Digital & Dirt
00:37:23 · Rob Loftus, Ian Dallimore
[00:37:23] S5: could wear jacket. [00:37:24] S0: But but you do... You have this this great way of also bringing technical knowledge to, you know, maybe not the Lamar's because we do have a powerful team, like, shout out to Shirley Faith, Alex, and Lindsey. But those new media owners or lagging media media owners, you always have done a great job of of dumbing down is maybe the right phrase to say about [00:37:43] S5: Layman's terms. [00:37:44] S0: Yeah. Layman's terms of of taking tech and then explaining it in such a way that a billboard operator can understand. [00:37:50] S5: Appreciate that, man. Thank you. [00:37:51] S0: Yeah. So what was that skill? And it's obviously continuing to evolve because then you have to decipher what the vendor is saying and bring it back to the team and say, okay, this is what they're saying. This is what they need. [00:38:01] S5: Yeah. I mean, someone told me early on that I was sort of this master translator. I got my career started in out of home and at ops. And so I was in software and hardware and doing deployments and all that sort of stuff. But always I'm Irish, so I have the gift of the gab and I guess so to speak. But once someone told me that I kind of leaned into it and it was like, there's there's a center point that you can be for people if you can manage both sides of the conversation and be able to translate. At the end of the day, it's being able to meet people where they are, bring them into the conversation so you can help them in their business.
00:38:01 · Rob Loftus, Ian Dallimore, Anthony Scaramucci
[00:38:01] S5: Yeah. I mean, someone told me early on that I was sort of this master translator. I got my career started in out of home and at ops. And so I was in software and hardware and doing deployments and all that sort of stuff. But always I'm Irish, so I have the gift of the gab and I guess so to speak. But once someone told me that I kind of leaned into it and it was like, there's there's a center point that you can be for people if you can manage both sides of the conversation and be able to translate. At the end of the day, it's being able to meet people where they are, bring them into the conversation so you can help them in their business. [00:38:32] S0: Yeah. And there has to be some sort of excitement, right, that happens whenever you guys do implement a new DSP and connect to a media owner that's never been implemented. Of course. And that moment happens. And that... That's probably the the fulfillment moment for you. [00:38:46] S5: Yeah. A 100%. The more media owners on Place Exchange are making more money than ever. Yep. And that's... That means we're doing our job and that means we're bringing more people to the table. We want them all to be successful. So it's... That's exciting bit. Sure. [00:38:57] S4: Yeah. [00:38:58] S0: So as we close here, give me one sentence in your world where you feel advertising's headed. You use the word agentic, which is fun. So you can go down that path or or give me another. Where do you think the next eighteen months were headed?
00:38:58 · Ian Dallimore, Rob Loftus, Doug Zarkin, Raj Lala
[00:38:58] S0: So as we close here, give me one sentence in your world where you feel advertising's headed. You use the word agentic, which is fun. So you can go down that path or or give me another. Where do you think the next eighteen months were headed? [00:39:11] S5: I think it's the physical world. Yeah. I think it's a lot of the conversations we've had. You really sort of see this groundswell effect around media in the physical world. People are looking up from their devices and some of that might be because of agentic and some of the fears there, but it feels like we're getting to our moment in so many different ways. And so I'd I'd say media in the physical world is here and I think it's having its moment. [00:39:33] S0: Yeah. Well, look, I'm excited to see you continue to push us, all of us in the out of home space. I think collectively as as we continue to advance as an industry, thanks to partners like you guys at Broadsign and everything that you do that I'm extremely proud of you, but don't be comfortable. Of course. Continue to push and and push, and we'll do the same [00:39:49] S10: on our [00:39:50] S5: end soon. Thanks, Ian. Alright. Appreciate it, my friend. Bye. [00:39:59] S0: Hi, guy. Raj Lala, VP DP US sales and development at Vistar. My day my day one guy. [00:40:07] S8: Yeah. Love long time. I was just thinking about that this morning. Like, [00:40:12] S5: you... One of [00:40:13] S8: the first people I've met in the industry on the media owner side. So I was a I was a baby in the at home industry at that point.
