Top Women in OOH Spotlight 2025: Ali Broback

A results-oriented media executive and natural leader with experience in all facets of out-of-home, radio, digital, mobile and print advertising, Alison Broback has been in the OOH industry since 2007 and has been with ODN for nearly 6 years. She currently serves as Chief Client Officer and previously was the VP of Corporate Accounts. She drives agency growth, oversees several of the company’s largest accounts, and tours the country (via Delta or Zoom), uncovering both agencies and brands that are frustrated with the OOH buying process. Before joining ODN, she was an Account Executive at Intersection.

She got her start at CBS Outdoor entirely by chance. She applied for a front desk position at CBS Outdoor Minneapolis-St. Paul.

“I honestly thought it was a landscaping company,” Broback says. In the middle of the interview, the GM at the time told her, “You’re not a front desk person; you’re a salesperson!” and hired her for a sales role instead. Her relationship-based sales approach, while a bit slower at the start, proved to be successful. She completely fell in love with OOH.

Throughout her career, countless women have coached, mentored, and helped her over the years. But it was two men that she has to thank for getting her where she is today: Bob Graiziger (GM CBS OUTDOOR Mpls), who knew she was a salesperson at heart, and Doug Connor, her business partner at ODN, who saw greatness in her early on and never let her do anything but be the best version of herself.

“I give an actual sh*t about my clients, about my people, and about this industry. If you do that, growth comes naturally because you’re always on the lookout for ways to make things better and less complex,” Broback said.

One of her nominators described her this way, “Ali Broback, Chief Client Officer for Outdoor Nation, exemplifies what it means to drive growth in the OOH industry through true partnership. Her ability to seamlessly bridge the gap between vendors and clients is unmatched, leveraging her influence to gain trust, respect, and alignment on all sides. Ali’s deep knowledge of OOH and savvy approach to strategy and collaboration have earned her a stellar reputation as a leader who delivers results. Her exceptional ability to foster relationships and inspire confidence makes her a standout candidate for recognition as one of the Top Women Driving Growth in OOH 2025.”

Growth Through Challenges

Broback is curious by nature and a great listener.

“I give an actual sh*t about my clients, about my people, and about this industry. If you do that growth comes naturally because you’re always on the lookout to make things better and less complex,” Broback said.

Like many others, the absolute most significant challenge of her career was the pandemic. She had two very small children now stuck at home, one of whom was in the midst of potty training. While managing this, she was simultaneously navigating hard calls from clients asking questions about impression declines and cancellations.

“Let’s keep in mind that I consider myself probably ODN’s best ‘fire-fighter’ and when there’s a fire, people come to me to help put it out,” Broback said. “But this was a lot to handle, especially when I knew how hard our teams worked on all of those campaigns.”

She had to take it hour by hour and day by day. Ultimately, they found solutions for every client, and her son was finally potty-trained.

Favorite OOH Campaign

Beyond her work putting out “fires,” Broback is an avid media fan. In her opinion, Apple’s “Shot on an iPhone campaign” is still one of the best. In the campaign, Apple used the medium to show off the new camera’s features. It was high res enough to be blown up to the size of a massive billboard. She found the campaign impactful, memorable, and meaningful because it leveraged user-generated copy to give it a personal touch. She found the entire campaign successful and authentic in every way.

Stay Curious and Get Involved

Though Broback has been highly successful in her career, she says women still struggle in the industry.

“Women, especially younger women, need to advocate for themselves. Build a strong network and lean on your mentors for help and advice,” Broback says.

She believes women starting careers in OOH must become the experts in their field. She recommends that women never stop learning, always stay curious, and absolutely get involved through local AAF Chapters and committees and by getting to know their cities through young professional networking socials that can expand a young woman’s horizons.

Beyond that, they need to do good work, advocate for themselves, always care, and do the right thing.

“I think the key is, don’t hide behind your screen and in that Zoom box. Get out and meet young, like-minded people to explore new opportunities,” Broback said.

At her workplace, boosting women and promoting inclusivity is intrinsic and engrained, as ODN is women-owned. She is surrounded by many strong women at ODN, clients, and vendors.

The Future of OOH

Broback says the work towards getting a larger slice of total ad spend has already begun, and she is more excited than ever for the future of the OOH industry.

“With new leadership on the horizon, an invigorated new relationship with the OAAA, and new partnerships being investigated, I can tell you that the future is bright!” Broback said.

Though it’s a loaded question, if Broback took over the entire OOH industry tomorrow she would work to correct the incredible amount of fragmentation in the industry.

“Standards are still all over the board with POP, rates, impressions, etc. The first thing I’d do is button that right up!”

But as to what she foresees happening in the future of the industry, there are a lot of upcoming changes:

• Enhanced Personalization: As data collection and analysis improve, OOH advertising will become increasingly personalized, tailoring messages to specific audiences based on real-time data insights, including location-based targeting. Just like other mediums like mobile and OTT, OOH can now speak to a consumer in 1:1. 
• Integration with Digital Channels: OOH will continue to blend with digital marketing strategies, creating multi-channel campaigns that connect with consumers across various platforms.
• Expansion of Smart Cities: As cities become smarter with IoT integration, OOH advertising will likely utilize interconnected data to enhance targeting and interactivity, aligning ads with real-time urban activities.
• Increased Focus on Analytics: Advertisers will prioritize measurement tools that provide deeper insights into campaign performance, enabling them to make data-driven decisions and optimize their strategies more effectively.
• Innovative Formats: Place-based networks continue to pop up, bringing advertisers new ways to reach their target audiences. Expect to see new formats and placements for OOH advertising, such as street furniture, transit ads, and unexpected locations that capture attention in unique ways.

“I absolutely LOVE learning about these innovative ways companies are creating these networks allowing for advertisers to capture attention in unique ways as well as drilling down to hyper-targeted audiences like never before,” Broback said.

For a long time, advertisers and agencies believed OOH was a top of funnel, brand awareness medium. Now more than ever, it’s becoming 1:1.

“At the end of the day, let’s not forget that even with all these new bells and whistles, OOH at the core is still an incredible way to grow brands.  I have to tell myself all the time, let’s not overcomplicate this too much!  Better targeting and more data simply shine a fresh light on a medium that has always worked wonders,” Broback said.