In a recent development in Singapore, the Housing Development Board (HDB) has appointed Target Media Culcreative (TMCC) to install, operate and manage 6,000 Digital Display Panels (DDPs) across entire townships. TMCC is a joint venture between Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Chinese lift advertising company, Focus Media. HDB, through a media release, informed that funded by TMCC, these DDPs will be built by June 2020 and installed at the lift lobbies as well as within the lifts.
The tender for the appended project was issued in the last quarter of 2019, wherein four vendors had bidded according to the government body. Through this bidding process, HDB wanted to leverage digital technologies as part of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. With this move, the housing board aims to aid residents in receiving information and news from digital screens in the lift lobbies.
Since mid 2018, digital screens have been installed in HDB estates by TMCC. Out of the 16 townships in Singapore, residents in about seven townships are able to receive information about the estate through these 4G enabled DDPs. These seven townships are Choa Chu Kang, Tanjong Pagar, West Coast, Jurong-Clementi, Sembawang, East Coast-Fengshan and Tampines, covering the country’s West, North, East and Central areas thereby reaching more than 3,00,000 households. TMCC currently operates 8,000 screens in these townships.
The release also mentions that apart from investing in the hardware and software, TMCC will also pay a Temporary Occupational License (TOL) fee to HDB. Positioned as a lifestyle media, TMCC currently works hand in hand with various town councils, People’s Association and brand owners, to push meaningful and relevant content to the residents of these townships. The airtime is split between broadcasting community information and delivering commercial messages.
According to TMCC, for commercial content, international brands such as McDonald’s, Mitsubishi, Redoxon, and government agencies such as Ministry of Communications and Information, e2i, Ministry of Manpower among others have utilised this medium to market their products and services to the residents.
Jeff Liu, CEO of TMCC, feels honoured to be preferred partner for HDB for this challenging yet fulfilling project. “In our past experience of building 8,000 screens, we understand how the DDPs can bring vibrancy and relevance to the HDB dwellers. In sync with the Singapore’s government push for digitalisation our Smart DDPs serve as an innovative channel and green initiative for the majority of Singaporeans to receive timely and relevant information,” Liu has been quoted as saying.
