CRI makes another move, picking up Atlanta content shop

February 8, 2010 by Dave Haynes

The entry of big companies like HP, NCR and Intel into the sector gets a lot of attention, but there are some other companies more quietly making some moves that are really interesting.

Consider Creative Realities, also known as CRI.

The New Jersey-based “experiential branding and marketing firm” has been active in the sector for a while now, in a range of areas that includes designing retail experiences and handling project management and rollout.

The company came on the radar for me when its investors acquired the digital signage side of CoolSign and brought Lou Giacalone back on board. CRI and CoolSign are in the same “family” so to speak.

Then CRI hired on Laura Davis-Taylor, one of the better known advertising and retail experts in the sector.

Now CRI has acquired DOOHit Digital, the Atlanta-based content solutions shop founded by Davis-Taylor and business partner Lisa Katz.

Reports Digital Signage Universe:

DOOHit Digital, founded by Katz and industry veteran Laura Davis-Taylor, produces digital content for the web, mobile applications, in-store signage, interactive kiosks, and digital storefronts. The company creates what it calls “creative with accountability,” meaning all content is tracked and optimized to ensure it achieves targeted business results.

“Creative content greatly enhances the brand experience, but it has to be relevant from a business and customer experience standpoint,” says Creative Realities’ Founder and CEO, Jason Friedman. “We are excited to have digital and in-store experts, Lisa and Steve, join our team. And, we are excited that the acquisition further expands our creative and digital content offerings for clients.”

Before forming DOOHit Digital, Katz and Steve Brooks spent 15 combined years working for the Atlanta-based interactive agency, MaxMedia Design. There, Katz was a VP of Business Development, serving clients such as AT&T, NCR, and Siemens. “Throughout my career, I have always championed my clients and done whatever I could to serve them,” says Katz. “By joining Creative Realities, I will be able to offer clients more infrastructure, services, and possibilities to further develop brand activations in this exciting media space.” 

Katz will serve as VP of Business Development, and Brooks will become Director of Digital Design. I met them in NYC, along with Davis-Taylor, last fall. Nice, smart people, and I’d been wondering why the DOOHit website never got beyond a placeholder page. It’s alllll making sense now.