Coffman Media, the Digital Signage Specialists
Some integrators have a jack-of-all-trades approach, touting their skills in anything from audio-reinforcement rigs to control-system programming. By contrast, Coffman Media, launched on February 1, 2010, in Dublin, Ohio, positions alone as a specialist professional electronic signage integrator.
Jason Ault, COO and co-founder, describes the company’s focus as “an inch large and a mile deep.” That specialization has served Coffman Media exceptionally properly, enabling it to tackle almost everything from conventional electronic signage to interactive, really custom-made creations. “Really,” Ault commences, “whatever our shoppers desire up, we can assistance them carry that to life.”
Coffman Media’s consumers stretch across a extensive swath of vertical marketplaces, such as cannabis, swift-support dining places (QSRs), retail, healthcare, instruction and community venues. What is more, whilst the enterprise only has one particular bodily business office at present—a next area will open in Jacksonville, Fla. this June—it has tackled applications across the entire world, including in Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Central The usa. “Pretty significantly wherever our shoppers want to expand or go,” Ault claims, “we can assistance to aid their requirements.”
As a digital signage professional, Coffman Media has solid potent partnerships the signage stakeholders. Ault mentions that the corporation has develop into learn companions with both Signagelive and EngagePHD. With respect to displays, Ault highlights Coffman Media’s associations with distributors like LG, Samsung and PPDS what’s more, he mentions vital partnerships on the media-participant facet with BrightSign, Bluefin and IAdea. The objective of these shut associations, he suggests, is to enable Coffman Media to be an asset to them in the similar way that they are an asset to Coffman. “It definitely has turn out to be a symbiotic romance,” Ault describes, “where there is not a undertaking that we can’t tackle.”
Coffman Media’s strength and skills notwithstanding, it confronted the similar COVID-19-associated troubles that each and every other business did. “Our mantra was ‘pivot or plummet,’” Ault states, proving that management understood the stakes. Just after all, lots of retail, QSR and company customers were turning off their company, and there was no apparent plan when it would resume.
“We swiftly shifted into undertaking some audience temperature recording and matters of that character,” he explains, introducing mask detection as another sweet location. Coffman Media even bought into the sanitizer business, leveraging its existing perform deploying units that may be utilised for sanitizer dispensing. “We connected up with a area Ohio enterprise that was creating every thing from the bottle and cap all the way to the components inside of,” Ault recalls. So, it was not only a financial gain middle for Coffman Media but also a great way to help a community business.
Fortunately, though the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t about, normalcy is commencing to return. As a consequence, Coffman Media has tapered some of its pivot parts and returned to its main strengths. “We’re closely concentrated on encouraging out retail [and] quick-provider eating places, especially in the push-as a result of place,” Ault points out. “We’re nonetheless doing a lot of refreshes and revamps mainly because many of our buyers are now in that tech-refresh cycle.” In small, Ault says, his organization is functioning to help customers changeover their digital-signage ecosystem to the subsequent phase. This aligns with what he describes as the finest portion of working in our field: “Providing answers for people’s aims.”
When I talk to about Coffman Media’s to start with Complete Tech Summit (TTS) in 2021, Ault suggests merely, “We were honestly blown away by it.” Comparing TTS favorably to displays like InfoComm and DSE, he suggests it allowed his group and he to network additional intimately and learn from individuals peer-to-peer connections.
Ault emphasizes the spirit of collaboration and unity that suffuses TTS, saying of fellow integrators, “We may be in a aggressive overlap at some place, but it just appeared absolutely everyone needed to assist one an additional.”
He also praises the breakout sessions, indicating that they offer the prospect to “hyper-target” to the proper distributors. “I would say it deepened some relationships,” Ault provides, saying he learned a lot more about partners’ exhibit items and new immediate-watch LED strains. He also notes forging significant connections with TD SYNNEX and DISH Community.
When I inquire about strategies for TTS 2022, Ault responds, “I would say it is unquestionably worth the investment—again, just from the peer-to-peer mastering.” In reality, he shares, a vendor lover questioned Coffman Media’s opinion about no matter if it’s worthwhile to take part a sponsor. Ault’s answer? Without having a question. “It’s absolutely worth the number of days to go down and immerse yourself in the working experience,” he concludes.
