Scandinavian cosmetic retailer takes control of new digital signs with MX5

Using state of the art LCD displays, a video projector and 10 Keywest Technology MX5 digital signage controller/players, cosmetic retailer Matas is giving customers a shopping experience they won’t soon forget.

Retail digital signs transform tired, static displays into a dynamic visual feast of video, graphics and moving text that demands the fleeting attention of busy shoppers and directs it to specials, featured items with a special flare.

Hoping to capitalize on those strengths, Danish retail giant Matas boldly chose to embark on a pilot project retiring many of its ordinary signs in a few stores in favor of a series of hip flat-panel displays strategically positioned to command attention and create a special retail ambiance geared toward attracting young women with an interest in beauty and fashion.

Matas rolled out its initial installation of 10 digital signs at a single retail store in Copenhagen late last year with the help of systems integrator Dansk Data Display. Using new flat-screen LCD displays, a video projector and 10 full-featured digital signage controller/players from Keywest Technology, the retailer builds excitement and sets itself apart for other retailers while weaving in advertisements for its suppliers’ products.

Matas has ringed the top of its store with LCD displays and strategically stationed. Smaller LCD panels as end caps on shelves to target messages to customers looking for specific merchandise. Those dynamic end caps replaced tired, static, backlit displays that were simple to forget and easy to ignore. What makes the digital signs such a powerful marketing vehicle for Matas is their ability to display video, overlay text announcing specials and blend in graphics, including digital still images and digital merchandising posters –all of which can be changed for each digital sign at a moments notice without interrupting the existing message mid-stream.

That high degree of control in playback and scheduling is the province of the Keywest Technology MX5 MediaXtreme. Stationed in a small equipment rack in the back of the retail store, the MX5s quietly and reliably provide Matas management instant control over all
aspects of what’s played back, where it appears and when it’s seen.

On one level, the MX5 is a cost-effective character generator offering the features and tools to create and playback visually appealing pages of text.

On another, it’s a powerful multimedia messaging controller that’s ideal for digital signage. The MX5 offers superior multimedia functionality, MPEG video playback and live video insertion, six independent graphics layers plus live data layering -all with event scheduling and management.

With MX5’s MediaMaker scheduling software, it’s simple to create playlists. Drag and drop media assets from the clipboard onto the MX5 timeline. When finished, send them and scheduling information to the MX5 via Ethernet over an IP network. The MX5 even has a built-in MPEG player, so presentations can look as good as anything on network television. More than 100 hours of DVD-quality video can be stored and played back.

At the Matas location in Copenhagen, one MX5 even controls what’s displayed via a video projector trained on a special translucent screen at the front of the store to attract traffic from outside.

So successful was Matas’ initial use of the digital signs at a single retail location that the
company has decided to expand its commitment to digital signage, and the Keywest Technology MX5 controller/player to two more stores in Copenhagen.