May the 4th of OOH be With You
OOH Today Weekend Update —Following the Money
The week of our industry’s premiere conference, new Harris poll data, measurement standards, and more. A weekly recap of the top OOH stories you missed may have, along with colorful commentary from the Yoda of OOH (BB) for the week ending May 4, 2024.
1. OAAA Reveals Winners of 82nd Annual OBIE Awards
The OAAA announced the winners of the 82nd annual OBIE Awards this week during the 2024 OOH Media Conference in Carlsbad, CA. For the past eight decades, the prestigious OBIE Awards have been synonymous with creative excellence, shining a light on the most creative and innovative work in the out-of-home space and signaling the future for the industry.
The OBIE Awards were co-hosted by OAAA’s EVP of Strategy & Growth, Jeff Jan, and Digital Prophet & Industry Luminary David Shing. Winners were revealed across five tiers: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Craft, along with recipients of a new Student OBIE Awards and the OBIE Hall of Fame.
This year’s top honor, the Platinum OBIE Award, went to a collaborative effort between Taito, Google, Unit9, and OUTFRONT XLabs for the Space Invaders “World Defense” 45th Anniversary Immersive AR experience, an interactive game where players worked together to save the planet.
Curious about what else you missed if you did not attend this year’s conference? You can read a transcript of Anna Bager‘s speech here.
B.B.’s Take: Great show. Successful conference. I wish it lasted at least a day longer, but that aside, congrats to the entire OAAA team that put it together. Jeff Jan may have a future hosting award ceremonies. Could the Oscars be calling him soon?
2. OAAA/Harris Poll Shows DOOH Surpasses Other Media
This week, the OAAA released compelling findings from a survey conducted by The Harris Poll on the efficacy of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, showcasing its unparalleled ability to engage consumers. The study found a staggering 73% of consumers view DOOH ads favorably. Most notably, consumers ranked DOOH as the medium that would most drive them to take action, as 76% of recent DOOH ad viewers noted they had taken action because of a DOOH ad.
BB’s Take: While this may be an enlightening and perhaps valuable poll, the reality is, polls, measurement, traffic validation, (MRC) and ease of buying (programmatic) don’t sell billboards or any other OOH. Sales does. That means nearly 100% of you reading this comment have to ‘Sell’ OOH. Whether, admin, planner, buyer, seller, owner or investor, OOH has to be sold. Forget the search for the holy grail to OOH (the easy button) and get out and sell it!
On April 22, a Media Rating Council (MRC) out-of-home (OOH) media measurement working group – of which Tony Jarvis is a member in dissent – approved a final version of Phase 1 of the council’s “OOH Measurement Standards – Exclusive of Audience” with some additional inadequate changes.
Jarvis says the document is “unequivocally not a standard.”
Media research experts advised that this MRC standard turns the medium’s metrics upside down and inside out and takes OOH measurement back more than 20 years because it fails to embrace the recognized “Global Audience Measurement Guidelines” established by the World Out-of-Home Organization (WOO), 2022. Jarvis asserts the MRC standard essentially takes OOH back to the days of using distribution/circulation and very basic opportunity-to-see OTS data for planning and buying the medium, using definitions and derivations that are ill-defined, confused, contradictory, and inconsistent
B.B.’s Take: Jarvis makes many great points. Beware of those who attempt to personally discredit Jarvis and downplay his excellent comments with personal attacks ignoring Jarvis’s points by sidestepping them with the personal innuendos and character assassination while failing to address them. That is the concern we have. Those supporting MRC will not recognize any opposing opinion or debate. Those currently supporting MRC fail to address the issues which should and could be easily resolved with debate and dialogue. Instead the MRC proponents are forcing it down the throats of many for a quick hit job to push their personally profitable agenda. Don’t be fooled by the window dressing. That ‘everyone thinking’ signature? …George Patton Follow the money.
4. Formetco Invests In Massive Expansion With A State-Of-The-Art 175,000 Square Foot Digital Manufacturing Facility
[Formetco, LLC], a leader and pioneer in the design, manufacture, and innovation of digital and hardware products for the Outdoor Advertising industry and a leader in digital LED displays for sports venues, is excited to announce the opening of its new, cutting-edge 175,000 square foot digital manufacturing facility in Suwanee, GA.
Since its inception in 1968, Formetco has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation and quality in the Out of Home and Sports Scoreboards markets.
This expansion is designed to consolidate the manufacturing of digital billboards and scoreboards and allows for a new line of high-resolution, tight-pixel-pitch digital indoor displays, marking a significant leap forward in Formetco’s product offerings. Bringing cutting-edge Manufacturing, Engineering, Product Innovation, and Customer Success departments under one comprehensive roof not only increases operational efficiency and streamlines processes but also accelerates innovation.
B.B.’s Take: For over 50 year’s the privately held family company has been expertly serving the needs of the OOH Industry. It is no surprise they are growing and finding continued success. We encourage everyone to support them.
5. Vistar Acquires Adstruc
Vistar Media announced the acquisition of traditional OOH planning and buying software, ADstruc, from PJX Media.
“We live in a world powered by software, and the OOH media industry is no different,” said Michael Provenzano, CEO & Co-Founder of Vistar Media. “Vistar has had an amazing journey across our programmatic marketplace and enterprise software businesses, but at the same time, our customers consistently remind us that digital OOH—and programmatic within it—is just a portion of the greater OOH landscape.
For almost 15 years, ADstruc software has automated the traditional OOH planning, buying, and selling workflow. By eliminating routine tasks, ADstruc frees agencies to focus on strategy, creativity, and ROI for their clients. The tool streamlined media operations for PJX Media, enabling them to efficiently handle hundreds of millions in OOH billings with a team of experienced OOH experts. The ADstruc platform processed over $1B of combined OOH investments for PJX and other agency subscribers.
B.B.’s Take: We hope to bring to our readers soon what this move really means for Vistar’s future direction. Congrats to John Laramie who worked endless hours to build the software and presumedly make a nice profit from it. Well deserved.
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