Walking through the mall, passing by storefronts, where most people would likely see a window or mannequin display, Glass Media Founder and CEO Daniel Black sees an opportunity.
Partly spurred on by walking through business districts and shopping malls, and by his previous work in online digital marketing, Black said he began to realize that while many brands focus heavily on marketing in the digital space, few were putting that same focus into drawing in customers from the street. Glass Media was founded as a way for retail stores to stand out among rows of others.
“I realized that the storefronts were static, they had the same neon sign flashing 'open', they had the same piece of paper in the window for the past six months,” Black said. “They were doing nothing to grab my attention for me to say, ‘that’s cool.’”
Glass Media uses a proprietary liquid-crystal projection film, along with a projector installed in the store to create digital and engaging storefronts. The film can be cut into any shape or size, such as a storefront created for Richardson-based Fossil, in which cutouts of the brand's smartwatches were created with the faces brought to life through Glass’ projection film.
"I think at the end of the day it comes down to experience."
Black said the Fossil display was responsible for nearly doubling store traffic in that location. The company is looking to patent its technology in January.
Another aspect of Glass Media’s technology allows for stores to interface with customers' smartphones via SMS or QR codes, giving customers a personalized shopping experience, based on their location and likes.
“We know that customer acquisition costs are going up, we know that customer lifetime value is going down, there’s just so many new brands coming out,” Black said. “And so, our goal is how do we cut through the noise in populated areas, and that’s doing something that makes somebody go, ‘wow that’s cool.’ I think at the end of the day it comes down to experience.”
The Dallas-based company was launched in 2015, after prototyping began a couple of years earlier. With only five full-time employees, the company has been funded through local angel investors. Black said the company will be looking to expand in the near future with a goal of raising $2.5 million to help bring Glass Media out of “stealth mode,” by hiring a PR firm and creating more of an online presence.
“We’ve really become more of a digital transformation partner and trusted advisor,” Black said.
Black said that the relationship between store and customer is changing, with newer generations expecting stores to offer an experience in addition to products. He added that he thinks that people are wanting to get out more, rather than only buying from the comfort of their home but are also looking for brands that offer a sort of emotional attachment – that offer quality over quantity.
“What we do know is people are addicted to their mobile phones; it’s harder to get in front of people online and in the physical world, so we figured the secret sauce, the wow-factor is to be able to do something super unique,” Black said.
