Top Women in OOH Spotlight 2024: Marilyn Eisengart

women are already changing the OOH industry

by Amber Larkins, OOH Today

We recently posted our annual list of the Top Women Driving Growth in OOH for 2024. Today, we highlight Marilyn Eisengart, Senior Account Executive at Lamar Advertising.

Eisengart has been with the company for over 30 years. She works in the Pittsburgh Market-Northeast Region, developing successful strategies for small, medium, and large companies to increase brand awareness, sales, and market share. She attended Arizona State University and has two daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, friends, and her dog, Gus. She also enjoys paddle tennis and golf and has been taken by the pickleball craze.

After she graduated from college, she worked in Retail & Recruitment. She found an advertisement in the newspaper in 1993 for an Account Executive position with Martin Media. Chancellor Media acquired Martin Media. Lamar Advertising acquired the company in 1999.

“As sellers, our job is to develop relationships within the communities and businesses to tell the Out-of-Home story,” Eisengart said. “Everchanging consumer behaviors and emerging trends with data have enhanced the value of OOH as part of the media mix to help drive growth.”

Driving Growth in OOH

Out-of-home advertising is the oldest form of advertising in the people’s space and continues to reinvent itself. Its most recent revolution is the digitization of the industry.

“Lamar is the leader of that initiative,” Eisengart said. “After 911, I witnessed firsthand Lamar’s commitment to making capital investments in this new technology and Digital Billboard deployment across the US.”

She says the OOH industry has become more agile, which helps to create new conversations with businesses, buyers, and planners who might invest their marketing dollars in OOH.

“As sellers, our job is to develop relationships within the communities and businesses to tell the Out-of-Home story,” Eisengart said. “Everchanging consumer behaviors and emerging trends with data have enhanced the value of OOH as part of the media mix to help drive growth.”

Some of her successes are her longevity in the industry (over 30 years!) and balancing work and life demands as a mother. She appreciates that she has been a role model for her two daughters. She is also proud of her success in building relationships over the years.

“The relationships and friendships I have made along the way, both within the Lamar family and with businesses, clients, agencies, and organizations, give me a sense of purpose and pride,” Eisengart said.

She loves learning and growing to understand business challenges, needs, and goals so that she can customize campaigns and find mutually beneficial solutions. Some businesses have advertised with her for over 25 years, showing that she has won high respect with her clients and in the industry. In 2019, she was recognized for her skills when she was named as the Company-wide Sales Leader.

She’s worked on so many campaigns over the years that it’s difficult to single out a favorite. Some campaigns have strong creative or utilize many OOH formats in different ways. Other times, campaigns may be a favorite due to revenue growth or other positive metrics. But in 2021, Pittsburgh Brewing Co. was an OBIE finalist.

Eisengart believes the industry needs to continue to tell the OOH story: its effectiveness in reaching and engaging audiences, how it can change consumer behaviors, its data-driven insights, innovations in the space, and creativity. The industry continues to evolve with new ways to capture the attention of advertisers and consumers, digital and mobile integrations, and a movement toward standardized measurements.

“These are some strategies to create a favorable environment for the industry to drive growth,” Eisengart said.

Overcoming Challenges in OOH

2019 was a successful year for Lamar. They were gaining momentum into 2020 when the pandemic hit.

“This was a challenge to me personally, professionally, and the industry. We faced the early months with much uncertainty. Media spending was being canceled, paused, and pulled,” Eisengart said. “We had to adjust to working from home. There were health and well-being concerns. One of my daughters was sent home from college. My other daughter was in high school. Both were adapting to online learning while activities and sports paused.”

During the pandemic, work and life disruptions collided. Industries paused and pivoted with patience and resilience to changing business needs. Over time, finding new ways to support each other allowed categories to utilize OOH in different ways to help rebound the industry.

Eisengart says that, in her experience, women’s struggles are ever-evolving. In some cases, they are better, in others, the same, and sometimes, new issues arise.

“A diverse workforce benefits all,” Eisengart said. “Lamar is taking a hard focus and putting attention and investments towards making positive strides, including leadership training development and mentoring programs.”

Promoting Women in OOH

Eisengart believes that leaders and employees can contribute to boosting other women and promoting inclusivity. This should be done through training, open communication, and dialogue.

Eisengart said, “Create a sense of belonging, recognize individual contributions, and promote teamwork and collaboration.”

She says women are already changing the OOH industry.

“Anna Bager, President and CEO of the OAAA, is the industry voice and breaking barriers by educating advertisers and agencies on the benefits of OOH and its value proposition,” Eisengart said.