Programmatic Grinding, The Top 10 Creative People and The Great Billboard Hunt

This week we shared the results of our year-long survey of OOH Creatives. We learned how OUTFRONT is performing and why programmatic needs to keep grinding.  Here’s a weekly recap of the top OOH stories you may have missed, along with colorful commentary from BB.

1. The GRReat Billboard Hunt-When Billboards Become Destinations

Extra Credit Projects (ECP) and Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) posted billboards all over Grand Rapids, Michigan. To promote the Airport’s 30+ nonstop destinations, GFIA launched the GRReat Billboard Hunt, a contest for their West Michigan audience to search for billboard locations and take photos of all of the destinations they can travel to nonstop from Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

BB’s Take: These ‘billboard hunts’ do very well when executed with substantial weight to impact a market and strong creativity.  With creative carrying the significantly most impactful of the two, creating a contest of search can be fun and most importantly deliver a strong return on investment. if there ever was an idea you have thought of or used after reading about in OOH Today, this one should or will be at the top. Get your contest going today!

2. OOH Today’s Top 10 Creatives of 2024

Last year, OOH Today embarked upon a journey to identify the individuals most responsible for the consistent year-in and year-out creation of the best outdoor advertising. Over the last 12 months, we’ve selectively surveyed leading OOH Industry executives, searching far and wide for the superior ‘best of the best’ in out-of-home design.  Here are the 10 names we heard over and over again.

BB’s Take: These are indeed the best creatives designing OOH in the Country. Arguably worldwide. Not to our surprise, there was not much pushback on the selections. These ten individuals were named over and over again by the OOH community. They are talent and experience. Both are interwoven with each other. 

I have had the great fortune of outstanding artists designing billboards for me as a salesperson. When you have a great one or even a good one, life is wonderful and your sales numbers benefit. A bad one and sales suffer. Bad art doesn’t sell very well. Great artist’s work ALWAYS sells. Great art makes poor salespeople good.

Anybody can design a billboard. God knows in my 43 years of selling, how many business owners submitted their 8-year-old’s drawing and insisted the quality was unsurpassed and that we produce it. And we did and in many cases, did it again soon after. From Dickie Van Haften to Rob Richards to many others from the past who forged the way with great OOH creativity, these ten will be remembered as well.

If you have had or continue to have the good fortune of a great artist working with you as a salesperson, thank them every day. Congrats to the 10!

3. OUTFRONT UP 1.3% Q4, 2.7% For Full Year

OUTFRONT was pleased to finish the year with its fourth quarter revenues at the higher end of guidance. The company attributed this to strength in its local business and automated sales channels, which offset the headwind created by recent media strikes.  OUTFRONT’s fourth quarter 2023 results showed an increase of 1.3% and the full 2023 results showed an increase of 2.7%.

BB’s Take: Without a doubt, the thing that jumps out of this story is Jeremy Male’s quote, “We were pleased to finish the year with our fourth quarter revenues at the higher end of guidance as a result of strength in our local business and automated sales channels, which offset the headwind created by the media strikes.” said Jeremy Male, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OUTFRONT Media.

By all accounts, our crystal ball tells us 1st quarter 2024 is not shaping up any better. Headwind, schmidewind, it’s time to sell something. 

4. JCDecaux Launches Interactive Awards To Showcase Best-In-Class Programmatic Digital Out-Of-Home

JCDecaux UK is holding The Programmatic DOOH Live Awards 2024 to celebrate five years since the launch of programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH). The free-to-enter awards will spotlight the best DOOH campaigns from the UK over the past year. Though most judging processes in the advertising industry are “behind closed doors”, the entries will be judged live in London. Alongside an expert judging panel, the gathered audience can cast their votes for the most innovative campaigns, while the public will also have their say on the People’s Choice award.

BB’s Take: Why a Showcase Awards for Programmatic? Our guess is to try to jumpstart the struggling softwares and processes which just have not taken off the way it was predicted and invested in over the last 10 years or more. We think that programmatic has been around a lot longer than 5 years. To our recollection, Vistar kicked off around 2012 and Adomni started approximately 2015. (that’s only my weak memory). Do you want to know for sure? Do the research 🙂 But it has been longer than 5 years. 

Judging will be live but not sure what judging will be based on. ‘Best’ based on what criteria? As a primary sponsor of programmatic through its ownership of VIOOH (93.5% ownership), it is not surprising that Decaux is sponsoring an Awards program.

If this is an additional needed shot in the arm to get Programmatic going, then we hope everyone jumps on the Programmatic Awards bandwagon and gets it moving.  After all, if enough people say “it works and that it is needed” then by God it must be true. Vistar Programmatic Awards. Adomni Programmatic Awards. Adquick Programmatic Awards. But it is not. 

Alas, I think the issue is not want but need and ability. Need or real demand for programmatic and ability or legitimacy to transact completely and competently. Programmatic is struggling to get over the wall. With emphasis on the ability issue. Lots of bugs to work out of programmatic. It will get there, but it’s going to be a grind. Say about the top of the 4th of a 9-inning game. No homers yet. Just singles. Stick with the money ball approach is our advice. But the problem is, there are the many ‘new school pretenders players’ with old school greed wanting the return on investment now, whether programmatic truly delivers or not. And that is what will keep this game going for many more years.