14th Annual DPAA Global Video Everywhere Summit
Barry Frey
President & CEO, DPAA
Good morning, everyone AND a big welcome to the 14th annual DPAA Video Everywhere Global Summit! We’re so excited to have you here. In addition to François—another big thank you to our Emmy-nominated poet, IN-Q, for bringing, in-real-life energy this morning.
Many of you may remember that in years past, we’ve kicked off the Summit with me in different places, in different situations. As many of you saw, one year, I was on the roof of the Paramount Building (or as of last week, the Skydance Building) overseeing all the beautiful digital ad signage in Times Square. One year, I was inside a 3D spaceship. And last year I joined our friend “AI Mike” — the hologram on stage. But this year, we wanted to do something different.
Our theme this year is Real Connections, so instead of opening with technology, I wanted to open with a real person on a REAL stage sharing REAL words. That’s why we brought IN-Q to help us start.
And in order to build REAL Connections with REAL knowledge, with best practices, with omnichannel experiences, and… of course with each other – as my friend IN-Q has inspired us today, please say YES to connection and possibility.
Let’s Please….give Francois and IN-Q another hand and let’s start the show.
For years, the advertising industry raced toward the digital world. Today, the DIGITAL world is racing toward us. Out-of-home advertising… once a reach and awareness medium …has truly become full-funnel. Marketers are getting data, automation, addressability, dynamic creative, measurement, attribution, AND programmatic. We drive not only brand fame, brand lift, and
awareness, but we also drive consumers to websites, to stores, to action, AND to purchases. We have all of it… AND… we have something else: WE HAVE Real Connections in the physical world.
Why is this important? Because with today’s tech and message saturation, brands are increasingly challenged not only to stand out, but to appear alongside brand-safe content in authentic environments, engaging with authentic humans. Increasingly the digital media world isn’t even entirely human. We ask – what is real? What is AI? What content and ads can we trust? What is authentic? Real news? Fake News?
AI agents are now starting to plan, discover, negotiate, and activate media. We are in a world where 52% of new online content is AI-generated AND where automated bots and AI agents generate 57% of web requests and traffic! Kantar, in working with OUTFRONT Media found that 93% of consumers question whether online content was created by a person or generated by AI.
So where do advertisers find real people, real attention, and real impact?
Digital out-of-home!
OOH has always possessed something no other medium can replicate: The Real World. We reach people where they actually live, work and play. Our one-to-many medium is NOT. serve in basements or in echo chambers; it is a one-to-many medium in public, in the sunshine, where you have to be authentic (or else you get tomatoes thrown at the screens).
When that same Kantar study commissioned by OUTFRONT showed consumers the EXACT same creative on OOH and on social, they rated the OOH ad 70% more credible and authentic.
Joe Mandese, Editor-in-Chief of Media Post, has penned articles and given speeches proclaiming: “Authenticity is the new KPI.”
This empowers our role in the media plan … as it also empowers the media plan.
And our medium continues to grow:
- DOOH spending globally is forecast to grow over 15% this year
- And digital screens are approaching half of all OOH inventory
- DPAA has been doubling down on digital for over a decade now..… when many were hesitant. They thought we were going the wrong direction. Turns out the future was coming our way: Real connections in the real world.
This is DOOH!
We have Measurement, attribution and outcomes. We are seeing data in real time, optimizing and adding reach, impact, and ROI to omnichannel campaigns. Yes there are some still seeking the exacting, perfect measurement. YET, we have something far more powerful that brands and businesses really want…
The recently released 4A’s “Paradox of Plenty” study found that while media measurement capabilities have increased, the CONFIDENCE in them has lagged. When we look at media research, let’s keep in mind that even the largest independent media measurement system in the world, when it delivers the numbers, those measurement numbers are called … “Nielsen estimates.” Just estimates! $70 billion traded on estimates!
DOOH may not showcase precise, easy-to-fit-in-the-box measurement at this point…Yet via smart people at smart companies, like Chris Gadik and ADQUICK, we see that DOOH delivers clear, definable outcomes. Yes DOOH delivers proven, ROI, ROAS and yes, real outcomes up and down the marketing funnel. Thank you again, ADQUICK.
