TORONTO, Jan. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perk International Inc. (OTCBB:PRKI) announced that On January 8, 2015, Perk International, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the "Company"), entered into a Share Exchange Agreement (the "Exchange Agreement") with Tech 9 Inc., a privately held company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario ("Tech 9"), and the shareholders of Tech 9. As a result of the transaction (the "Exchange"), Tech 9 became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. In accordance with the terms of the Exchange Agreement, at the closing an aggregate of 70,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock were issued to the holders of Tech 9's common stock in exchange for their shares of Tech 9. Each of the Company, Tech9 and the shareholders of Tech 9 provided customary representations and warranties, pre-closing covenants and closing conditions in the Exchange Agreement.
Immediately subsequent to the Exchange, the Company entered into an Agreement of Conveyance, Transfer and Assignment of Assets and Assumption of Obligations (the "Conveyance Agreement") with our prior officers and directors, Messrs. Andrew Gaudet and Leon Golden. Pursuant to the Conveyance Agreement, the Company transferred all assets and business operations associated with its daily deals/coupons business to Messrs. Gaudet and Golden. In exchange, Messrs. Gaudet and Golden agreed to cancel their collective 45,000,000 shares in the Company and to assume and cancel all liabilities relating to its former business.
As a result of the Agreement, the Company is no longer pursuing its former business plan. Under the direction of the Company's newly appointed officers and directors, as set forth below, the Company is in the business of deploying, installing and managing "Digital Place-Based Networks" ("DPN's") that are designed for healthcare, automotive, institutional, financial and high traffic C-store and retail locations.
There were 75,133,132 shares of the Company's common stock outstanding before giving effect to the stock issuances in the Exchange. Immediately following the Exchange, the Company's majority shareholders cancelled their collective 45,000,000 shares. Following these transactions, there were 100,133,132 shares outstanding.
Our Business
As a result of the Exchange, the Company acquired 100% of Tech9 Inc., an Ontario, Canada corporation that deploys, installs and manages "Digital Place-Based Networks" ("DPN's") that are designed for healthcare, automotive, institutional, financial and high traffic retail locations.
Using a DPN, the Company offers the location owner, retailer, sponsor or advertiser a proven method for distributing and displaying digital content to a targeted audience at a specific location and time. DPN's are different than traditional networks, such as television or radio. DPN's are comprised of flat screen monitors, kiosks, audio, digital media players, software, and other forms of digital media technology ("Digital Media") that display content, such as information, advertisements and entertainment to a narrow audience at specific locations, aiming the content at specific segments of the public based on location, financial, demographic and psychographic attributes. By placing DPN's in visible high traffic locations, a large number of potential viewers will have the opportunity to see the content that is being displayed on the Digital Media. By placing an advertisement on Digital Media at one or many of these locations, an advertiser or sponsor can educate, entertain, engage and influence a viewer about their product or service during the time they are at or near the location.
In-location digital content has evolved from a future trend into the mainstream of today's retail marketing. Many multi-location businesses - from convenience stores and quick service restaurants to retailers, department stores, banks and credit unions - are now realizing the benefits of a DPN as an integral part of their in-location marketing and customer engagement strategy. The Company believes the business advantages of DPN's are clear. An in-location digital content strategy offers the potential to boost sales, build brand, and create a better customer experience. The Company believes that it has the systems integration expertise, highly qualified technical resources, and depth of experience in managed network services to deploy, install and manage DPN's.
Digital Media is a multi-purpose communications channel. Digital Media can speak to an "audience of many" in serving as an out-of-home Perk network, and also to a highly targeted audience (i.e. location, financial, demographic and psychographic attributes) in a highly relevant and personal manner. It can also speak to an "audience of one" at a point of information need or decision. Importantly, it can motivate a viewer to engage with someone in the store, download an app to their mobile phone, register, sign-up, purchase, donate, answer a survey, enter a contest, or a number of other engagement activities.
Our Industry
Ad-based DPN's: The Point of Purchase Advertising Institute's (POPAI) 1995 Consumer Buying Habits Study stated that 70 percent of purchase decisions were being made in-store, and POPAI's 2012 Shopper Engagement Study stated that in-store purchase decision has now reached 76%. Marketers have a tremendous opportunity to reach consumers, build brand equity and stimulate consumption through effective shopper marketing. The Neilson Company reports that 54% of the 237 million monthly exposures to persons 18+ were displayed to male audiences, with 46% exposed to females. An estimated 50% of all the monthly exposures to adults were displayed to men and women in the key 18-34 demographic.
In 2010, the overall industry grew more than 15 percent last year to $2.1 billion, according to Patrick Quinn, CEO and founder of PQ Media, a Connecticut-based research and consulting firm. Quinn said gas station television is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of that category, based in part on its verifiable audience. With digital TVs in gas stations, nearly 52 million customers are getting snippets of weather, sports highlights, celebrity gossip and commercials with their gas each month, according to Nielsen. The weekly reach is actually larger than most of the prime-time network television shows. The largest company in the space is Gas Station TV with 27.5 million monthly viewers at more than 1,100 stations across the U.S., according to Nielsen. According to the Nielsen Intercept Studies, 89 percent of the consumers are engaged and watching TV at the gas station and 88 percent love watching every time they fuel because they have nothing else to do.
The Company has created "Digital Pages" as a Digital Out-of-Home advertising solution (DOOH), which allows the host location to educate, engage, entertain and influence their customers at the "point-of-care" or point-of-decision and other sponsors or advertisers to reach customers who are at the location deciding on what products and services they should choose ("Point of Purchase").
Our Products
The Company provides an array of hardware and software solutions geared at the DPN market. The Company's business model is based solely on the boutique location opportunities within the industry. The Company has established relationships with providers of hardware, software and installation services. The Company has developed several proprietary DPN's that have and will be deployed, installed and managed under the following banners, Vision News Now, Hearing News Now, Pharmacy News Now and Medical News Now. Tech9 has an established medical clinic model in place along with opthamology and C-Stores. All banners are white-label ready for deployment in each boutique market. The Company is also recognized by several DPN software manufactures and developers for deployment, ongoing management services and installation services. These include ScreenScape Networks, Eye In Media, Adflow Networks, Front Desk, Media Signage and a host of others throughout North America.
Marketing, Sales and Distribution
The Company intends to launch "The Digital Pages" as an advertising solution for DPN locations as a proprietary Digital Media solution. Initially, the Company will target Medical, Ophthalmology, Boutique Healthcare, Automotive, C-Store, Retail and Financial Institutions. The Company has existing relationships in all of these locations.
The Company supports effective media planning and buying based on consumer profile data to ensure maximum effectiveness of the targeting needs of each advertising campaign. Advertising campaigns can be delivered across many or all locations of a DPN, or targeted to reach a specific audience. Delivery is optimized within a targeted audience based on observed and expected response.
The Company's objective is to position itself as the leading provider of DPN's in this category.
To achieve that objective, the Company's strategic position includes:
1. Developing an industry-leading "Digital Pages" advertising and sponsorship format.
2. Pursuing an aggressive growth strategy that will attract the attention of brand advertisers and agencies that want to reach national audiences.
3. Building a strong network of venues and locations.
4. Creating a North American presence through the provision of managed systems and hardware sales and remote management services.
Forward-Looking Statements:
The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.