Digital Signage Today
00:27:49 · Adam Malone
[00:27:49] S2: Five and ten years is a long, that seems like a long time. And that's wild because, that's wild because this industry's hundreds of years old, right? And to its credit, I think somebody like Lamar, 120 years old, and Yesco, 110 years old, like these are still some of the most innovative companies in the space. And that's pretty heartening, right? It's not like, oh, a bunch of new companies are gonna come in and disrupt and take all of the future. It's gonna be mostly incremental changes and adoption of these new data sets and technologies and ways of doing business. And yes, some of this will be driven by new entrants. Think what I get most excited about, and again, I know a little, maybe a lot about a little, and one of the things that I'm stoked about is that I see these networks building up in these markets, especially markets like Tampa and Miami and San Diego and Austin and North Dallas, these markets where there's, they just don't, they don't let you build billboards there, like there's just no opportunities to substantially create new supply in these hot markets. There's lots of demand in these markets looking to reach people in the physical world. And so, you know, the companies that are getting creative about building up mall networks or building up, you know, networks of urban panel in lifestyle centers in private areas near public thoroughfares, and they're using high quality commercial grade displays. They're fully connected to, you know, WiFi or to cellular, right? They are, they're smart, they're agile, they're relatively cheap, and they're very effective, and these kinds of networks can be built really quickly. And so I am imagining a world, it's not dystopian at any means. I think it's beautiful and glorious that there's going to be screens everywhere that's gonna be wayfinding and nudging and creating art and creating beautiful commercial messages. And I do think that economically it's gonna allow out of home to really flourish and grow. I mean, the fact that it grows like this year over year over year, it's like, hey guys, because you're building billboards and then you're selling them to each other and there's just a lot of financial stuff going on. But what we really need is we need more supply in the markets where there's tons of demand interest, and it's otherwise hard to reach young audiences, right?
00:30:23 · Adam Malone
We haven't talked too much about how young people aren't watching linear television, right? They're watching YouTube or they're watching TikTok. And so, it's like, how do you compliment that and how do you reach these harder to reach audiences? Well, they're still going out into the world. They're still going to the groceries and going to church and going to school and going to work, etcetera, and traveling and doing all of those things. And so I think with more of a proliferation, I always hate that word or struggle with that word, proliferation, I'll say it twice, I guess. Know, not very kind to myself, but as there's more and more strains, I think it's gonna create more vibrancy and dynamism in our space. And I think 10,000,000,000 goes to 20, you know, in the next, I think we could do it in five years if there's, if that kind of investment in the supply side is unshackled. And then, like I said, if there's maybe a little bit more investment into the audience and data and impressions, methodologies and data sets. I think that'll really unlock a tremendous amount of growth. And I think it's happening. I just want people with large amounts of money and big brands in the space to embrace it, don't fight it, like it's going to happen. So either, be on board and help make that the reality to your benefit, or I guess you can choose not to, but it seems inevitable to me as we've seen these networks build up and become very, very profitable and interesting companies.
00:31:59 · David Weinfeld
[00:31:59] S1: And to Adam's point, it really is so heavily driven by the digitization of out of home or even just static signs moving to digital signs. If you think about the world around us and compare it back even ten years ago, fifteen years ago, there just were not a ton of digital signs. There certainly were much less digital billboards, but now they're everywhere you look. They're in every quick service restaurant, every retailer, every office building, every healthcare office, the coffee shop down the street. The reality is there is a world probably ten years from now, where almost every static sign is digital. And as static signage becomes digital, there's the opportunity for unlocking that media value. Is there a monetization opportunity here? And I'm not advocating for saying that every sign needs to be turned into an advertising face, but I think that there are a lot of opportunities. Think of self checkout displays, think of guests facing point of sale, think of all of those screens that we come in contact with in the airport, even before we reach the terminal. These are opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences. And as we think about the overall channel at large, digital is now roughly 35% of all out of home in The US. Ten years from now, that number should be likely 70 to 75%. There'll always be a place for static billboards and static placements. But as more of our industry is digitized, that's where the budgets are gonna go. And today, if programmatic is approximately 25% of digital out of home, ten years from now, it should be upwards of 75 to 80%. In other digital channels, programmatic is 90% plus of all investment. And it's because it allows for ease, efficiency, flexibility, overall tightness in reporting, the ability to spread... Spend across channels. I see a world where, again, the trade desk very much was the omni channel DSP to most heavily throw its hat in the ring, but you still have a scenario where Google is not heavily invested within our channel. That is going to change over the next five to ten years. Amazon and the growth of their advertising business, the fact that they are leaning so heavily into now going into CTV, going into digital video. This makes so much sense as a channel for major platforms like that.
