Cineplex Digital Media Expanding Shopping Mall Media Network In Canada Via Primaris REIT Deal

August 11, 2022 by Dave Haynes

Cineplex Digital Media has signed a deal that greatly expands the digital OOH media network it operates in Canadian shopping malls, adding 19 venues run by commercial property owner Primaris REIT.

The deal sees CDM operate a network of nearly 70 digital displays at 19 Primaris properties in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Each venue will get large double-sided portrait displays used for media advertising, mall directories, and maps. The new plan is to have them fully deployed nationally by this fall.

“Our experience-first approach and data-driven audience targeting will enable Primaris to engage shoppers during their mall visits, as well as provide our media partners with the ability to reach even more of Canada’s mall consumers in additional key markets,” says Fab Stanghieri, EVP and Managing Director for Media at Cineplex. “Our shopping network that includes 69 centres with over 700 million visitors yearly, combined with our Primaris partnership, will now allow us to reach 13 new population centres with more than 1.4 million local residents.”

Cineplex is best known in Canada as its dominant cinema operator, but the company is into all kinds of things, including digital signage solutions and DOOH operations and ad sales. The company emphasizes it “is not only about hanging screens, but its industry leadership also stems from its expertise in creative and experience design, data & analytics services, installation and operational excellence, and media sales.”

These are good-sized malls, but are mainly in secondary cities – like Windsor and Guelph in Ontario, and Lethbridge and Kelowna out west. But CDM is also selling media in some of the biigest malls in Canada, like Yorkdale in Toronto. CDM competes for that business with media companies like Branded Cities.