Joe Philport To Step Down at Tab

Maddie Cotterill

TAB has announced that Joe Philport, who joined the organization as CEO in 2002, will be retiring at the end of this year. The TAB Board of Directors has decided to conduct a strategic review of the changing needs of the OOH industry in a new media landscape.

A consulting firm, Sequent Partners, has been selected by the Board to help facilitate this review and will work closely with a TAB Leaders Task Force to help set the course for the future of OOH media measurement. As a search for new leadership is conducted, Nancy Fletcher, President & CEO of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), will also assume the role of Interim CEO of TAB, while Joe Philport will serve as a consultant to the TAB Board.

Mary Sheehan, Senior Director of Media Strategy and Planning at ESPN and Chairman of the TAB said “Joe has been the steward and strategic force behind TAB Out of Home Ratings, making it the official currency for out of home measurement, and his contributions cannot be overstated“.

Jim Spaeth and Alice Sylvester of Sequent Partners will convene a TAB Leaders Task Force to help set the course for the strategic evolution of OOH measurement, including a new leadership plan.

Sequent Partners, a media and brand metrics consultancy founded in 2003, has worked with a variety of industry groups, as well at TAB, to help advance measurement initiatives and achieve common goals.

Mark Moyer, CEO of Fairway and Chairman of OAAA said “Nancy Fletcher’s deep understanding of the out of home industry, demonstrated leadership ability and longtime membership on the TAB Board of Directors make her the ideal choice to assist during this critical transition,”

“The OAAA fully supports Nancy’s role in this process, recognizing the importance of TAB Out of Home Ratings not only for TAB members, but for the entire out of home advertising industry.”

Philport joined TAB at a time when the industry still relied on counts of people passing billboards to conduct business. Recognizing industry demand for greater accountability and more accurate measurement, TAB, led by Philport, developed TAB Out of Home Ratings, which measures audiences who actually see advertising. In 2009, in recognition of this advancement, the Advertising Research Foundation awarded Philport its Great Mind Award for Innovation. The system has since incorporated ratings for transit media and digital billboards.


Leave a Reply