Innovative Floor-Based Digital Screens Reach Tech-Savvy 'Millennials' in Over 300...

Innovative Floor-Based Digital Screens Reach Tech-Savvy 'Millennials' in Over
300 College Bookstores Nationally
Rugged and Portable Digital Screens Provide Effective Retail Advertising 'From
the Ground Up' to Students Over New College Bookstore Network

ROANOKE, Va., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- When students return to school this
fall, many will notice something dazzling underfoot at their local bookstore.
Over 300 campus stores have been selected to be a part of a new programming
medium aimed at tech-savvy "millennials" -- the College Bookstore Network. The
advanced video technology puts programming and advertising where students
might least expect it, but where research shows is a highly effective location
-- on the floor.
The thirty-inch, highly rugged screens can take a lot of physical abuse
but also deliver highly targeted and effective marketing. Jim Currie, who
helped launch Discover Card for Sears, Roebuck and Co., now heads LevelVision,
which not only manufactures the screens, but also operates the sophisticated
media network delivering the programming and advertising to over 300 screens
on campuses across the country.
"This is without a doubt, one of the most exciting new ad and programming
mediums," says Currie. "We've been conditioned to look up for advertising --
to walls, hanging posters, and billboards. But we're turning that old thinking
literally on its head. Science tells us that humans naturally tend to look
downwards and that vast, unclaimed space on the floor is exactly what we are
dominating."
The "infotainment" programming includes short, information packed segments
such as the "Top Five Ways to Go Green," "Cooking Segments," and even
up-to-the-minute weather forecasts. Like your television at home, the
programming is interspersed with high-value brand advertising but in this
case, jumps out at your feet. Campus bookstore managers say the screens
immediately attract the attention of students, a feat not easily accomplished
in this day and age by traditional media.
"Students nowadays are bored by the old print and hang story," says Ali
Sadeghi, Director University of Arkansas Bookstore. "They've got video on
their phones, iPods(TM), and certainly computers. This technology delivers
what is expected by these younger consumers and puts it in a different place,
which in itself gets a lot of comments, 'wow, this is neat.'"
"It's just a cool medium that is very portable," said Jennifer Bennett,
Textbook Manager at College Town Bookstore at Ohio State University. "We can
place it at the front of the store to greet customers, or place it in
designated aisles for promotionals."
"We've actually seen it draw students into the store," said Becky
Borneman, Manager of Bill's Bookstore 238 at Florida State University. "The
College Bookstore Network runs a programming loop of content on anything and
everything that interest college students and its durable enough to withstand
heavy foot traffic."
"Advertisers on this new network can provide some very creative content
that will really captivate our shoppers," said Steve Glosh, Assistant Director
of Virginia Tech Services, Inc.
"The device is attractive and draws people to it. Plus, for us, it is in
the place where we have products and people are making their buying
decisions," said Dennis Mekelburg, Associate Director Arizona State University
Bookstores.
Made with heavy-duty glass, the digital display devices have an anti-slip
finish and are safety certified. The College Bookstore Network broadcasts its
programming "live" from a headquarters control room and sends it through a
wireless signal to each screen, which can change programming in a moment's
notice.
"One of the ideas we are seriously pursuing," says Currie, "is the use of
the network for emergency alert notifications. Already, we broadcast weather
bulletins and updates. With our network resources, we can instantly push out
news and information in the event of a disaster and direct students to
safety."
But beyond such critical programming, it's the screen's location that
peaks the interest of major advertisers. For years, they've instinctively
understood that the closer you get a powerful advertisement to a consumer, the
greater its influence. In academic terms, it's called "proxemics," but in the
language of creative ad directors at major agencies across the country, it's
simple logic.
"It's easy to see how this technology makes sense. Students stand in line
for their books, most likely with their friends, and the screens are a natural
conversation starter," said Ilya Vedrashko, editor of the Ad Lab blog about
the future of advertising technology.
With the success at so many bookstores, LevelVision expects its technology
to continue expanding into campus bookstores over the next year. And already,
other retailers throughout the country are looking at this new trend to learn
how all the empty space on the floor once ignored, may be the next frontier
for boosting sales and critical information to customers, young and old.
With offices in Roanoke and San Francisco, LevelVision is a media
solutions company that brings advertising and information to previously
unreachable, highly desired public and retail commercial locations. Its
extensive patent portfolio provides it with a worldwide market for dynamic
displays that deliver digital advertising and informational messages that are
highly engaging to consumers in out-of-home locations. The Company's media
solutions are scalable, network-capable, and easy-to-use right out of the box.
For retailers, LevelVision(TM) provides a new source of recurring revenue from
in-store advertising and increased sales. For brands and advertising agencies,
LevelVision(TM) effectively engages people closer to the point of decision,
creating a new marketing dimension ("proxemic marketing") that is
micro-targeted. LevelVision capital has been provided by affiliates of Third
Security, LLC, of Radford, Va., and SPI Investments, LLC, of Roanoke, Va., and
Carilion Biomedical Institute. For more information, please visit the
company's website at http://www.levelvision.com.
SOURCE LevelVision

Mike Burita for LevelVision, +1-202-420-9361, mike@buritamedia.com