Founder of China-based Eastidea Integrated Solutions Dmitry Shklyar recently told Mel Stott about how the company’s AI tech enhances the long-existing niche of in-elevator DOOH advertising.
Please give us an overview of Eastidea’s business and kinds of products and services your company offers
We help digital signage system integrators and advertising agencies to take full advantage of modern AI solutions for digital out-of-home advertising. We recently released a new product, Ei-Mini Lifter, the ultimate AI-powered projection system, designed for influencing purchase decisions through advertising in elevators.
We deliver our products and services globally. Our clients in North Europe, Israel, Russia, Middle East, Vietnam and China are already successfully creating their own elevator ad projector networks by using Eastidea products. Our products help brands grab people’s attention while they are in elevators. We help advertisers take advantage of the ad space that has been greatly undervalued.
Could you name some of Eastidea’s advertisers?
In China, Eastidea provides services to 30 companies from many different industries. Among them are American Airlines, Dagan Agriculture, Coca-Cola, Helen Doron, New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai), Deloitte, Tripadvisor, Lagardère Travel Retail, Richemont, Chou Tai Fu, Vox Music, Videofabrika.ru, Futad Advertising and others.
This year we have worked on several campaigns with some luxury and fashion brands, airlines, consulting companies and sports equipment and apparel retailers.
Did the pandemic affect your business?
In certain respects, the COVID-19 pandemic has opened new horizons for us. Some executives who previously viewed taking action as the riskier choice now recognize that inertia is just as risky, or even more so. During the slowdown, we worked to accelerate trends that were already in play and also trying to trigger new ones by using automation and artificial intelligence.
What type of content do you show on the screens? Is this content subject to government review?
Our screens display information, entertainment, advertising, or mixed content. static or animation; sound off or sound on. The functionality Ei-Mini Lifter is very versatile. All ads must be moderated to ensure their compliance with advertising material requirements. The client can check all country-specific legal requirements for advertising before launching an advertising campaign.
In the announcement of Eastidea joining DPAA in July, you mentioned your “AI-based digital signage solution.” Please tell us about this AI component.
Our ultra-short-distance projector Ei-Mini Lifter and Ei-Slim Dual screen come with the advanced CMS on-board . This software learns from audience preferences, demographic data (such as age, gender) and inventory, among other parameters. It uses that data to optimize content.
That means clients can not just create-manage-change advertising campaigns, but track ad campaign performance daily. They can do that by seeing real-time impression and conversion numbers, and elevators playing their ads on a map. Additionally, they can track impression delivery by market, location, day and time and engagement rates.
Furthermore, all our products come with specific software that allows for DSP and SSP programmatic advertising.
Please tell us about the China’s digital out-of-home market including its size, growth rate, outlook for 2021 and any other insights that you would like to share.
China remains the largest advertising market in APAC and the second largest market globally behind the US. In 2019, China’s advertising market grew by 8.8%, reaching 553 billion yuan (CNY), slightly lower than previous expectations (up 10.3%). As the pandemic and economic crisis is global, so is the impact on the advertising market. In 2020, advertising sales will only increase by 7.9%, approaching 600 billion CNY, higher than previous expectations (an increase of 7.2%).
In 2019, the ad revenue of traditional “linear” media categories in China (print, radio) were down significantly, and they will keep falling in 2020-21. China’s digital out-of-home market is a notable exception. Outdoor media in China will continue to be driven by investment and innovation.
What motivated you to join DPAA?
At the moment, we are working on expanding our business and entering into a new market for us – North and South America. DPAA, the leading global organization for all advertising and content outside the home, functions as a business accelerator and concierge for its members. We believe that it’s an outstanding opportunity to learn from industry experts through discussions on innovation and the latest in digital out-of-home, plus make valuable connections.
For more on Eastidea Integrated Solutions, click here.
Learn more about DPAA here.