Rich Langdale, CEO, DOmedia

…Posted by Angela Gonzalez in IT Martini on Feb 2, 2011.

This IT Martini Media Correspondent can barely spell “entrepreneurship” while Rich Langdale lives and breathes the word.  So much, in fact, that he helped found the Center for Entrepreneurship at The Ohio State University.  Langdale’s newest business venture, DOmedia, is a 2010 TechColumbus Innovation Award semi-finalist for Outstanding Product.

DOmedia is a database of over 200,000 traditional, alternative and digital media properties.  From highway billboards to digital signage networks, DOmedia provides one centralized location for media planners to search for, assess and contact available media properties throughout the US.

IT Martini asked Langdale how he felt about DOmedia being nominated for a 2010 TechColumbus Innovation Award.

“It’s a great honor,” he replied.  He went on to say that the awards are a great program for Columbus.  The awards provide “well-deserved recognition” for Columbus outside of its geographical boundaries. TechColumbus is providing a showcase for the exciting innovation occurring in Columbus.

Why DOmedia?  Why create a database of media properties?

Langdale answered that he has a strong background in marketing and logistics, so he cares a lot about this area. When looking at marketplaces for investment, Langdale looks for growth markets with great inefficiencies, high fragmentation and lack of transparency.

IT Martini asked what Langdale meant by “lack of transparency” and how that applied to the media properties market.  He responded that advertisers don’t buy as much as they’d like because they are simply “not able to see all that is out there.”   DOmedia was of interest because of the shift in marketing dollars to on-line and out-of-home advertising.  DOmedia is able to compile the opportunities and place that information directly in front media planners, who need to understand the many channels available when planning a multi-million dollar marketing campaign.

IT Martini wanted to know what advice Langdale has for those wanting to invest in or launch a start-up company.  Langdale emphasized that having a great idea in a great market is core, but not enough.  It is critical to “build out a vision, a mission, a strategy and a financial plan.”  Get your ducks in a row, in other words. Langdale added that one of the key items of a strategic plan is getting key personnel in place.

How do you gather key personnel?

“Networking,” was the answer.  Networking venues for Langdale include NCT Ventures, Ohio State University, TechColumbus and our own IT Martini events.  Jeff Lamb, DOmedia’s Chief Technology Officer, for instance, is someone Langdale worked with previously.  Once Lamb was on board, Lamb was able to recruit and build the core technology team behind DOmedia.  Langdale emphasized that DOmedia had a “dramatic need for sophisticated database expertise.”

Langdale had additional advice for those thinking of investing in or launching a start-up.  He stated that after getting the right team together and developing the financial plan, a business model is essential.  Entrepreneurs should “spend a lot of time thinking about how long it will take to get a customer.”  How long it takes to acquire customers is how long it takes to recoup the dollars invested.   That means, on the flip side, planning in advance how long you can sustain the business prior to acquiring a strong customer base.

Langdale is a deep business thinker who develops clear goals and invests time crunching the numbers prior to investing in a start-up company.  It must be the correct formula, for Langdale has done this “a couple dozen times.”  IT Martini hopes to enlist Langdale in 2011 IT Martini panel discussions and tech talks so that he can share his expertise with IT Pros and budding entrepreneurs.

Since the earthquake in Haiti, DOOH has really stepped up to the plate and proved its worth the past couple weeks. In the aftermath of a tragedy felt around the world, everyone knew something needed to be done–but what? And we all wanted to help–but how? A single, unified message had to be created and made available to the masses. Quick, effective and capable of reaching millions of people worldwide.

So when Matthew Stoudt, CEO of Outcast, rang up the presidents of Zoom Media, TargetCast Networks, CBS Outernet, PumpTopTV, Premier Retail Networks, Captivate Network, AdSpace Networks and IndoorDIRECT, it wasn’t as a competitor but as a fellow industry leader trying to take action. With combined efforts and the help of the Red Cross, the group is now running “Text ‘Haiti’ to 90999″ ads across thousands of screens in malls, grocery stores, gyms, doctors’ offices and much more. By running the message across all of the biggest digital screen networks (40,000+ screens to be exact), the donation effort will reach about 100 million Americans each month.

Originally, the Ad Council worked with the Red Cross to develop a digital image to distribute across OOH screens. From there, it was picked up and distributed through OAAA. Lamar, Clear Channel, Health Media Network and Zoom Media have all picked up these ads as well. Some of the Ad Council messages include Michelle Obama or Bill Clinton and George Bush asking for donations. Some companies, such as iDklic Digital Signage and Narrowcasting in Belgium, put together their own ads and began running them across all of their networks. RAMVISION is also running a 2-week campaign for the Disaster Emergency Committee, broadcasting across their Shopping Centre Network.

Interested in joining the effort but don’t have the time or resources to put a spot together? The Preset Group has you covered. They’ve put together PSAs for use by anyone in the digital out-of-home community. For more info, click here.

This summer marks the beginning of an exciting & life-changing annual fundraiser here in Columbus, Ohio. Pelotonia, founded and funded by NetJets, is the grass roots bike tour raising money for cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. In fact, 100% of funds raised go directly to cancer research at The James!

So what does this have to do with out-of-home advertising? In a (successful) attempt to get its message out to the community, Pelotonia literally dominated the out-of-home industry here in Columbus using media ranging from empty storefront ads and floor graphics to street furniture and digital signage. Ads were placed along busy highways, around the Ohio State University campus area (home to thousands of students & businesses), and the Arena District (home to many young — and young-at-heart — professionals and businesses, not to mention our Columbus Clippers baseball team & Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team).

