- By David Keene
The news yesterday that Tom Nix, formerly of Dynamax, has joined Scala as president of their North American operations, bodes well for Scala. While Scala has earned considerable market share as one of the first digital signage content management software companies to really make a fully successful transition from the NAB world to the DOOH and digital signage world, this market is still evolving and we are still in a period where there is often more upside in market growth as opposed to fighting for market share.
Dynamax, the UK company where Nix most recently worked, has had more growth in the UK and Europe than in the U.S., and they have managed that growth differently than has Scala–either in the U.S. or overseas. Scala has of course been a dyed-in-the-wool Premise-based digital signage content management software, not a SaaS provider. Dynamax has not been wed to the premise-based software model. So it will be interesting to see how Nix broadens Scalas approach (and remember Scala has recently gotten some SaaS religion, when, in April of this year, it acquired the SignChannel division of Boston-based Thinking Screen Media. By acquiring Thinking Screen Media, Scala moved more aggressively into the lower-cost, SaaS side of the digital signage content management software arena– to complement their more sophisticated Premise-Based content management software offerings. Now, the bringing on of Tom Nix should further those efforts, and in fact move them along farther down the road of more sophisticated SaaS offerings, and generally more solution-based offerings as opposed to just software per se.
Here is the release yesterday from Scala:
Scala has appointed media industry veteran Tom Nix as Vice President of American Operations. In this role, he will be responsible for overseeing the U.S., Latin America and Oceania regions.
“Tom has significant experience in proactive business development efforts and growing sales,” said Robert Koolen, president of Scala. “With his in-depth knowledge of the signage industry and a proven track record, I am confident that Tom will be a significant contributor to Scala’s continued growth.”
Prior to joining Scala, Nix was Vice President and General Manager of Dynamax Technologies. During his tenure, Nix was instrumental in growing the North American operations of the UK-based digital signage software developer. Earlier in his career, Nix was director of business development at Main Street Direct, an alternative media agency, where he delivered solutions for Citi, Disney, JPMorgan Chase, Nickelodeon and Vonage. Throughout his career, Nix has driven revenue and client acquisition initiatives, as well as in-store marketing solutions for such notable companies as McDonald’s, Motorola, Coca-Cola, Barnes & Noble, Kraft Foods and Miller Brewing.
Driving more than 500,000 screens worldwide, Scala is a leading global provider of digital signage and advertising management solutions. Scala is the world’s first connected signage company, offering the leading platform for content creation, management and distribution in digital signage networks and the first unified platform for advertising management of both traditional and digital signage networks. The company's digital signage customers include Rabobank, IKEA, Burger King, T-Mobile, Virgin MegaStore, Warner Brothers, The Life Channel, Rikstoto, Repsol, NorgesGruppen, Audi, ECE Flatmedia, Kaufhof (Metro Group) and thousands more. Advertising management customers include CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel Outdoor and Magic Media, among others. Scala is headquartered near Philadelphia, USA, and has subsidiaries in Canada, The Netherlands, France, Norway, Germany and Japan, as well as more than 450 partners in more than 60 countries. More information is available at:
