Last week, the merger of the two giants in the digital signage industry made headlines and raised some questions, most obviously, why is it now?

November 23, 2021 | By Kevin Damask — Today's Digital Signage Editor

Last week, the merger of the two giants in the digital signage industry made headlines and raised some questions, most obviously, why is it now?

Reflect Systems, Inc. and Creative Realities, Inc. (CRI) have joined forces, but will use the Creative Realities name in the future. The announcement was made later in the day on November 12.

The headquarters of the combined company will remain in Louisville (CRI's current headquarters) and an additional office will be established in Dallas. The merger will not take effect until early 2022.

Reflect CEO Lee Summers will remain with the company and lead its AdTech enterprise, including assimilation with supply-side platforms and exchanges. In an email interview with Digital Signage Today, Summers stated that Reflect and CRI have been friendly competitors for many years. They decided that instead of constantly meeting in the fiercely competitive digital signage world, they should work together.

"In 2019, I had the opportunity to visit the CRI campus and further identified the complementary advantages of the cooperation between the two organizations," Summers said. "As both companies got rid of the pandemic, the conversation began to heat up again to determine whether synergy between the organizations did exist. As we dig deeper, it became clear that this was the ideal choice for the next step. It was a smooth process. , We are looking forward to seeing this vision."

Rick Mills, currently CEO of CRI, will hold the same position in the combined company. Mills stated that this merger provides an opportunity to help retailers, fast food restaurants and convenience stores that are continuing to invest in physical stores to improve the customer experience, especially as these industries rebound from COVID-19 in the case of.

"Our comprehensive resources allow us to do this on a large scale in the United States and Canada," Mills said in an email to DST.

Looking ahead to 2022 and beyond, Mills outlined the following main objectives of the combined entity:

Founded in 1997, CRI is an information and technology service provider focusing on planning, design, content, integration, digital strategy, wayfinding, and digital shopper marketing. Reflect was founded in 2001 and specializes in interactive applications, in-store digital media, digital signage and advertising networks, outdoor media, wayfinding, CMS, advertising software, content creation and other digital signage services. Reflect's products include software platforms RelflectView and AdLogic.

Summers said in a press release that AdLogic is becoming more and more popular among DOOH advertisers, generating approximately 1 billion ads every month.

"Combined, we provide customers with some of the most comprehensive digital signage and media solutions in a powerful one-stop shop," Summers said.

After the merger is completed, CRI will provide a number of new services, including menu board software provided through the CRI Clarity platform, digital signage software as a service from ReflectView and Reflect Xperience, DOOH advertising solutions provided through AdLogic, engineering design and planning, and installation Services, IPTV streaming and post-deployment support.

"We have identified our media sales team, and AdLogic has been unable to serve our customers and the industry," Summers said. "We believe that as a focused vertical field, there are greater opportunities for competition in this field, and I will lead this initiative."

According to Summers, one of the main reasons the company will use the CRI name is that CRI has a "broader future growth network." However, Reflect, known for its technological products, will not be completely abandoned.

"Think of'CRI powered by Reflect'," Summers said. "Something similar."

Kevin Damask is the editor of Digital Signage Today. He has more than 15 years of journalism experience and has reported local news for various print and online publications.

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