IndoorDirect, the U.S. DOOH network in fast-food outlets, has further secured its leadership in that sector with a contract to roll out its service to 5600 Taco Bell locations over the next four years.
The deal will bring IndoorDirect’s programming and advertising to around 37m Taco Bell customers every week and greatly enlarge its footprint across the U.S.
It is currently present in around 1000 locations belonging to several different restaurant brands, with plans to double that figure by the end of the year.
Coming two years after its coup in signing up the entire Denny’s U.S. estate, this puts IndoorDirect in a difficult-to-challenge position as the pre-eminent supplier of screen media to quick-service and casual restaurants in the country.
That Denny’s deal was followed shortly afterwards by a more limited arrangement with Hardee’s involving around 300 branches, and IndoorDirect also has some screens in branches of Arby’s, Carl’s Jr., KFC, McDonald’s and Wendy’s.
But the Taco Bell contract does not only dramatically expand the audience for the firm’s Restaurant Entertainment Network. If it proves successful, it should also solidify IndoorDirect’s relationship with the chain’s owner Yum! Brands, and position it well to pitch for any future large-scale rollouts in other Yum! properties such as KFC and Pizza Hut.
IndoorDirect typically places two 42-inch LCD screens in each restaurant’s dining area and another at the point of sale. For Taco Bell – where the network has already been trialled at around a dozen sites – it will also provide free Wi-Fi for customers, and they will “be able to interact by downloading music seen on our show, receiving opt-in text messages, and engaging in social-media campaigns”, said Michael Winton, president and co-founder of IndoorDirect.
The five-year-old company’s screens feature its magazine-style show TheBite, updated weekly with sports, entertainment, music and lifestyle content, as well as a news ticker and weather and time modules. To advertisers, the pitch includes research showing that 40 percent of viewers go shopping after eating.
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