The Hindu Business Line : Real Image gets US patent for ad distribution, tracking system

Chennai, Sept. 24 Real Image Media Technologies has acquired a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for its media and advertisement distribution and tracking system.

Basically, the technology enables advertising to be beamed to several screens (in cinemas, signage in malls, and so on) as per a customised schedule from a central server. The connectivity could be through wired lines, wireless connections, satellite or the Internet. The Union Government had issued patents for this technology earlier.

Speaking to newspersons, Mr Jayendra Panchapakesan, Director, Real Image, said the patent, filed in 2001, covers the concept and technology whereby central transmission of media to remote audio-visual players is enabled; central content scheduling is done and advertising schedules are downloaded to players; and logs from players to central server for consolidated reporting are created and maintained.

The technology is part of Real Image’s out-of-home digital advertising solutions that are marketed under the brand name QMedia. It is already in use in nearly 300 movie theatres in the country and in over a 100 screens across shopping malls in the National Capital Region and Jaipur.

The company already has big brands such as Nokia, Parle, Colgate, Reliance, Dabur and Cabdury in its fold, he said. In the US, this technology is already being deployed in 4,000 screens.

Mr Panchapakesan said a great benefit of the system, especially in the context of cinemas, is its ability to confirm to the advertisers whether their ads had been aired as paid for. Earlier, advertisers would send their agents to check if the cinema was showing their ads, and the logistics and expense involved in this turned advertisers away.

As the technology is digital, the bother of having to transport the film reels to the theatres is done away with. Cinema could thus well become an attractive option for advertising, he added.

The technology also makes the money spent effective, Mr Panchapakesan said, as advertisers can negotiate prices based on the number of exposures to the ad, unlike in TV, where advertising is based on a show’s TRPs but ad breaks usually result in viewers switching channels. For instance, in a theatre, this would mean the number of people who would be seeing the ad. The advertising can be customised by brand, movie, show time, type of movie and other parameters.

Real Image expects a 1,000 more screens in India to adopt QMedia in the next 12 months. In the US, it is eyeing 10,000 more screens.

More Stories on : IPR | Advertising | Cinema

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