Clear Channel Canada has revamped one of its signature advertising structures on the CF Toronto Eaton Centre, converting it to an entirely digital sign featuring a combined 8,100 square-feet of advertising space.
The structure sits at the southwest corner of the Yonge and Dundas streets in downtown Toronto, directly across from Clear Channel’s Atrium on Bay Media Tower.
The tower previously featured a mix of one LED screen, one tri-vision and a series of static signs. They have been swapped out for a pair of 45 by 90-foot Panasonic LED screens offering full-motion video.
Paul Seaman, vice-president of real estate and public affairs for Clear Channel in Toronto, told Marketing the company spent more than $6 million to retrofit the structure. The build required structural reinforcement in order to support the LED screens.
Seaman said the new structure is designed to reflect the “vibrancy” of Yonge-Dundas Square, while also providing “more dynamic messaging” opportunities for Clear Channel clients.
The structure went live on Sept. 26, with charter advertisers including Nordstrom and H&M. The screens operate on a five-minute loop, with the option to buy everything from 15 seconds to 30 seconds on one or both screens. “Because it’s digital, we can really slice it up a lot of ways,” said Seaman.
The tower is sold out through the rest of the year, with Clear Channel now booking well into 2017, said Seaman.
Approximately 30% of Clear Channel’s Canadian inventory is currently digital, with Seaman predicting it could grow to as much as 50-60% as development continues to reshape the country’s major markets.
“We’re a major market player in Canada, and the reality is that with development in big cities you start to lose [signs] through attrition,” he said. “When we lose those signs, which tend to be the older, static signs, we try to build more digital.”
