How do you take a small idea and turn it into the next big thing in digital marketing? Ask Don McQuaid, owner of RTown Communications, and he'll tell you it's all about thinking big.
RTown has been recognized by a number of chambers of commerce as a "best new" and "most innovative" business.
McQuaid gives a simple example showcasing why: with RTown, businesses can input their offers onto a custom template on the RTown website, and the ad is immediately distributed to thousands of hotel rooms, to digital screens in community stores and, in the near future, they will also ping to anyone with a mobile phone who has signed up for the app that allows them access to the information.
Asked what made him think the business had what it takes to grow under a franchise model, his answer underlines the fact that he didn't just jump blindly in.
"I had looked at all the options and I knew I wanted to grow my business," he said. "I'm really passionately excited about it and I think it's the future. It's a new media model. It's a game changer."
Duly convinced, he decided to rebuild the business based on a franchise model.
RTown is now running in 12 markets and counting, including locations in the Bahamas, and broadcasts into more than 45,000 hotel rooms and 570 digital signs across Canada, in areas such as Whistler, Banff, Mont Tremblant, Kelowna, Vernon, Tofino and, most recently, the Vancouver Hotel Network.
– With Glen Korstrom/BIV
from Western Investor December 2012
