Top Women In OOH Spotlight 2024: Vanessa Cascia

“It’s important to have women willing to take on a leadership role in our industry and step forward
to address some of those challenges in partnership with our male counterparts,”

by Amber Larkins, OOH Today

A couple of weeks ago, we posted our annual list of the  OOH Today’s Top Women Driving Growth in OOH for 2024. Today, we shine the spotlight on Vanessa Cascia, Group Director/VP of National Transit Sales, Los Angeles, OUTFRONT Media.

Cascia feels lucky to have worked for OUTFRONT Media over the last 20 years. She grew personally and professionally during her tenure, fulfilling many roles and functions. She started as an entry-level coordinator before transitioning to transit operations. She then experienced the bumps and bruises that come with learning the sales side of the business during her time as a Local Account Executive. This job helped her prepare for her role as a successful National Account Executive. Her current role at OUTFRONT is Group Director of their National Los Angeles team, specifically focusing on OUTFRONT’s transit assets across the country.

“I’ve always had a passion for the transit side of our industry and the value those formats can bring when integrated into a campaign,” Cascia said. She feels fulfilled by OUTFRONT’s amazing clients and the work family she has built throughout the years.

She lives in East LA with her beautiful, supportive wife. She also has two dogs, which she is convinced have become more expensive than human children.

Like most people who don’t have family or friends in out-of-home, Cascia had no idea that this entire advertising sector even existed.

“I had never stopped to think about how ads ended up on billboards or buses,” Cascia said. She stumbled across this industry when she was 21 through a temp agency that placed her as a coordinator at Viacom Outdoor.

“The fast-paced environment and high-demand situations always kept me engaged and learning, ” Cascia said. And she never looked back.

Driving Growth in OOH

Cascia tries to drive growth in OOH through education and sharing experiences. She believes regardless of whether it’s internal company-facing or external client-facing that, so much growth could happen if everyone shared their experiences and insights.

“Learning the things that have worked for someone and things that have not helps those around us to build from those learnings,” Cascia said.

She says her greatest successes are when she can say she helped an individual grow professionally. She knows how daunting this fast-paced industry can be for someone with little to no knowledge of OOH. She wants to provide support and education to help others discover their path to success.

“As someone who has grown up in this industry from a young age, I’m helping to pay it forward for those who invested in my growth,” Cascia said.

Her favorite campaigns are the ones that create strong engagement and a public following.

“It exponentially grows the interaction with that ad, and as we all know, OOH is very much IRL,” Cascia said.

She said she’s seen people dress up in Spiderman costumes to go ride the PlayStation NY train wrap when it was promoting a new Spiderman game. She loves the effect of kids’ faces lighting up when they walk into a station domination filled with Nickelodeon cartoon characters or JLo hiding behind a light pole on the sidewalk in West Hollywood. Or family members of those showcased on an OOH ad share it to social media, proud of their loved ones.

“The positive effect our media can have in people’s daily lives makes it all worth it,” Cascia said.

Though OOH has an authentic touch that drives human engagement and connection, there is still work to be done to increase its share of total ad spend. Cascia thinks the industry needs to keep its focus on measurement.

“We have made great strides towards this goal in the past few years, but we still need a strong focus on this to remain competitive against other channels,” Cascia said. “As we continue to grow our share of the industry through integrating platforms like digital programmatic and digital direct capabilities, we continue to be more flexible with different ways for our clients to integrate OOH into their campaigns.”

Overcoming Challenges in OOH

Out-of-home is always changing. One challenge Cascia has faced periodically is how to keep evolving with industry changes.

“It’s easy to stay in our comfort zone, especially if you’ve been in this industry for a long time, but as OOH moves into the digital age and systems and processes change to adapt to the advertising environment, it can be a hurdle for some,” Cascia said.

She’s asked herself: How do I learn new ways to accomplish the same tasks that were manually done? How do I sell media in different ways than I’m used to? How do I leverage new data and research to help clients? How do I sell some of the oldest forms of advertising to new audiences? But through it all, she’s learned that change will happen, whether you adapt to it or not.

“Without evolution, things become extinct,” Cascia said. “OOH continues to evolve and has remained a very relevant discussion in clients’ media mix.”

She tries to anticipate change and educate herself early on to tackle these challenges. She takes time each day to educate herself on something she doesn’t understand well and stay close to trends her clients see. This helps her adapt to new ways of working and overcome difficulties.

 Cascia thinks most industries that are male-dominated create challenges for women. This can happen passively at times without conscious thought or effort. One way to address these challenges is for women to have a seat at the table to be that voice and perspective for the industry to learn from. She said it brings to mind a Shirley Chisolm quote, “If  they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”

“It’s important to have women willing to take on a leadership role in our industry and step forward to address some of those challenges in partnership with our male counterparts,” Cascia said.

One of the challenges women still face is achieving a work-life balance. Many have difficulties balancing professional responsibilities with their personal lives. Another challenge is gender stereotypes and a lack of representation in senior and executive leadership roles.

“Building a strong support network when starting your career is very important,” Cascia said. Connecting with other women in the industry and finding mentorship will help you navigate some of the challenges.”

She emphasizes the importance of continuing to learn and develop skills so that women can work confidently throughout their careers. Women need to know how to advocate for themselves and others around them. They need to know how to highlight their achievements, negotiate fair compensation, and understand the value they bring as individuals to the organization and industry.

Promoting Women in OOH

Cascia says promoting inclusivity is an ongoing effort that requires commitment from everyone in the industry. As a manager, she strives to create a safe and inclusive environment while holding everyone accountable for their part of the process. She believes it’s vital that women mutually support each other and promote collaboration rather than what can sometimes be a toxic environment of competition.

“Leading by example is one of the most powerful ways to impact the workplace,” Cascia said.

She wants to see the right people in the right positions leverage their strengths, skills, and perspectives. Challenging the status quo and pushing the limits of where the bar has been set will take OOH to the next phase of growth.

But to get more women into executive leadership positions in OOH, women must take more chances. They can step into unfamiliar territory by taking on leadership roles, and if they are up for a challenge, they can make powerful changes happen.

“[I want] women to understand their value and gain the confidence that even if they don’t know all the skills needed to fulfill a specific role, success is possible through hard work, mentorship, and education,” Cascia said.