Two UA students and one UA alumnus have started a company unlike any other in the Southwest using digital signage advertising.
The company, VideoRhythm, was founded in April and the first digital sign was installed in front of the Loews Theater inside the Foothills Mall Oct. 1.
With a plasma screen, the 48-by-23-inch computer-generated digital sign weighs 300 pounds and is seven-and-a-half feet tall.
The sign includes full-motion video, photo-realistic graphics, text and animation, and is not considered a billboard because it is indoors.
The founders said they are actively looking for local companies to buy advertising space on the sign.
"We hope to start a new revolution," said Abhishek Dobhal, director of operations for VideoRhythm. "It's an advertising channel that's never been explored in this region."
Dobhal, who graduated last year with a management information systems degree, said local businesses could benefit by advertising through digital signage because the fresh look is appealing to customers who shop in malls.
With 15-second spots displayed every five minutes, the founders hope to install digital signs in all Tucson malls, said Mohit Asnani, president and chief executive officer of VideoRhythm.
"It's a different niche," Asnani said.
Asnani, a management information systems senior, got the idea after reading an article in Business 2.0 magazine in February. After researching other companies that have used digital signage, Asnani and his partners decided to start their own company.
It is each tenant's responsibility to retain necessary licenses or permits to display any ads inside the mall, said Regina Harmon, operating, marketing and specialty leasing manager at the Foothills Mall.
But because the signs are inside the mall, which is a private establishment, Asnani said the Federal Communications Commission's approval is not necessary to display ads.
Harmon said no legal problems have developed with the VideoRhythm digital sign because this is the first time one has ever been established in Tucson.
VideoRhythm is negotiating with several advertising agencies, but the founders said they do not plan to bring their signs to campus because the UA already has a contract with another advertising organization, said Chester "Chet" Cave, director of operations for VideoRhythm.
"In some point in time, we're hoping to advertise university facilities and products, basketball games, football games, those sort of things and work with their departments," said Cave, a pre-business senior. "But that probably won't get underway for another three months."
According to VideoRythm's Web site, digital signage can increase consumer awareness by 73 percent.
Asnani and Dobhal met in a computer science class in fall 1999. After joining Phi Kappa Phi fraternity in 2002, they met Cave.
"All three of us started the company," Cave said. "It's an incorporated company within the state of Arizona. We've worked with people, friends, family (and) other business entrepreneurs around the Tucson area to raise money in capital to start the project."
Asnani said he is not taking many credits and is graduating in December, so he has the time to dedicate to his company.
For more information about the company, visit www.VideoRhythm.com.