Interactive advertising company helps businesses share ad costs, target specific markets, venues

Business owners targeting a local consumer market can now reach those potential customers using new digital technology displays located where the customers shop, dine and work out.  

Rockford-based Great Lakes Narrowcast (GLN) creates web-based digital signage using text, photographs and videos. The displays range from 32-inch LCD televisions up to 100-inch projections on storefront windows. Business owners can advertise at their own business location or in other businesses frequented by potential customers.

“If you want lobby signage with videos to advertise specials or upcoming events, we’ll create that and maintain it for you through the web portals,” says company owner Wes Spencer. “For a local electrical or lawn care company that doesn’t have the foot traffic of someplace like the Corner Bar or Frenz Coffee Shop, they can reach their demographic at the bar or coffee shop by running ads at that location.”

Business owners select specific locations, GLN obtains the necessary permissions from the host location and the fee for the ads subsidizes a portion of the host location’s costs.

A client dashboard on the web portal features templates clients can use to update their ads themselves.

GLN has 55 displays in 18 locations across Michigan and Indiana, including Rivertown Crossings mall, Ritz Coney in Grand Rapids and Vitale’s in Ada. Spencer plans to triple the number of locations over the next six months.

“You can focus your advertising geographically or demographically,” he says. “You can relay local events, national news, you can pick and choose where your message is displayed; if you want to advertise at the YMCA in Belmont you can advertise there but you don’t have to advertise at the mall in Portage.”

Source:  Wes Spencer, Great Lakes Narrowcast

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.