The Billboard Insider Podcast
00:17:49 · Dave Westburg, Kym Frank
[00:17:49] S0: Yes. [00:17:49] S1: I think, you know, the out of home industry, long before my time, made up what I think is a really amazing choice to measure likelihood to see impressions. [00:17:57] S0: Mhmm. Mhmm. [00:17:58] S1: So the Geopath impressions are not we just drove by the sign and we're being counted. You have to actually have a probability to look at a sign. And that's important because if you have a poster and a bulletin on the same stretch of roadway, they don't have the same impressions. Correct. [00:18:13] S0: But if [00:18:13] S1: you're just counting circulation, everybody has the same numbers on that road. Okay. So I think it's really important that the MRC is looking at what the out of home industry has curated and then creating rules and standards around the decisions the industry has made and making sure that we're all playing by the same rules. [00:18:30] S0: Now one... Once they come up with a set of standards, am I right that an agency or an entity can choose to be audited by them for compliance with the standards? And what's your sense to... How will Geopath approach that decision? [00:18:46] S1: Certainly. So you can, you know, you can choose to follow the standards [00:18:51] S0: Mhmm.
00:18:51 · Dave Westburg, Kym Frank
[00:18:51] S0: Mhmm. [00:18:51] S1: And not be MRC accredited. That's certainly an option. You know, getting MRC accreditation is a huge investment, not just financially depending upon the complexity of the audit, but also in terms of time. It's certainly a resource heavy thing that goes on. You you basically have an outside CPA firm that comes in for a preaudit and assesses everything you have, all of your documentation, identifies all the holes and gaps that you're gonna need to fill before you go through the total audit. It's time consuming. It's long process, but it's really super valuable. So we have spoke... We've had initial conversations with George about what it would look like and what the right timing would be for a preaudit. Mhmm. And then you don't really go into the preaudit phase without an intention to go through the full audit. So I guess, you know, once we're at that point, I will go to my board of directors and say, this is my recommendation that we pursue accreditation. Mhmm. This is what we think it will cost both financially and from a resource timing standpoint. Let's have a vote, and let's decide if we would like to have the new methodology accredited. [00:20:00] S0: So we watch this space for further developments. But in any case, it sounds like no matter what happens, there'll be a set of standards that can help everybody to have a common currency.
00:20:00 · Dave Westburg, Kym Frank
[00:20:00] S0: So we watch this space for further developments. But in any case, it sounds like no matter what happens, there'll be a set of standards that can help everybody to have a common currency. [00:20:11] S1: For sure. Yeah. And and that can only benefit the industry. It provides transparency, and it helps people who are coming in from outside who may have really interesting technology and data solutions to understand, well, okay. Here's my road map. [00:20:25] S0: Yes. [00:20:26] S1: I think the timing's great because, you know, as we are in the final stages of our measurement system, we're able to look to the standards and make sure that we're in alignment with what's being published now before, you know, we dot all the i's and cross all the t's. Mhmm. But, also, you know, it's a great collaborative process. I think there are 30 different representatives from different ecos... Parts of the ecosystem that participate in the MRC process on the guidelines. And, really, kudos to the patience of Anthony Torrieri for managing that process with so many chefs. [00:21:02] S0: Wow. [00:21:03] S1: Yeah. But it's exciting. I love that they're paying attention to out of home that we have a seat at the table at the MRC. It's really important. [00:21:09] S0: That's great. Well, let's finish let's finish up with a segment of overrated or underrated. I'll say a phrase, and you say if it's overrated or underrated and why. [00:21:20] S1: You know there's no way I'm only gonna be able to say one word. Right? No. You can...
