A firm specialising in customer engagement has won a major contract with New York’s World Trade Center.
TopScreen Media, which is a tenant of the Leeds Digital Hub, has been selected to create a digital strategy for the world-renowned development, located in Lower Manhattan.
One World Trade Center opened in November, as part of the area’s redevelopment following 2001’s 9/11 attacks. Four skyscrapers will occupy the site of the former Twin Towers.
TopScreen Media chief executive Achille Traore told The Yorkshire Post it is a “great privilege” to be working with “the most famous development in the world”.
“It is a testament to the quality of work which is produced by TopScreen Media and in the Yorkshire region in general,” he said.
TopScreen Media provides technology and consultancy to improve companies’ customer engagement. Launched in 2009, the business works with Leeds City Council, Ladbrokes, Alton Towers, Hotels.com and National Express and has contracts worth £1.2m in the pipeline.
It initially focused on the sports sector, providing Yorkshire teams including Leeds United and Bradford Bulls with kiosks to enable fans to buy tickets and interact with the club.
Mr Traore said: “Very quickly, we started getting demands from the hosting venues about other things we could help them with. They wanted to utilise the technology for other things, such as way-finding and gift card sales, casual internet access and stuff like that. We’re all about bridging gaps; whether that’s bridging gaps between professional sports clubs and the fans or between a business and their customer, it’s all about that interaction.”
While the kiosks – named OfferPods – provide information at a set point, TopScreen Media’s services include helping businesses to capture online and mobile customers.
Mr Traore said: “The physical hardware we put out is a delivery mechanism to get people to use their handheld devices. For shopping centres, the OfferPod allows the customers to find out what’s happening in real time. In terms of the screen and the kiosks in situ, it’s a very efficient tool. You can have way-finding on there, so you can capitalise on the natural footfall of the centre.”
TopScreen Media was selected as a participant in Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses global scheme, as part of a pilot of the Business Growth Programme in Leeds.
As a result of its work with the scheme, the company was invited to join a trade mission to New York with the Santander Breakthrough Programme.
It was this opportunity that enabled Mr Traore to pitch to New York Port Authority chief executive Patrick Foye and World Trade Center managing director Mark Pucci.
“It’s quite flattering they came all the way to Yorkshire to employ us, based on our knowledge in this industry,” Mr Traore said.
TopScreen Media will work as digital strategy consultants for World Trade Center, with a view to other partnerships further down the line. The company is currently preparing to bring a range of products to market and to expand into new territories, including India.
“We’re looking internationally, we’re confident we have a really good product,” he said.
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TopScreen Media is a tenant at Leeds Digital Hub, an innovative partnership between Leeds Beckett University and The Yorkshire Post.
Tenants benefit from city-centre workspace, professional and mentoring services through the university’s Enterprise and Innovation Centres.
Mr Traore said the quality of the setting and the opportunities to work with other tenants was what attracted him to the hub. “It’s good to be around other tech businesses that are growing businesses,” he said.
Visit http://eia.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/services/digital-hub/ for more information.
