Fairfield Firm Captures Captive Audience

06/11/2007

SignStorey Inc. acquired Captive Audience, LLC of Newton, N.J., in April. Captive Audience provides digital media services in the deli departments of some 250 ShopRite and Big Y stores in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

The move hikes SignStorey's network of installed stores to 1,650 and allows the company to tout increased market coverage to advertisers, explains Tom Green, SignStorey's senior vice president of sales.

"We are now able to provide our advertisers with 25- to 40-percent market coverage in the key Northeast media markets of Philadelphia, New York and Boston," adds Green.

Todd Becker, senior vice president for technology and business development at SignStorey, declines to disclose financial details of the deal.

He does say, however, that SignStorey is looking to dramatically increase its revenues over the previous year. "We're expecting the company to generate three times the revenue from 2006 to 2007," says Becker.

In 2005, SignStorey announced investments by Golden Gate Capital and CIC Partner.

Last year SignStorey announced it had secured financing from an unnamed Fortune 1000 asset-management company for an undisclosed amount. Becker declines to identify that investor, citing a request for anonymity.

Prior to the Captive Audience acquisition, the Fairfield-based SignStorey boasted 1,400 installed stores nationwide consisting of retailers that include SuperValu subsidiaries Shaw's, Acme, Jewel-Osco and Albertsons, as well as Pathmark and Price Chopper.

Founded in 2000, SignStorey deploys 42-inch plasma screens strategically placed in stores to broadcast brand advertisements and product promotions, general consumer information and customized retailer messages.

In-store digital advertisements are a relatively new medium in grocery stores, with many chains having installed systems just within the past two or three years. Although the trend seems to be growing, few conclusive studies have been conducted regarding its effectiveness.

However, Becker says industry studies support the "value proposition" of in-store digital ads.

"It's been validated through research," says Becker, citing in particular a 2006 company-commissioned Nielsen Media Research study that found that SignStorey's in-store advertising engages and influences shoppers.

By Felicia Hunter, Connecticut Business News Journal, Business New Haven