ASUS IoT technology aids transformation of digital
out-of-home marketing
Key Results
Our Customer
Solmate, a adtech company of a successful Taiwanese business group, is an
innovative DOOH media provider. The forward-thinking firm focuses on cloud-based broadcast platforms to deliver
smart and precise advertising, through a variety of media channels and to diverse markets.
This specialism in digital out-of-home (DOOH) marketing, as it is known, has allowed Solmate to deploy its
solutions across a broad spread of retail verticals – including hair salons throughout Taiwan. The company had a
desire to expand its DOOH offerings in this market in particular, driven by its hunger to innovate. The idea was
to create a ‘smart mirror’ that would be able to detect key attributes of salon clients, such as age and gender,
as they sat in the hairdresser’s chair. These automated insights would in turn enable the salon or its advertising
provider to deliver commercial or other content considered a good fit for the customer, attracting their attention
while the stylist worked on their hair.
The Problem
Poor quality, unsatisfactory support and limited longevity
Solmate’s initial plan was to develop and deploy its own DOOH solution for salon smart mirrors.
It did this by purchasing an existing off-the-shelf product, with the intention of tailoring the
device to its own requirements.
However, for a variety of technical reasons, the company’s original plan proved impossible. Solmate
found it was not able to alter the ready-made unit’s specifications to meet its own needs, or those of
its customers. This significant problem was compounded by what the company considered to be an inadequate
level of after-sales support from the supplier, both in terms of technical help and returns on faulty
products. Indeed, on this latter point, some of the devices Solmate installed in its partner hair salons
went up in smoke – literally. Evidently, this presented significant safety risks.
Solmate’s original DOOH scheme for salons came unstuck when the provider of the off-the-shelf product
was unable to make supply assurances through engineering change notices (ECNs). Without this vital pledge
in place, components could change at any time or stock could become unavailable – creating problems for
Solmate in terms of its own need to supply and maintain products supplied to its customers.
All this left Solmate in a difficult position. It had customers keen for its planned solutions – but
no reliable solution to deliver.
The Solution
Close consultation, a custom-built solution and long-term support from ASUS
IoT
With willing customers but a plan derailed by inadequate technology and supplier support, Solmate needed
to find a new vendor that was able to action its requirements quickly, reliably and professionally – so
it turned to ASUS IoT.
The ASUS IoT sales team identified that Solmate’s business strategy involved finding enterprise customers
that could provide channels for DOOH advertising exposures. At this point, ASUS IoT stepped in to help find
a solution, co-operating on the design, manufacture and supply of a tailor-made smart mirror for Solmate,
with the ultimate goal of selling the product into hair salons – opening up a new and innovative DOOH
advertising channel.
The inception-to-manufacturing schedule was set at just six months. A combination of world-class
expertise and exceptional quality control meant that ASUS IoT had the rare ability to meet this incredibly
tight deadline.
The conclusion of this intense effort resulted in ASUS IoT EV22A Smart Mirror and EV13A Smart Mirror,
a complementary pair – with larger and smaller dimensions to fit different settings.
The Outcome
Hundreds of hair salons equipped with high-quality smart mirrors
The EV22A and EV13A Smart Mirror products designed, built and supplied by ASUS IoT are engineered
to cope with rough handling, and specified to be able to absorb unexpected component or material shortages –
enabling
ASUS IoT to offer the long-term supply assurances Solmate needs. This helps Solmate manage its own
requirements
and costs, and also those of its clients.
Having passed stringent internal testing by ASUS IoT, as well as extensive quality-assurance tests by
Solmate
on behalf of its clients, EV22A and EV13A have now been deployed in some 880+ hair salons across numerous
major
cities and township throughout Taiwan.
With the tried-and-trusted product and technical support offered by ASUS IoT, Solmate is now able to focus
on scaling up the advertising-platform aspect of its business – with the assurance that the hardware side is
sorted.