Cineplex Wins Big DQ RFP For US, Canada Digital Menu Boards

January 27, 2016 by Dave Haynes

DQ2

Cineplex Digital Media, previously known as EK3, has bagged the deal with American Dairy Queen Corporation to be the fast food giant’s “endorsed provider” of in-store digital merchandising solution, aka menu boards, in the US and Canada.

The company says it won the deal “after an extensive audit and request for proposal process with over 30 participants.”

“Broadening our digital merchandising initiatives is a key strategic priority for us,” says Janna Rider, Director of Digital Merchandising for ADQ.  “It was imperative to our brand that we select a business partner that will address not only the present requirements but also provide innovative, integrated digital solutions that meet the expectations of our future ‘fans,’ while supporting the needs of our franchisee community.”

I assume all the big boys in the digital signage CMS business would have been chasing this deal, as DQ has 6,400 stores in the US, Canada and 27 other countries. ADQ is among Warren Buffet’s many, many holdings.

The endorsed provider thing means this is one of those deals in which the service provider is the recommended platform, but franchisees need to budget and opt in. What that would mean is Cineplex doesn’t just get a PO for 1,000s of DQ stores, but would have to sell in to them.

A pilot location went live in October, and installations are now rolling out in Canada and the US. As of today, CDM has installed digital signage in 40 Dairy Queen locations.

The company, before its acquisition by Toronto-based Cineplex, already had a vast amount of real world experience rolling out and managing 1,000s of menu boards in Tim Hortons stores across Canada and into the US northwest and Great Lakes regions. The company does pretty much everything – including creative and managed services – for Timmies.

That was, at least for the Canuck stores, a corporate buy – meaning HQ invested in the tech, not the franchises.

The company also does (or did) work with McDonald’s in Canada, as well as some major banks.

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