Solution Powers 460 Screens for Leading Cinema Chain Formula Kino

''The company was seeking a single digital signage software powerful enough to drive content to four different areas of the venue: the video walls, the ticketing desk, three-by-one digital posters and the menu boards in the food court,” explained Igor Korotkov, commercial director of Dismart. “The only system that can handle this volume of information in a centralized manner is Scala. This means that Formula Kino is no longer managing three different software systems or trying to integrate various systems that can only handle a single type of job.''

Since 2013, Formula Kino has deployed Scala to support 460 screens driven by 114 players in newly opened locations. At each location – 35 cinemas across three times zones – a single Scala-driven cinema hosts up to four three-by-three size video walls, two three-by-one digital posters, up to 15 menu board screens and between four and eight ticketing desk screens.

With support from local systems integrator Dismart, the cinema chain is using a single, centralized and automated digital signage solution from Scala to replace three separate, siloed software solutions.

The video walls are automated, meaning Scala players use Scala Content Manager and Scala Script from any location across Russia to automatically connect to a centralized library of movie trailers located at the Formula Kino Moscow headquarters and select relevant content based on individual location and time zone, thus building a tailored playlist for each cinema.

“The Scala solution has allowed Formula Kino to minimise the amount of time and resource spent on keeping content up to date at various locations,” continued Korotkov. “The Scala Script enables users to automate functions that could not be automated before. The player now knows automatically what to do, at what time and for how long.”

Andrey Alikberov, CIO of Formula Kino, feels that the Scala solution has enabled him to significantly reduce the amount of resources necessary to manage and update information changes, such as movie show times, bar menus and upcoming movie promotions, across the chain. “In addition, the use of the three-by-one digital posters delivered a return on investment (ROI) in less than one year, which was even faster than we had expected,” he noted. “Our Scala digital signage solution is a great advertising tool, it’s an investment which paid off very quickly.”