00:40:13 · Raj Lala, Ian Dallimore, Doug Zarkin, Jim Norton
[00:40:13] S8: the first people I've met in the industry on the media owner side. So I was a I was a baby in the at home industry at that point. [00:40:20] S0: I know. And now I feel like the old guy. Like, twenty two years, I'm like, oops. Time to retire now. Yeah. We're take this podcast thing on the road. [00:40:27] S8: And look at this setup. This is great too. Like to see what this has grown into. So congrats on all that. [00:40:31] S0: Yeah. So we're here at the DPAA video everywhere. You can hear Barry Frey in the background here But who we all what... When you come to these events, what is... What's the one takeaway that you're looking for? Is it knowledge? Is it meeting with clients? Shout out to Su Kwan in a background who refuses to be on the podcast. [00:40:50] S8: That sounds about right. But, no, listen, I mean, every event you try to take something a little bit different out. I think it's different crowds. This one specifically for me is about the people coming together and, you know, kind of unifying on on what the industry is focused on next. And I think there's lot of new voices in that mix. So... And and reunions with with guys like yourself. I I feel like as [00:41:14] S10: much as we all talk, [00:41:15] S8: you know, times like this really [00:41:16] S6: make a difference.
00:41:16 · Jim Norton, Ian Dallimore, Raj Lala, Doug Zarkin
[00:41:16] S6: make a difference. [00:41:17] S0: Yeah. And it's... Look. Not to be cheesy and do the correlation here with out of home in real life and that side of things, but it... It's true. I think that the out of home industry is such a unique space. And, you know, hanging out with my friends at OUTFRONT and hanging out with the guys at JCDecaux and that becomes powerful. But on your side, you know, you have your media owners and it's a long tail. So how in your role are you constantly educating yourself to then take back, you know, beyond just the traditional roadside billboard, airport transit side of things? But the the industry as a whole and a lot of DPAA members are screens that sometimes you're like, here's a screen on a golf cart? Like, that's amazing. [00:41:58] S8: Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's... There's there's so much. And as as someone who originally came from a digital background and got into out of home eleven years ago, like, for me, it was like learning as much as we can about this medium because one, it was an industry I didn't know about, but also bringing it to a new set of buyers and conversations. As many of people that come into our company from out of out of home, then we all pride ourselves on really getting an understanding of what does that mix look like and kind of bringing something new to the table. So I think this is this is kind of a a learning ground for that, especially learning about some of those new formats. Some are really cool. Some you might be like, yeah, really? [00:42:32] S10: But,
00:42:32 · Doug Zarkin, Raj Lala, Ian Dallimore
[00:42:32] S10: But, [00:42:32] S8: you know, overall, all, good knowledge to take back. [00:42:35] S0: Yeah. And you you sit in this interesting space. Right? Because not only are you having to educate yourself on the out of home media and and you're you're obviously a pro and you have a a massive team that you guys run at Vistar. But what are on the client side? You know, clients are constantly asking for change, change, change. But what are you hearing from clients on your side in the programmatic out of home space? Like what are they asking for that's different than you've heard in the past? [00:42:59] S8: Yeah, I think programmatic has gone from, you know, this like complimentary component to an element now where agencies can think about doing a full out of home execution through programmatic pipes, right? With things like programmatic guaranteed and other solutions available. And not to say all out of home should be bought programmatically, right? [00:43:21] S10: There's a [00:43:21] S8: lot of opportunities for direct and static and all that good stuff. But we're playing in the big leagues in terms of what types of screens are people buying programmatically now, right? Whether it's buying at an airport through Lamar, doing a takeover in Times Square, a lot of that is possible. And they're just doing it a lot quicker, right? Agencies want to move quicker than ever. They want to be adaptable. And I think it's sitting there alongside and be like, okay, how can we work with you? And then also all our partners to make that happen in a much faster timeline.