Firm wants to capture audience in a digital age

Imagine a relatively captive audience - a jogger on a treadmill or a group waiting to be seated at a restaurant. For a Brainerd area business, those moments are opportunities.

The owners of All Digital Media Inc. in Nisswa are behind an effort putting digital advertising in health clubs and restaurants among other spots. The LCD flat display screens are WiFi compatible and stream in news, weather and area advertising from businesses.

Wes Hughes and Tom Turcotte both have separate businesses in the lakes area. Hughes owns Hughes Technologies Inc. and Turcotte owns the Lakes Area Advertiser. Together they own All Digital Media.

Hughes said people are looking for new mediums and digital advertising provides video and sound in small segments or half-hour commercials.

"It's an affordable alternative and in some spots like $11 per month per spot and in 50 locations - that's pretty cheap," Hughes said.

Hughes said when they started and had about 40 sites last year there was a feeling they were getting in on the beginning of something that would be taking off. The WiFi digital frames were selling last summer and Hughes and Turcotte decided if they could move quickly they could be ahead of the expected competition and get a foothold for their product.

They've grown to about 80 locations and expect to be in 150 spots by the middle of summer. Host sites can put in their own specials or daily menus and make their own adjustments.

"This is going to be the new age of advertising," Hughes said. "You are going to find these everywhere. We are kind of creating our own genre that never existed before."

All Digital Media has customers in Brainerd, Baxter, Nisswa, Crosslake, Aitkin and they are going into Little Falls. If things take off, they are interested in expanding to Grand Rapids and Bemidji.

Hughes said there are potential customers in nearly any business with a waiting area.

In March, All Digital Media and Frame Media Inc. announced they had reached an agreement for the Brainerd area company to use Frame Media's SignChannel. Frame Media provides content distribution and publishing services for connected devises.

"SignChannel is Frame Media's commercial version of its FrameChannel Internet platform for the selection and delivery of personalized content to wireless digital photo frames," Frame Media reported. "Using SignChannel, All Digital Media creates, manages and delivers advertisements over the Internet that appear in rotation among streaming content of continually updated weather reports, sports scores, stock quotes and news headlines."

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.