00:34:53 · David Weinfeld
You could even look at the expansion of Walmart and the fact that they've grown their retail media business into in store. Well, now they're extending their world of data into off-site channels. And digital out of home is another perfect complement to driving people to store, driving people to, net new SKUs or CPG brands. And so what I really see is a massive opportunity for digital out of home driven by just advancement of technology, shifts in consumer behavior. The fact that reaching people in the physical world and it being effective is undeniable for so long. Other digital channels have, you know, frankly just gotten, you know, a much larger share because they've been able to show the immediacy of their impact. And our overall hope and vision is that as we continue to push this industry forward, that we're going to positively disrupt the mindsets of these large scale agencies and brands and advertisers, such that they will see that this needs to be a meaningful channel in their overall investment set. Because as people shift from linear TV or as they avoid ads in other channels, this is a place that you can meet someone whether they're at the gas pump, whether they're in the elevator going to their office building, whether they are going out on a date and they're passing a screen as they head to the restaurant. These are all places where you're meeting people in purchase intent and high purchase moments. To me, and I know Adam and I feel this way more strongly than anyone, I much rather reach someone while their wallet's in their back pocket and they're ready to spend in the physical world than necessarily when they're sitting on their couch looking to scroll past an ad as quickly as possible, or that they see an ad as entirely intrusive to their content experience versus reaching someone when they are in a moment that matters and when they are actually more accepting and trusting of that ad, and it can actually drive behavior in that moment. True.
00:37:26 · Judy Mottl, David Weinfeld, Adam Malone
[00:37:26] S0: You know, I think it's just a very exciting time, right? Overall. [00:37:30] S1: Yeah. Hey, it's why we love what we do. It's hard, it's fun. We have an incredible team. We have an incredible opportunity in front of us. We do feel like, again, we're honest with ourselves. 2.5 pennies of every media dollar. We are pushing a boulder up a mountain, but we feel like because we have the right team with us, that boulder does not feel as heavy each and every day, every year, you know, we're getting higher up that mountain and we truly believe that we can be one of those forces within our channel to get that bolder over that hump, and then really start reaping the benefits that this channel and every company that's fought so hard for it deserves. [00:38:23] S0: So where can we find Screenverse? How our listeners and viewers reach out to you guys? [00:38:33] S2: So you can definitely check us out on our website, screenversemedia.com. You can follow us on our socials. David and I are both pretty active on LinkedIn. So if you just search our names on LinkedIn, we're... Yeah. [00:38:46] S0: Okay, great. [00:38:47] S2: Like, follow, subscribe, and thank you so much for having us today. This is a wonderful opportunity and you're a very pleasant person to speak with. [00:38:56] S0: Thank you, David and Adam. You've been terrific. And you know what I love about talking to entrepreneurs is that you always learn something. So your insight's been like invaluable and very informative, and I wanna thank you for being here.
00:38:56 · Judy Mottl, David Weinfeld
[00:38:56] S0: Thank you, David and Adam. You've been terrific. And you know what I love about talking to entrepreneurs is that you always learn something. So your insight's been like invaluable and very informative, and I wanna thank you for being here. [00:39:12] S1: Well, you so much. And I just want to add, if anyone wants to reach out to Adam and I, email, it's davidscreenversemedia dot com, adamscreenversemedia dot com. We will always happy to have conversations, always connect you with the right people on our team. And frankly, it's our responsibility and privilege to help be educators within this space. And we're very open to being and playing that role in the industry. And thank you so much for giving us that opportunity today. [00:39:45] S0: Oh, you're so welcome. To our listeners and viewers, please subscribe to the NewsWorld Media Group YouTube channel. And also check out digitalsignagetoday.com and sign up for our newsletter so you'll never miss another great podcast like we had today.