Digital & Dirt
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.
00:43:49 · Ian Dallimore, Raj Lala
[00:43:49] S0: Yeah. And I applaud Vistar because not only is it the sales team pushing, but it's also the back of the house, the operation side, the technology side that's innovating with, right? And as you guys onboard new DSPs, you know, there's a big one out there, but just continuing to mine within The Trade Desk, which we're going to have Nicole on in a little while, which I'm excited about as well. But how how do you constantly tell the story about a home while also advancing campaigns? What I mean by that is you guys have done such a great job, especially your team, where we have campaigns like Meta that are running and running in very key pivotal markets that are very, I'd say, unique to the moment. And it's... The conversation's a bit different. Right? It's like, okay, what is your KPIs and how do I use technology? But how do you continue to advance those metas and clients that are bought into programmatic data home and continue to shift share and not take all the money, but make sure that it's an effective across CTV, across online, that omni channel approach. [00:44:48] S8: Yeah, I think it kind of comes down to two sets of buyers. There's the mature buyers who have kind of grown with us over the last ten, twelve years. Right. And programmatic is now a massive practice within their agencies. So they're well versed in where it fits, whether it's using their agency data on top of it, right? Their own custom attribution solutions. The beauty of out of home though, I think to the net new buyers, like my story in market hasn't changed much from what it
00:44:48 · Raj Lala, Rob Loftus, Barry Frey
[00:44:48] S8: Yeah, I think it kind of comes down to two sets of buyers. There's the mature buyers who have kind of grown with us over the last ten, twelve years. Right. And programmatic is now a massive practice within their agencies. So they're well versed in where it fits, whether it's using their agency data on top of it, right? Their own custom attribution solutions. The beauty of out of home though, I think to the net new buyers, like my story in market hasn't changed much from what it [00:45:12] S5: was ten years ago [00:45:13] S8: on its value prop. Right? It's bigger than live screens. It's real. There's no fraud, you know. Viewability is not a concern. A lot of the things that I was pitching before that buyers had concerns about, everything doesn't need to be three d or anamorphic or, you know, something super out of the box. It could be a really impactful static app, you know, at an airport or on a street that can really make a difference. So that's what I love about it. Like, yes, it's, I think knowing who you're talking to and aligning with what that group's priorities are, because I would say across the major agencies and some of the bigger independents, no one partnership is the same. Sure. Everyone has a very unique value prop. If you, a media owner or technology partner can really listen and then think about how you can incorporate that back into your product for them, it really changes the game. Like, just a couple of those examples you're noting are are good ones for [00:46:05] S1: that. Yeah.