The most impressive of all, perhaps, is the domination of the Columbus airport by Pelotonia & The James. The images below explain the campaign’s effectiveness better than words. Quality, quantity and, most of all, creativity made this effort impossible to miss.

The bike tour takes place this weekend, consisting of four routes spanning 25, 50, 100 and 180 miles. Over 2,100 people have committed to riding–including Lance Armstrong!

If you’re interested in contributing, please check out our DOmedia peloton where you can donate to our ride up until October 31st. Every donation helps!

T-Mobile is definitely out to show the world its slogan, “Life’s for Sharing,” really does ring true.  Just like its previous (and very entertaining) event in London’s Liverpool Street Station, they manage, once again, to bring together the masses for one common experience.  In London’s Trafalgar Square, thousands of strangers united in what has to be the largest sing-along in history.  The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” played while the crowd sang into microphones and watched the enormous screen for lyrics and the live video that filmed the entire event.

The YouTube video generated comments like, “If I feel fed up I just watch this or the dance one, it definitely cheers me up,” “Epic!” and “Amazing. So happy,” clearly verbalizing the optimistic feeling created by the event.  Hopefully the next one makes its way to our side of the pond!

The excitement here at DOmedia this week is contagious.  Not only are we welcoming our newest team member, Jeff Bell, as company Chairman, but we were also fortunate enough to appear once more in AdAge.com!  A big thank you to Advertising Age’s Andrew Hampp for helping us welcome Jeff in style.

To read the full article, click here:

“Former Microsoft Marketer Jeff Bell Named DoMedia Chairman”

People could then strike a pose for everyone nearby, and their picture would appear on a massive screen across the street, temporarily looking down on passers-by.  I can only imagine the photo gallery from something like this . . . especially in a city like Amsterdam.

The current economic landscape provides the perfect opportunity for corporations to stand out by connecting with local communities in a meaningful, helpful way.  According to Advertising Age, this trend of cause-marketing appears to be growing.  For example, Charmin provided a public restroom in Times Square for the third holiday season in a row.  Along the same lines, Starbucks donated about 400,000 hours of community service towards the rebuilding effort in New Orleans.  And the shoe company Toms donates a pair of shoes to a child in a developing country every time a pair of their shoes is purchased.

Hopefully we’ll soon see many more marketing efforts like the one from KFC–which began in hometown Louisville, KY, and will seek out four more cities before returning to the life of chicken and mashed potatoes.

Last week, DOmedia had the opportunity to attend the AAAA Media Conference and Tradeshow in New Orleans (tough break, we know).  And while attendance may have been down from previous years, creativity and morale were still very high over at the DOmedia booth!

Between the many compliments on the overall visual presentation and the overwhelmingly positive feedback on the website capabilities, the 4A’s tradeshow was an official success!  Making its world debut on Wednesday morning, the new DO booth (A.K.A. DO erector set) attracted attendees to take a test drive of the site using our two 22″ monitors.  Of course, the infamous orange DOmedia yo-yo’s may have helped drive traffic just a bit, too.  Everywhere you looked, orange dots could be seen flying through the air, attendees rekindling their childhood yo-yo skills.  (And a personal thanks to everyone who trained me in the art of yo-yo over the three days–I can finally walk the dog!)

On Tuesday night, we had the great pleasure of sponsoring the Director’s Dinner at the Hilton where conversation consisted of trends in out-of-home and alternative media as well as an update on how DOmedia has grown since it was last introduced to the 4A’s.  Thank you again to everyone who attended!

And congratulations once again to all the DOmedia contest winners and a huge thanks for your support!  Participants received entry tickets by coming by the booth, wearing a DOmedia button, or following us on Twitter to name a few.  Several exciting prizes were given out such as iPod Touches, iPod Shuffles, and numerous iTunes gift cards!

Check out the rest of our pics from the tradeshow on our Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/10211400@N08/sets/72157615079096686/

Now you can become a part of the DOmedia family by joining our Facebook group!  Here you can find upcoming events, contact info, important links, and recent news (to name a few).

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=47174161854

Prefer Tweets?  You can also receive updates and information even faster by following us on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/domedia

We’ll see you there!

Nothing else can put a smile on your face quite like a mob flash dance made of several hundred strangers when you’re least expecting it.  On January 15th, London’s Liverpool Street Station was transformed into a massive dance floor thanks to T-Mobile.

The tagline, “Life’s for Sharing,” is exactly how you feel after watching the YouTube video that was shot with hidden cameras.  What begins with a handful of people quickly molds into an entire train station gettin’ down (grandmas and mohawk rockers alike) to the upbeat music blaring overhead.  Intrigued onlookers—no doubt questioning their sanity—filmed the whole event via cell phones to later share with family and friends.

Kudos to T-Mobile, and agency Saatchi & Saatchi, for giving us something to laugh at and talk about . . . which was probably the point.  I also love that they thought outside the silos (is it online . . . guerrilla . . . out of home?) and instead focused on building a connection between the experience and the brand, using all the relevant tools at their disposal.

Although many people are criticizing T-Mobile and Saatchi & Saatchi for using regurgitated material, I say anything that brings huge numbers of people together in a way that makes us all feel good just by watching it is a success.  After all, the very message here is that T-Mobile makes it possible for you to share any meaningful moment with the people that matter most.