Giant screens coming to Israel's streets

Teddy Sagi  photo: Yossi Cohen
Teddy Sagi photo: Yossi Cohen

Meir Edri has teamed with Alltrade, partly owned by Teddy Sagi, to bring Israeli street advertising into the digital age.

Street signs in Israel are taking a further step towards the digital age: sources inform "Globes" that Meir Edri, former owner of Edri Media, has set up a new company, Edri 8, for setting up giant screens like those in Times Square in New York. Edri has teamed up with computing solutions company Alltrade. Alltrade, among whose investors is Teddy Sagi, will inject NIS 20 million into the company for the purpose of purchasing screens and operating them. Edri owns 51% of the company and Alltrade the remainder.

The screens are giant LED screens, each 200 or 300 square meters in area, that are new to Israel. Their image quality is also meant to be high, such that they will be visible even in broad daylight. By contrast with conventional street signs, where numbers count, the point of these screens is strategic location with high exposure to different target groups. At present there is one sign in Ramat Hahayal in Tel Aviv, with a further screen to be erected shortly on the Cinema City site at Glilot, outside Herzliya. The intention is to place eight screens around the country by the end of the year, showing advertisements and selected content, and managed from a studio operated by Alltrade.

Each screen costs NIS 3-4 million, and they are mainly intended for major advertisers. Alltrade has no connection to advertising; its contribution is on the technological side, as well as providing the finance. The company is controlled by the Reichman family, but Teddy Sagi invested NIS 40 million in it a few months ago, and he now holds a third of the shares. Its main activities are computing services and recycling of electronic waste.

Edri is not the only one introducing digital advertising screens into Israel. "Globes" recently reported that Israel Railways plans a system of digital screen sin its stations.

Confirming the report, Edri said, "The future of street signs lies in digital television advertising, and we will be able to provide a different advertising experience and at high quality, as in other places around the world. The new medium will enable advertisers to react quickly and to display content precisely adapted to their customers."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 9, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

Teddy Sagi  photo: Yossi Cohen
Teddy Sagi photo: Yossi Cohen
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