AVI-SPL Launches New Experiential Tech Business Unit

October 26, 2021 by Dave Haynes

Pro AV integrator giant AVI-SPL has launched a new business unit –  XTG (Experience Technology Group) – focused on servicing the increasing demand it says it is seeing for immersive, and interactive brand and employee experiences.

XTG is building on AVI-SPL’s rich heritage and reputation, says the company in  announcing the service, by specializing in experiential technology design, integration, installation, and support working in partnership with an elite ecosystem of architects, experience designers, brand agencies, fabricators, consultants, and leading-edge technology vendors. By leveraging AVI-SPL’s global reach, XTG also provides scalable expertise and consistency to customers looking for experiential solutions delivered all around the world.

“The universal and dramatic impact of the pandemic together with the prospect of a hybrid work future is causing every company to re-evaluate their business model and re-imagine their relationships with customers and employees alike,” says Julian Phillips, XTG managing director and SVP at AVI-SPL. “Customer engagement and employee experience are everything. We have to redefine our value in a digilog world, where analog and digital fuse, and that’s what XTG does.”

“Experiential technologies are driving hybrid engagements and providing platforms for more meaningful visitor and employee experiences. An approach that joins up design thinking and global execution is not only desired but is essential to success,” says Tim Larson, design principal and co-founder of  the experience design firm Downstream, who we will assume is a partner in this.

Phillips and members of the XTG team are at InfoComm 21 this week and will be exhibiting at ISE in February 2022.

Interesting move. It has been hard to get a sense of just how involved AVI-SPL has been in digital signage. They’ve certainly not been as visibly active and present in the ecosystem as arch rival Diversified.

It makes sense given the increasing use of large-format video walls and blended immersive experiences in commercial and public spaces. If you are JUST the integrator, you may not got engaged for this kind of work because of the demand for the upfront “imagineering” of a project and for great creative. You’re in better shape if you offer the whole nine yards. Design companies like Gensler are increasingly leading and executing on this kind of work because they can do the big idea part of the job, and not just be the arms, legs and man-lifts that get these things lit up.