Cineplex Digital Solutions piloting interactive digital signage at Cadillac Fairview in Markham

Cineplex Digital Solutions (TSX: CGX), the digital signage and experiential media agency of Cineplex Entertainment, have introduced a new Digital Hoarding offering, a plug-and-play digital signage initiative that compels customers to engage with what would normally have been a blank “under construction” barrier in front of vacant retail properties.

The Digital Hoarding solution, designed to provide customer insight analytics, will first be deployed at the Cadillac Fairview Markville shopping centre in Markham, Ontario as a pilot project.

“The digital units that Cineplex Digital Solutions installed at CF Markville are a unique and interactive means for engaging shoppers in spaces where they least expect it,” said Cadillac Fairview Senior Vice President of Marketing Jason Anderson. “At CF, we’re committed to enhancing the shopping experience through digital technology and we’re eager to see how shoppers respond to this new form of entertainment.”

Two interactive screens in the mall will try to drive customers to the Express Eatery via mobile couponing. When a user follows the prompts, they will be offered activities and games designed to increase dwell time in the mall’s food court area while providing a digital entertainment experience.

Guests will be encouraged to return to the Express Eatery through via a leaderboard, which will encourage them to compete for a high score.

The 98-degree landscape screens will contain two user experiences, Top Shopper, a game that challenges the player to place falling product icons into their shopping bag while avoiding obstacles, and Match by Memory, a two-minute memory challenge that involves players using the touch screen to flip over as many matching cards customized with the logos of tenants located in the Express Eatery during the allotted time.

The objective is to get customers interested in that particular retail space’s future through customized content and gamification through fully customized large touch and gesture enabled screens that create a dialogue between the customer and retailers, brands and the shopping centre.

“Digital Hoarding is really about creating guest experiences and deriving value from a space in a retail environment that used to be off-limits to shoppers,” said Cineplex Digital Media General Manager Fab Stanghieri. “Digital interactive and engaging experiences are growing in popularity with shopping centres because they’re effective, affordable, reusable and fully-customizable – and the data shows that visitors love them.”

The screens also create an opportunity to engage with consumers, the Digital Hoarding offering has photo capture capabilities, social media connectivity, participant data capturing, a couponing function and content manipulation technologies.

In September, Cineplex Digital Solutions joined the Digital Place Based Advertising Association.