COOPSCO stores add digital signage powered by Mirada Media

The COOPSCO network of cooperatives, which operates retail locations in the majority of Quebec's francophone colleges and universities, has selected Mirada Media to develop and deploy an in-store and point-of-sale digital signage network in the institutions it serves.

Many of the 60 cooperatives, which include over 100 outlets in French-speaking institutions, will be rolling out LCD screens powered by a custom version of Mirada Media's ChannelView player and content management system at school supply and book stores, clothing boutiques and cafeterias.

“It was important for us to boost our message frequency and printed material does not always give us this flexibility,” says Paul Rondeau, Merchandising Director at FQCMS/COOPSCO. He adds that “the Web is good for us, but we must wait for customers to come visit us. On the other hand, the electronic displays have the reverse effect. We can blast messages to our customers and provide support to our website.”

The digital signage will be used to promote products and specials, but a significant part of the content for the COOPSCO network is dedicated to informing members about the cooperatives’ events, initiatives and profit-sharing program.

COOPSCO's diverse locations and large footprint necessitated some content independence. Mirada Media customized its ChannelView web-based content management system to allow the Fédération to post ads to a collective media bank, from which store managers are able to select individual media files to display in accordance with their unique marketing strategies. The ability to display certain ads may be restricted by the Fédération in order to accommodate time-sensitive promotional campaigns such as limited-time or seasonal offers. Managers are automatically notified of new content postings via system e-mails and are able to mark items as “read” to better manage their campaigns.