scalability.
All content delivered to digital signage screens will be managed through a centralized, cloud-based content management system that can be expanded to support other applications and media end-points in the future. This includes updating and delivery of all digital content across its various locations.
The existing single video walls will be replaced by Cisco Digital Signs displaying HD content spanning multiple screens. This will create new opportunities for revenue streams, movie promotions as well as corporate advertisements.

Cisco Digital Signs, part of the Cisco Digital Media Suite is a network-based digital signage application that allows customers to conveniently publish and view digital media over an IP network to standard and high definition displays.
Combined with end-to-end services and a robust partner ecosystem, Cisco Digital Signs delivers the most comprehensive digital signage offering that provides an innovative way to help improve the customer and user experience and to strengthen competitive advantages.

Digital signage is suitable for a wide variety of customer applications in many industries, including financial services, retail, government, education, health care, sports, entertainment, safety and security, and transportation.
Cisco EPIC worked with NexLabs and Nexus-On-Demand to provide the Digital Media solution for Shaw Theaters. With infrastructure and expertise from Cisco, NexLabs provided system integration and customer support while Nexus-On-Demand provided content management and user experience.

Irving Tan, general manager for Asia South at Cisco, said: "Shaw Theaters' use of technology creates a profound impact on the retail industry. Retailers now have the power to instantly customize and manage promotions on the go based on their customers' demographics and point-of-sale data, down to the retail outlet. Cisco Digital Signs helps retailers use digital media to increase sales, enhance customer experience and facilitate learning -- while engaging customers at every level. With shopping being one of Singapore's favorite hobbies, imagine how retailers and shopping complexes can collaborate to offer better value to customers, while improving employee productivity and operations."

Terence Heng, vice president for media at Shaw Organisation, added: "Shaw Theatres aims to provide the best customer experience that starts from the moment they step into our movie theaters in Singapore. This collaboration with Cisco allows us to work with our movie distributors, content providers and advertisers to engage the audiences and business partners more effectively. The efficiencies we have experienced and the opportunities that we can foresee are aided by how easy it is to create, manage, publish and access high-quality content."