Red Dot Digital Media is revamping internal corporate communications for dnata, a global air services provider offering ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services across six continents. dnata reached out to Red Dot to assist in deploying corporate communication screens throughout its global service network as part of the company’s initiative to streamline its internal communications.
dnata was particularly interested in creating a way for its corporate headquarters to post messages and communicate with employees in a dynamic, engaging and reliable way. Given the distributed nature of its facilities, dnata required a solution that was easy to deploy in individual locations, while still being simple to manage across its vast network of endpoints. To serve this need, Red Dot paired BrightSign media players with the SignageLive CMS to manage the entirety of dnata’s corporate messaging. In total, nearly 200 screens were deployed worldwide in 16 different countries including North America, Africa, the Middle East, South America, Australia, Europe and Asia. The screens run on a BrightSign XD235 media player with SignageLive software, each of which was configured and tested in Red Dot’s Carlsbad, CA facility before being shipped for installation.
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"After collaborating closely with Red Dot across our USA operations for several years, we were pleased to discover the company's expertise in handling international projects. Sustaining the ongoing partnership proved to be a significant asset as we ventured into our global expansion," shared Willem Bosch, marketing and communications manager at dnata. "The Red Dot team effectively navigated through regional complexities and supported the seamless management of our global deployment, a task that would have been daunting if we had engaged country-specific vendors for each location."
This global deployment was particularly challenging in that many of the shipping destinations—countries like Brazil, Pakistan, Iraq and Zanzibar—presented unique customs requirements and other shipping-related challenges. Red Dot’s global expertise working cross-border and familiarity with country-specific regulations ensured that shipments arrived as expected and on time.
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Once onsite, equipment then needed to be deployed and integrated into more than a dozen airport location networks, each of which presented a unique set of challenges and different layers of security. Red Dot’s team of specialists worked closely with local IT staff to properly configure the networks and allow the players to seamlessly pull content updates from the cloud. Working directly with local IT specialists saved countless hours of remote troubleshooting and greatly streamlined the process of bringing equipment online.
“It’s easy to underestimate all that’s involved with a global deployment. Simply shipping hardware where it needs to be means navigating import taxes, customs regulations and other shipping requirements, which vary greatly from country to country,” said Darryl Kuder, president of Red Dot Digital Media. “Once the equipment is on-site, the team needs to work closely with building management, client IT staff and the contractors performing the on-site work. Orchestrating this on a global scale is no easy feat and requires deep international expertise for successful deployment.
Red Dot was able to use the SignageLive CMS to build on dnata’s existing templates previously deployed in the U.S. by Red Dot, an efficiency that both saved the client money and accelerated the deployment timeline. Two master screen layouts were developed, each including zones for marketing and HR content, a custom content ticker, local date & time and the company logo.
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A global deployment of this scope required a partner with top-level design qualifications, expertise working within the BrightSign and SignageLive ecosystems, and the ability to deploy & manage content on a global scale. Red Dot was well-suited for the project on all fronts, with the built-in advantage of having already deployed 36 dnata locations in the United States. Red Dot’s existing relationship with dnata and its track record of successful global deployments made Red Dot the ideal partner for this vast deployment.