00:21:20 · Kym Frank, Dave Westburg
[00:21:20] S1: You know there's no way I'm only gonna be able to say one word. Right? No. You can... [00:21:24] S0: You... I I I I want you to expand on on each of these. Autonomous cars. [00:21:29] S1: Autonomous cars, I'm going to go with overrated. [00:21:32] S0: Why? [00:21:33] S1: Not because they're not a thing. However, I think that the entire landscape of transportation is changing, and focusing on autonomous cars is only looking at a small portion of what's happening in transportation. [00:21:46] S0: Mhmm. [00:21:46] S1: So I'm doing a lot of analysis on Gen Zs. So Gen Zs are this coming out of college now, the oldest among them. And they are relying more heavily on things like public transportation and relying more heavily on things like rideshare programs. So, really, the way people are moving about the marketplace in general is changing. So I think it's important that, yes, there there are investments being made in autonomous cars. There's investments being made in car technology in general. Like, my husband gets Dunkin' Donuts ads on his dashboard [00:22:18] S0: Oh my. [00:22:18] S1: Right now. [00:22:19] S0: Oh my. [00:22:20] S1: We just need to keep an eye on all of that landscape, all of the changes that are happening there because I think there's opportunities for out of home in that space. [00:22:29] S0: Hyper targeting. [00:22:31] S1: Hyper targeting is... For out of home is overrated. Explain. Sounds really weird coming from somebody who's working on audience targeting and out of home, probably. [00:22:44] S0: Mhmm. Mhmm.
00:22:44 · Dave Westburg, Kym Frank
[00:22:44] S0: Mhmm. Mhmm. [00:22:45] S1: I have a huge soapbox soapbox issue about hyper targeting because I think at some point in... There was always a a funnel, a purchase funnel, when I was studying advertising where there was a whole top of the funnel about driving awareness and building brand relationships with consumers. And hyper targeting in online came along, and everybody lost focus on that. And now they just wanna geofence their competitors' parking lots. That... I don't think that's a really good advertising strategy. I think being able to target is important, but hyper targeting for out of home, I think, is missing the beauty that out of home can bring to the table, especially in the larger formats where we're not, you know, a one to one channel. [00:23:26] S0: The death of ad agencies. [00:23:28] S1: Overrated? I would say that they are not dying. They are just evolving like the rest of the advertising ecosystem. We're certainly in a time of great change on the agency side, but we saw in other channels that agencies were... Wanted to... Advertisers wanted to bring the agency buying... Media buying in house. So they did that in a lot of ways, and now we see the pendulum swinging back. And they're saying, okay. This was a lot for us to manage in house, and now they're, you know, putting out searches for agencies. So there's always a back and forth. There's always a swing and a constant evolution. [00:24:00] S0: The use of Subway ads by direct to consumer companies, startups.
00:24:00 · Dave Westburg, Kym Frank
[00:24:00] S0: The use of Subway ads by direct to consumer companies, startups. [00:24:06] S1: Certainly underrated. I just got off the Subway and really was looking at all of the ads and reading all of the ads. [00:24:16] S0: Kym, am I right that if you raise venture money, it's a condition... It must be a condition of funding that you have to blanket... I mean, you have to buy from Jeremy Mail in in New York. [00:24:27] S1: If it worked for doctor, it can work for you. Well, you know, there's a lot... Everybody takes the subway in New York. [00:24:35] S0: Yes. [00:24:35] S1: Yeah. It is not it is not not elitist. Everybody takes the subway, and that includes big decision makers. That includes early adopters. That includes all of the people that a startup would be going after for sure. [00:24:47] S0: Yes. Privacy. [00:24:48] S1: Well, I don't know how you could say privacy is either overrated or underrated. Mhmm. I think it's certainly something that we as an industry need to be squarely focused on that... I mean, look what I... The recent news right now of them having sensors in the seat backs on airlines that whether or not they were on or off is really irrelevant because the press got ahold of it, and it became our airlines watching you while you're flying, which honestly, I can't think of anything more boring than to watch me while I'm on a plane. [00:25:18] S0: Yes. Yes. [00:25:19] S1: Yeah. And you look at what's happening at Facebook, and what a nightmare. [00:25:22] S0: Mhmm. Mhmm.