#MPDOOH – Pearls Of Wisdom

MediaPost ^[2]’s Digital Out-of-Home Forum had innumerable pearls of wisdom from all its speakers,

(Patrick Quinn, CEO, PQ Media ^[3]) stated that 70% of the revenue is commanded by the top 10 operators. In a particularly good presentation he went on to say (from his 2011 Forecast) that Digital Place-based Media will grow 16% and Digital Billboards/Signage will grow at least 18%. and also DOOH will continue to trend towards working more with other media (think mobile, social, QR codes, etc.). The flexibility of DOOH has helped it grow.

I have listed below some of the many others that stuck out in my mind: –

• Ayuda and DOmedia are the type of companies that are helping DOOH become scalable.

  Creativity is missing out on helping DOOH target.

  Media planners are not sufficiently educated about DOOH. And they should concentrate on the mindset and behavior of consumers.

  (Jack Sullivan, SVP/OOH Director, Starcom Worldwide ^[4])

• Education and more research is needed on the effectiveness of DOOH and how it works across targets, brands and venues to make a strong case.

  The techniques are there to evaluate and measure. You have to see what the client wants and which technique should be used to give back to the client. There’s a delicate balance to know what is truly measurable and what applies in each case.

  Creative is key, but agencies have minimal information regarding creative on DOOH. Show creatives how it works. It’s important to show the accountability of creative.

  (Connie Garrido, CEO, Posterscope ^[5])

• DOOH has to understand how it fits into a media plan. It must know the objectives of the planner to find the solution to the advertiser’s objective. Know the planner’s mindset.

  There’s a need for a repository of information. It’s difficult to do a DOOH plan. There’s a need for experts behind the system to help interpret.

  (Cindy Stockwell, media director, Hill Holliday ^[6])

• The way agencies are structured these days makes it difficult for DOOH. Who do you approach? Is there a way to cross-pollinate the silos? DOOH may not be doing anything wrong. Problems might be due to the agency set-up.

  (Tim Hanlon, CEO & managing director, Velociter)

• The structure of the way clients work with agencies is not a good set-up for DOOH.

(Trevor Kaufman, CEO, Possible Worldwide ^[7])

• There’s a need for not only the planning tools but for everyone to talk the same language: agencies, vendors, everybody involved. And we have to show that DOOH is cool and not that expensive.

  The main opportunities for DOOH working with brands lie in communication and creativity. The industry hasn’t pushed on creative.

  (Dennis Roche, president, Zoom Media & Marketing ^[8])

• You have to look at the budget and overall what the brand wants to do. DOOH must show agencies what the screen will bring to the brand.

  As an agency, I’d like to see about five networks work together on one study so we can really see the results.

  (Dave Barnett, director, account services, Kinetic)

• There’s a lot of mistrust out there. Sometimes there’s a problem in agencies with planners agreeing to DOOH and then the buyers saying, “No way. You’ve over-promised the client.” Show what the screen can bring to the environment.

  (Paul Lenhart, VP, OOH strategist, Zenithmedia)

• We have to push the technology. Show the interactivity, Celebrate what the consumer can do with digital phones. And agencies should test and learn.

  (Michael Souza, senior partner, managing director, MindShare ^[9])

• What’s out there to measure creative in a DOOH campaign?

  (Vince Laraia, EVP/Innovations, president, R.J. Palmer ^[10], Trade X Media)

• We try to get creatives to our DOOH. They push back because it takes a lot of resources and budget.

  (Debbie Reichig, SVP, business development & marketing, Clear Channel Outdoor ^[11])

• DOOH is much more complex than buying TV.

  (Peter Bowen, founder & CEO, SeeSaw Networks ^[12])

• That 70% is going to the top 10 because agencies don’t know how to buy the many others out there. And that’s not saying that the others aren’t a valuable part of a total buy.

  (Graeme Spicer, general manager of digital mdia, NEC Display Solutions ^[13])

• The Canadian market is much farther ahead of the U.S., especially in terms of validity, etc.. We’re also watching Brazil and Australia closely.

  (Rob Gorrie, president, Adcentricity ^[14])

• The next big technological breakthrough? One in five mobile devices will have NFC (Near Field Communication) technology (similar to RFID) and it could be transactional.

  (Harry Dewhirst, VP advertising, Amobee ^[15])