DANVILLE, Ill. and BRAINERD, Minn. - As
a former Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army’s
Green Beret and Ranger units, Clark
Ecklund made 117 parachute jumps to
serve his country, but he never imagined
taking the plunge as the first digital
billboard operator in Minnesota’s Crow
Wing County. Ecklund, an entrepreneur
and Vietnam War veteran, installed a
19mm 10’x30’ digital LED billboard
manufactured by Watchfire Digital
Outdoor (http://www.watchfiredigitaloutdoor.com)
on Minnesota State Highway 371, four
miles north of Brainerd.
The new billboard was installed on a
two-sided structure located on a highly
traveled road where 23,000 vehicles pass
daily on their way to and from
Minnesota’s northern lakes region.
Ecklund Outdoor’s first digital
billboard replaces a static billboard on
one side of the structure. Plans are on
the drawing board to replace the
remaining static board with another
digital billboard by 2010.
Political candidates, auto dealerships,
insurance companies and other local
businesses are advertising on Ecklund’s
billboard, thanks to the efforts of
marketing manager and nephew Jay Ecklund,
a retired captain of the Minnesota Army
National Guard. Customers, who refer to
it as “Jay’s sign” have commented about
its striking visuals, which create
advertising messages with impact.
Digital billboards are appealing to
outdoor advertisers because they can be
updated simply and remotely in minutes,
using software and a high-speed Internet
connection. Digital billboards also
allow multiple advertisements on the
same board, and because the messages can
be changed quickly, they work well for
advertisers with time-sensitive messages
or multiple product lines.
Jay Ecklund says Watchfire’s Ignite™
Software is so simple and easy to use
that he quickly programs messages on the
digital billboard, allowing him more
time to visit customers and prospects.
Watchfire Digital Outdoor produces the
industry’s only 19mm pixel pitch
billboard—which packs 768 LEDs into
every sq. ft.—and is capable of
producing 281 trillion colors, the most
in the industry. It is the only
manufacturer that fully encapsulates the
LED module in a thick bed of silicone
gel, which enables the LED boards to
operate in extreme weather conditions:
180+ days completely submerged in water,
60 days in a salt-spray chamber, and
temperatures ranging from -40° F to 120°
F. In areas where heat and humidity are
both high, the silicone gel
encapsulation protects the boards from
humidity and moisture, greatly improving
projected reliability. All Watchfire
boards feature unique extruded aluminum
cabinetry and a streamlined electronics
design that improves operation and
simplifies maintenance. Watchfire’s
warranty, lead-times, customer support,
and no-fee software are considered to be
the best in the industry. Watchfire
boards comply with the 2006
International Building Code.
About Watchfire Digital Outdoor
Watchfire Digital Outdoor engineers and
manufactures the best looking and most
durable digital billboards available
anywhere. The company is the digital
billboard division of Watchfire by
Time-O-Matic, which has been
manufacturing outdoor electric signs for
more than 75 years, has been
manufacturing LED signs for 10 years,
and has more than 12,000 outdoor LED
signs in daily operation throughout
North America. Watchfire Digital Outdoor
is located in Danville, Ill. with
marketing and sales operations in
Indianapolis. For more information, go
to http://www.watchfiredigitaloutdoor.com.
