News

Imperative and Invidis create worldwide digital signage consulting alliance

October 19, 2009

The Imperative Group and invidis consulting GmbH, both European digital signage and digital out-of-home consultancies, have partnered to create a strategic alliance to offer comprehensive consulting, go-to market and project support services for retailers, landlords, media agencies, brands and technologists.

Invidis offers market research, analytics, procurement, communication and event services to high-tech, digital and enterprise clients. Imperative offers network development, delivery and marketing communication services to the digital, retail and media sectors. Both businesses operate across Europe and the Middle East with Imperative also bringing to bear its North American associates to add experiential value and geographic coverage to the alliance.

Combined, Imperative says the strategic alliance offers prospective and existing digital signage & out-of-home media customers a wider set of skills, competencies and know-how, which is offered through a simple single-touch management point regardless of whether a client reaches out first to Imperative in the U.K. or invidis in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Imperative says the psychological and operational fit between both businesses is highly complementary and that each business is both vendor and technology agnostic to ensure their strategic approach, recommendations, procurement and operational processes put customer needs first.

Eight-step process

The alliance's eight-step process, which forms the basis of the core service portfolio, includes:

1. Orientation: Provides a full suite of early-stage evaluation tools for customers and their stakeholders looking to develop digital networks or associated products and services. Includes Orientation, Strategy and Development (OSD) workshops.

2. Business intelligence: Provides a comprehensive suite of analytics services, which include market, process and competitive analysis, best practices, costs and revenue options.

3. Project mapping: A systematic identification and assessment of all key areas, components, processes and outputs. These inform the final product and its composition, approach, operational capability, measurement method, key performance indicators (KPIs) and financial modeling.

4. Project qualification: A formal process of engaging internal and external stakeholders with the project map to assess favorability, commitment and feedback for the purposes of validating the project and/or business case prior to signoff.

5. Operational: Provides a single-point of responsibility for the sourcing, procurement, building, delivery, management and billing of all facets of capital, operational and people resources required to deliver the project.

6. Strategic communication: Provides clients with access to a range of proprietary PR, marketing and media channels across EMEA and North America by virtue of the alliance's industry, media and journalist relations, contacts and associations plus the invidis.de portal.

7. Face-to-face promotion: The organization of a range of physical events including tradeshows, road shows, conferences and roundtables to support product launches and product developments to help the market understand its value and where it is best demonstrated face-to-face.

8. Thought leadership: A process of assimilating complex technical, media or commercial products and services into accessible and digestible formats. This will improve access and understanding of the subject matter using opinion-forming channels such as white papers, articles, opinion pieces and speaking engagements on the European and U.S. circuits, for example.

Chris Heap, Imperative Group's managing director, said:

In forming this alliance, we can help our customers conceive, manage and deliver digital signage projects that create viewer value and return measurable benefits to the brand through managed, measured and accountable practices. We then add exceptional value by applying the talent of our international network of knowledgeable retail media and digital out-of-home experts to help us achieve the best possible results for our clients and their customers.