New York, February 2nd, 2015 ComQi is applying tools from its shopper engagement platform to raise the game-day experience for fans and operators of sports and event centers around the globe.

Working with partners like Toshiba and iConnect, ComQi is lighting up arenas, stadiums, performing arts and convention centers with sophisticated digital signage systems that include features like dynamic live video switching (so fans never miss a moment of the action), total arena takeovers, and engaging interactive info-stations.

Sports and event centers now driving the fan experience through ComQi’s EnGage Content Management System include the famed Staples Center in Los Angeles and Helsinki’s Hartwall arena, the top multi-purpose arena in Finland.

“ComQi has built up a lot of experience servicing the sports and entertainment industry,” explains Ifti Ifhar, CEO of ComQi. “We’ve seen entertainment venues shifting to become fan engagement environments, and the platform we provide to major retailers works just as well here in delivering networks with multi-channel touch points.”

Venue operators are applying a variety of capabilities from EnGage to drive revenue and fan experience objectives:
Boosting food concession sales through attention-grabbing menu boards combined with targeted and timed promotions on digital menu boards and other event center displays;
Using EnGage Video Switch to dynamically take over all venue screens for replays, game-time announcements or even emergency response messaging;
Powering interactive kiosks that provide fans with venue, team and player information;
Real-time content updating and screen controls for scores and stats;
Targeted messaging by facility zone;
Combining wayfinding signage with promotional content on current and upcoming events;
Driving large-scale spectaculars such as video walls and LED signage both inside and outside event centers.

Staples Center – Los Angeles

The home of the LA Kings, Clippers and Lakers, as well as iconic events like the Grammy Awards, uses ComQi-powered dynamic digital signage that blends compelling HD video, interactive messa

ging, data-driven content and social media visualizations.

Toshiba America Business Solutions provides the Staples Center with Experience Manager, a branded version of EnGage, to drive advanced interactive displays and content, including a 12-foot by eight foot LED video wall, several Ultra HD video walls, and 65″ Ultra HD LED displays over the bar area.

Game day fans engage with brands through social media platforms like Twitter, via curated posts and hashtag polls. They also view live game updates and video, player stats and league scores.

Switched on in Nov. 2014, the platform also uses video analytics software to log and characterize audience patterns and demographics, and then fine-tune marketing content to match material to the fan base. For example, if face pattern detection reveals higher 18-35 female counts than expected at a Kings’ game, marketers can tweak the ad and promotional mix accordingly to optimize the media opportunity.

Hartwall Arena – Helsinki

The Hartwall Arena recently went through a modernization program that included 240 new displays located

around the facility, all intended to raise the fan experience.

Managed by ComQi partner iConnect, the system uses the EnGage platform along with 60 ComQi media players to drive all the displays, which include several video walls, screens located in the bars, walkways and hospitality suites. The content features promotions for upcoming events, food and beverage offers, and live footage streamed to all screens direct from the arena’s broadcast studios.

“We are proud to deliver one of the single largest 2014 deployments of digital signage in Finland,” says Henri Sarin, CEO of iConnect. “With very little time, we managed to complete the installation before the start of the hockey season through close cooperation with ComQi during the process. The competition to secure this business was tough, but ultimately we were chosen because of our content management services and ComQi’s technical solutions.”