Project Overview

• 61 x 43” Android Advertising Displays with 4G modification

Background

Britvic is one of the UK’s leading soft drinks companies, with major brands such as Robinsons, Tango, J2O and is the official partner of PepsiCo in Great Britain and Ireland. With so many recognisable names beloved by consumers across the country, their products are in great demand. In late 2017 they secured a contract to provide their soft drinks across the country’s largest train stations. They would be working with their partner Decorum Vending to manufacture the vending machines; together they approached us as they wanted to integrate digital signage into the machines to advertise the products being sold inside.

Challenges

Britvic were looking for a digital signage solution that would integrate into the sides of their vending machines. The machines were going to be installed in public spaces and the displays needed to run constantly 24 hours a day without interruption. There were fears that the screens could be vandalised or tampered with even once inside their enclosure and so they needed reassurance that the screens would be protected. Britvic wanted the screens’ content to stand out so wanted a bright and vivid display.

The main challenge was going to be how they updated the screens. With so many different screens integrated all over the country, they would be updating the screens remotely via the internet. However, they had been explicitly told they could not rely on the local networks at any of the stations so asked us to find a solution to help update the screens without needing to use Wi-Fi or a LAN connection.

Solutions

The Android Advertising Displays were the ideal solution as they already fit a lot of the needs that Britvic specified. We worked closely with Decorum Vending to modify and integrate these displays into the vending machines. The Android Advertising Displays are designed to be used 24/7 and like all our screens are manufactured with the highest quality commercial grade components. The screens have a protective tempered glass front that shields the LCD panel and other internal components from damage. This meant that Decorum Vending no longer needed to integrate front protection into their enclosure design, saving money. The Android Advertising Displays also utilise an IPS LCD panel, this panel is the best on the market with amazing colour accuracy. A brightness of 450cd/m2 that the Android Advertising Displays have was perfect considering the screens were intended for indoor use.

The modification we made to the Android Advertising Displays was to upgrade them to have 4G connectivity, we also sourced specialised high-gain antennas and sim cards so the screens could have a consistent and stable internet connection. This meant the screens could be used with our CMS, My Signage Portal. By using My Signage Portal, Decorum Vending would now have full control over the screens, being able to update and monitor the content that is played on each display.

Results

After a successful trial of ten Android Advertising Displays were integrated into vending machines installed at Clapham Junction station, a total of 61 customised Android Advertising Displays have been installed in some of the UK’s busiest train stations including Waterloo, Victoria, London Bridge and Birmingham New Street.