Independent Digital Out Of Home Specialists Imperative Group Extends Services to North America The Imperative Group enhances its international network development and communications services for its European and North American customers with the appointment of three highly experienced U.S based associates London, UK, 14th October 2009 -- Imperative Group (Imperative), a European independent digital out of home network development & communications agency, today announces the extension of its services to North America. Across Europe, Imperative provides a range of services to help retailers, landlords, media and technical businesses connect, develop, innovate and communicate their digital retail & out of home media projects in order to deliver end user value and competitive advantage. Imperative’s network development services currently include business case development, proof of concept studies, new product development, project and insight management. Communication services include the creation and delivery of bespoke marketing & business development strategies, public relations and Orientation, Strategy & Development (OSD) workshops. The appointment of highly experienced North American practitioners Bill Collins, Laura Davis-Taylor and Michael Mascioni to Imperative’s existing team of ten UK and European associates will enable the business to extend its portfolio of skills, talent and resource to any customer in any vertical whether they are European with interests in North America or vice-versa. “It is the right time to widen our reach and associate ourselves with likeminded and experienced people wherever they maybe. Our clients, who amongst others include Scala, Premier Retail Networks, BTiNet, Sony Professional Solutions Europe and POPAI are international organizations which reflects a market that is increasingly internationalizing in its ambition and capability. Our response in offering this genuinely independent international service will enable us to help our customers achieve more in more places through a single management point” said Chris Heap, Managing Director, Imperative Group. Imperative’s North American associates will be working with Imperative across the region and as required with the European development and delivery team for international customers. They include: Bill Collins, who will be providing custom audience research and B2B ‘go-to-market’ experience. Bill is currently a thought leader and practitioner in the digital out of home sector in North America and founder of his own custom research and digital out of home consulting firm. Formerly a Senior Analyst at InfoTrends, Co-founder of AKA.TV, Organizer of OVAB (North America), Product Marketing Manager at Cincom Systems and Marketing Communications Manager for Roland DGA Corp. Laura Davis-Taylor, who will be providing in-store digital media strategy, customer experience design and media integration experience. Laura is the founder of Retail Media Consulting, an in-store digital media activation practice, and has been a pathfinder in North American market for over 8 years. She co-authored the first book on the topic, “Lighting Up the Aisle”, leads the POPAI Digital Advocacy Committee and chairs multiple educational tracks for the show each year. Laura also contributes to numerous publications, associations and trade shows each year. Michael Mascioni, who will be providing analysis, insight and strategies relating to the successful identification, use and deployment of cutting edge digital media, including gestural signage, interactive media and augmented reality. Michael was formerly Director of Client Services for the Global Management Bureau and has written on interactive entertainment for the Encyclopedia of the Future. Formerly a Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, Michael was also the creator and Program Director of a conference entitled, “Revolutionizing Interactive Marketing in Public Spaces: the Mobile and Gestural Digital Signage Imperative”. Michael was also formerly the Managing Editor at A&A Monthly on Interactive Entertainment. “Imperative’s impressive team of associates offers clients the full range of independent services and capabilities required to plan, develop, operate and enhance their digital out of home networks” said Bill Collins. He continued, “Because of the talent this group brings to the table, clients gain an ability to move quickly without having to hire as many full-time staff or deal with multiple layers of vendors to plan, launch and maintain the excellence of their networks.” "Emerging technologies such as gestural, mobile, augmented reality and holographic technologies have started to impact the digital out-of-home market and will likely have a profound effect on that market in the near future. Already, they have often had a significantly greater marketing impact than traditional digital signage and especially traditional advertising” commented Michael Mascioni. He continued, “The Imperative Group is well positioned to assess strategies for effectively exploiting these dynamic technologies and I look forward to working with them." “I’m incredibly impressed with the calibre of experience that Imperative offers and am thrilled to be joining it. I’ve said for many years that retail is not learned, it is lived and never is this more true than when dealing with retail store innovation” said Laura Davis-Taylor. She expands, “Those of us with field experience know what works, what doesn’t and what the future looks like. There are few of us, but through Imperative we will be able to collaborate and contribute to helping clients design and deliver best in class digital networks. This help will not be based on theory and whiz-bang technology but by providing brilliant solutions to consumer and commercial challenges and desires which we can turn into real value, a win for us all.” “Digital out of home is a new medium” Bill Collins explains, “that means that this type of high-level talent is difficult to find and almost impossible for any network operator to recruit without the help of an agency like Imperative. This agency led by Chris Heap is meeting a real consulting and Human Resource need at just the right moment in time in the history of the digital out of home industry. Further announcements relating to associates with complementary skills & experience joining from Europe and North America are planned for the coming months. For details extended associate biographies, visit http://www.imperativegroup.com/people.html Notes to editors The Imperative Group helps retailers, landlords, media and technical businesses connect, develop, innovate, deliver and communicate their digital retail & out of home media projects in order to deliver competitive advantage. The value we add is based on a cocktail of primary knowledge, connections, method and approach drawn from over 11 years of practical experience gained specifically in retail & out of home media networks (Inc radio and digital screen media. We provide a broad range of competencies fine tuned to the needs of the retail and out of home media markets, including new product development & proof of concept, project management, marketing & press relations, insight management and business development. Our experience relates to that gained from working with retail and out of home media owners, operators and practitioners in the UK, Europe and U.S including BP, Pret, The Mall Corporation, Tesco, Shell, Kroger, Safeway, Shaws, Scala (EMEA), Premier Retail Networks (Thomson PRN), BTiNet, Sony Professional Solutions Europe and POPAIdigital (UK & Ireland). The Imperative Group is a member of POPAIdigital and representatives of the business sit on the management committee for POPAIdigital UK and on the Advocacy Steering Group in the U.S. Contact: Chris Heap Managing Director Imperative Group chris.heap@imperativegroup.com www.imperativegroup.com ###