Another take on the NobelVision Network

December 11, 2007 by Dave Haynes

Nikki Baird, a managing partner at Retail Systems Research, has written a piece about the deal announced yesterday that sees a cosmetic dentistry giant rolling out its own network in dental offices.

“There has been worry as of late as to whether retail media networks have lost their steam. That’s not the case at all – they are rather still in a phase where they are trying to define and refine a business model and a business case that is compelling to all participants.

NobelVision is an interesting step in that direction, and the first real innovation in network business model that I’ve seen in awhile.”

Baird writes this deal is different because it is the vendor fronting the thing, not the venue operators or a third-party hoping to claw out enough ad revenue to pay for the thing.

Baird suggests this is a model that some people might want to take a hard look at: Get yourself a marquis brand to help sell your network. Rather than going after the retail chain first, go after the manufacturer. Don’t worry about conflict of interest – identify the biggest brand in your category and go for it. This is why Frito-Lay is a good example of the retail parallel for NobelVision. You don’t lose much other snack food ad revenue potential by targeting Frito-Lay as a sponsor, because they practically own the salty snack aisle. You might encounter some issues when it comes to the soft drink aisle, since Pepsi is the parent company of Frito-Lay and not likely to want Coca-Cola on the network, but there’s still the whole rest of the center store to go after as potential advertisers that don’t compete against Frito.

You can read the full article here.

  1. Jayne says:

    “Don’t worry about conflict of interest – identify the biggest brand in your category and go for it.”

    See, that seems sloppy to me. Though it may seem the most prestigous play, that’s essentially the lowest hanging fruit.

    We’ve been having a discussion about mass audience perception of digital signage over at The Web Outside, and this plays right into the overriding fear of many consumers.

  2. I used to work for NobelBiocare and the one problem with the system is the lack of flexibility to the Dentists. Virtually no changes. I did a lot of research and liked the idea so much I started a competing product call DentalTv.ca This company has just been launched also and doesn’t have the clout of NobelBiocare but the product is right and the flexibility with the firmCHANNEL product makes a big difference when they want to ad local advertisers and help pay for the system.

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