And DOOH is verified. VeriDOOH, growing globally from Australian roots, certifies, measures, and verifies, independently, that campaigns run as intended, building trust and transparency… as brands, agencies, and media owners continually optimize their campaigns to perform as intended. Outcomes and verification build confidence.
DOOH builds brands—and drives performance.
We are reaching consumers on their daily journey: on their path to purchase and increasingly more at the POINT of purchase. DOOH is now starting to see retail media budgets, finally.Moving from where all this $200 billion has been essentially spent: online.
Why? Because the IRL daily journey of global consumers ends up at the physical store where 80% of purchases are made vs. online.
Think about that. We drive search. We drive purchases. That is why DOOH continues to be among the fastest-growing major advertising media. And it is why DPAA members are increasingly competing for — and winning — Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Loonies, Reals and Pesos that have previously gone to television, digital video, CTV, online retail media and other digital channels.
Something BIG is happening. The emotional power of video. The impact and scale of OOH. And the context and authenticity of the real world. Authenticity!
Hey—You know what you can’t fake?
- A spectacular performance in Times Square… Which is why we’ve organized the Book of Mormon Broadway talent to perform this afternoon.
- You can’t fake the connection fans make when they walk into a stadium… You’ll hear more on this when the CMO of Major League Soccer takes our stage.
- You can’t fake the moment something catches your attention while walking through Simon Malls…. and other stores in the Simon Retail Media Network.
- And…staying with authentic retail experiences, the American Eagle CMO will tell us more when he sits down with Stagwell’s Vice Chairman.
- Plus the actual experiencing of products in a Microsoft Store and engaging with humans about AI solutions is something we will hear about today as well.
- And … you certainly cannot fake a packed Madison Square Garden experience, when in June, the New York Knicks executed the largest comeback in NBA Finals history from a 29 Point deficit in Game 4 of the 2026 Finals (and OMG—I was so lucky to be there, right behind the basket, in real life! Fans connecting! The Garden was ON FIRE! Gratitude Sam!)
DOOH lives at the center of all those experiences. We bring media into the shared world where we connect. And in our real world, our Moving Out of Home Association or MOOHA is where Ubers, taxis, trucks all display advertising anywhere and everywhere without the constraints of physical construction, as we have marketed this sector for 3 years now.
We are the medium making real connections. And that brings me to the other idea embedded into the moniker of our Global Summits: Video Everywhere.
We choose that name very deliberately. Video is the most powerful storytelling medium ever created for brands and consumers. And we’ll hear more about that from very successful media mogul Byron Allen this morning.
And now, the most powerful medium – video – IS everywhere, and proliferating outside the home!
AT DPAA, our mission continues as we:
- Connect and grow the global DOOH ecosystem.
- Grow our member companies.
- Grow our individual members …professionally and personally.
- And of course—grow revenue!
Across our global membership, companies are investing enormous amounts of financial, human capital, and innovation into this business:
- Wildstone is investing in the future of the medium as the largest asset owner in Europe.
- Broadsign and VIOOH are making DOOH much easier to access, buy, and target.
- GSTV… Screenvision… Captivate, GYM TV …and MadHive are opening doors to digital, video and CTV budgets.
- GroundTruth is bringing location intelligence and mobile capabilities into the picture.
- 2PointZero, MMG, and Backlight…together… have helped empower growth by investing money, manpower, and smarts into the business.
- And then we have Talon and all of our demand side members continuing to innovate… across planning, buying, creative and technology.
- And then there’s Dooh.com, a brilliant company….creating and delivering dynamic content that serve….two basic human needs: attention and connection.
The more virtual the world is, the more valuable REAL connections become. Real people. Real experiences. Real attention. Real Outcomes. Real Authenticity. Real Connections. That is what DOOH delivers. And that’s what… TODAY is about. Video is Everywhere – and REAL CONNECTIONS …..have never been more valuable.
And with that, I’m very pleased to welcome our first guest, Mr. Byron Allen, an incredibly successful, smart founder, chairman, and CEO of Allen Media Group…(who by the way also now owns Late Night on CBS in more ways than one).