Cisco and Shaw Theaters Transform the Retail Industry With Digital Signage

SINGAPORE--(Marketwire - Aug 24, 2011) - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced that Shaw Theaters, Singapore's oldest and largest entertainment company, deployed Cisco® Digital Signs at its flagship Shaw Theatres Lido in Orchard and the new Shaw Theatres nex in Serangoon. Shaw Theaters will utilize retail solutions and technology from Cisco to capture the attention and purchasing power of today's customers by offering dynamic content.

Key Facts / Highlights:

• Having entertained generations of Singaporeans for more than 80 years, Shaw Theatres is committed to adopting new technologies to engage the new generation of cinema patrons.
• With Box Office and Ticketing screens being a core part of the operations of a movie theater, reliability of high definition streaming content is critical to Shaw Theatres' business.
• Cisco® Digital Signs, part of the Cisco Digital Media Suite, provides Shaw Theaters with centralized streaming and delivery of real-time content such as movie schedules and trailer videos, to multiple digital media displays connected to their theatres.
• This includes dynamic content such as movie show times with indications as to whether a movie is selling fast or sold out, promotional videos advertising and branding, all of which improve customer experiences at the movie theater, while reducing inefficiencies in operations management.
• The complete solution was developed by the Cisco Enabling Platform Innovation Centre (EPIC), a technology centre designed to help retail service providers (RSPs) build and deliver services over the Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) in Singapore.
• Cisco EPIC, together with NexLabs and Nexus-On-Demand, developed the solution using a platform-as-a-service approach. This solution offers Shaw Theaters a cost effective, multi-tenanted, cloud-based, online content management system to provide a fully managed trusted and reliable infrastructure for content distribution and playback across multiple locations.
• With an open architecture, Shaw Theaters can customize and build unique workflows where content can be updated at any time and from almost anywhere through a Web browser.
• Having access to the platform through the Internet provides mobility and immediate access to the digital assets, which results in efficiency and allows the company to enhance its operational manageability and scalability.
• All content delivered to digital signage screens will be managed through a centralized, cloud-based content management system that can be expanded to support other applications and media end-points in the future. This includes updating and delivery of all digital content across its various locations.
• The existing single video walls will be replaced by Cisco Digital Signs displaying HD content spanning multiple screens. This will create new opportunities for revenue streams, movie promotions as well as corporate advertisements.

Solution Highlights

• Cisco Digital Signs, part of the Cisco Digital Media Suite is a network-based digital signage application that allows customers to conveniently publish and view digital media over an IP network to standard and high definition displays.
• Combined with end-to-end services and a robust partner ecosystem, Cisco Digital Signs delivers the most comprehensive digital signage offering that provides an innovative way to help improve the customer and user experience and to strengthen competitive advantages.
• Digital signage is suitable for a wide variety of customer applications in many industries, including financial services, retail, government, education, health care, sports, entertainment, safety and security, and transportation.
• To find out more about Cisco Digital Signs and Cisco Digital Media Suite:
  http://www.cisco.com/go/dms

Collaboration Highlights

• Cisco EPIC worked with NexLabs and Nexus-On-Demand to provide the Digital Media solution for Shaw Theaters
• With infrastructure and expertise from Cisco, NexLabs provided system integration and customer support while Nexus-On-Demand provided content management and user experience.

Supporting Quotes:

• Irving Tan, general manager for Asia South at Cisco
  "Shaw Theaters' use of technology creates a profound impact on the retail industry. Retailers now have the power to instantly customize and manage promotions on the go based on their customers' demographics and point-of-sale data, down to the retail outlet. Cisco Digital Signs helps retailers use digital media to increase sales, enhance customer experience and facilitate learning -- while engaging customers at every level. With shopping being one of Singapore's favorite hobbies, imagine how retailers and shopping complexes can collaborate to offer better value to customers, while improving employee productivity and operations."
  
  
• Terence Heng, vice president for media at Shaw Organisation
  "Shaw Theatres aims to provide the best customer experience that starts from the moment they step into our movie theaters in Singapore. This collaboration with Cisco allows us to work with our movie distributors, content providers and advertisers to engage the audiences and business partners more effectively. The efficiencies we have experienced and the opportunities that we can foresee are aided by how easy it is to create, manage, publish and access high-quality content."
  
  

About Shaw Theatres
Shaw Theatres, part of the Shaw Organisation, was founded by the Shaw Brothers and has been operating cinemas in Singapore since 1927. It owns and currently operates 6 Multiplexes across the island. Offering the best in cinema technologies, like IMAX, Dolby Surround 7.1, DTS and RealD 3D systems.

For more information on Shaw Theatres and Shaw Organisation, please visit http://shaw.sg. You can also connect with Shaw on Facebook (facebook.com/shaw.sg), Twitter (twitter.com/shawonline) and YouTube (youtube.com/ShawOnlineVideos).

About Cisco EPIC
Cisco EPIC, Enabling Platform Innovation Center, established since 2009, is part of the APAC Emerging Solutions Group. It is an innovation centre that works with solution partners, enterprises and governments to conceptualize new and innovative next generation services. To find out more about EPIC, please email epic_sg@cisco.com

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco products are supplied in Singapore by Cisco Systems International B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit "News@Cisco" at the following link:

http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html