Eyes on the Prize
Using Digital Music, Video And Marketing Together

The magic of new technologies, of course, is not just that they offer more to customers, but they make it easy on operators as well. Halsted Communications Inc. provides turnkey entertainment and marketing solutions for bar properties through digital jukeboxes and television. “Our products that really fit well with the nightclub and bar industry are the Aved video jukeboxes and The Muse, the music signage experience,” says Kevin Brennan, sales and marketing manager for Halsted. “It’s the fusion of music video with digital signage. You’re getting the entertainment your customer expects when they come out to a bar, but you’re also getting the avenue for marketing and promotion with additional signage. Your customer is looking at the screen, because that’s their entertainment.”

Turnkey Opportunities
Brennan says that with other digital jukeboxes, patrons may only see marketing messages when they are looking at the jukebox screen itself but that with Halsted, marketing opportunities appear on as many screens throughout the bar as the operator wants to link. The company’s other angle is the turnkey nature of its services, Brennan says. “We offer everything the business needs to get started,” he says. “We get the overall view of the business by meeting with the owner and managers and design playlists and music libraries. and match their business and their customer to them. That music is updated monthly. “We’re absolutely turnkey. Once you tell me you want this product, we handle everything you need. Once you get me going, you don’t really have to think about it anymore.”

Seeing the Signs
In addition to customizing the music and video mix for the particular bar concept and its patron base, Halsted helps operators design the signage and marketing messages that appear on the jukeboxes and screens. “Digital signage is a really cost-effective way to get your message out there, when you think about all the money and time spent on boards, posters, table tents and napkins. The consumer has become so numb to those, because it’s all we’ve ever seen our entire lives. When you put that stuff on a screen, you save the printing charges and you save the staff hours hanging that stuff and taking it down and moving it around, depending on the day. It comes off much cleaner and much cooler. It becomes part of the entertainment, and you know your customer is looking at it.” For more information, visit www.halstedweb.com