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Inside Talon: Exploring the Professional Journey of Laura Colona.

Outside thinking – it runs in the Talon family. We pride ourselves on being a company built on people with big ideas. People who constantly challenge themselves and the industry to re-imagine and re-invent the possibilities of what Out of Home can be. 

In this series, we’ll be getting to know more about the people of Talon, their roles, advice and what they get up to outside of OOH. This week, we sat down with Laura Colona, Senior VP Marketing, North America.

Explain your role with Talon?

Joining Talon at the start of 2024, I am delighted to have been tasked with providing executive leadership and management of the North America marketing organization. In my role, I govern a full-scale marketing program designed to build our brand in the US and Canada, educate agencies and brands on the unrivalled value of OOH, and demonstrate why Talon is the best partner for navigating the fast moving and fragmented OOH landscape.

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

I am up with the sunrise and am good at not reaching for the phone for at least an hour, when I am amped from caffeine and ready to roll.

I spend my commute organizing for the day, scrolling through & responding to emails and taking note of all the OOH I am experiencing during my journey. Once the day “officially” starts I check in with the team to make sure they have what they need to deliver and provide coaching where needed to ensure they are empowered.

While the team keeps the trains on track, my day is spent switching gears between fine tuning the marketing strategy, to designing marketing plans, reviewing communications, and engaging with my new colleagues and industry partners and friends on how we can collaborate to get more lean-in by marketers to OOH.

What do you enjoy most about working in OOH?

The people! When I transitioned from ad tech to OOH, the welcome I received from the community was incredible. Now, as part of the Talon team, the support I’ve received from the same community for my new role has been just as enthusiastic.

One thing that I have observed and continue to be impressed with is how each stakeholder in the OOH value chain comes together to champion the value of OOH and fight for our rightful share of the media plan pie. This is a community of competitors and friends who believe that with a unified voice all boats will rise, and when I see this in action, I am reminded that I have found my people.

Most memorable moment or achievement in your time in the industry?

During my tenure at the OAAA, I launched an advocacy program focused on OOH education for brands and agencies that included the formation of the OAAA Brand Council with leading advertisers including IBM, Pepsi, L’Oreal, Allstate and Logitech.

The Brand Council is still in action today and is shaping the future of OOH through active dialogue on issues, developing trends and advocating for the medium’s value in an omnichannel marketing mix.

I am eager to replicate this effort here at Talon with a client advisory board, furthering our position as a champion for OOH.

Any tips or advice for someone interested in joining the industry or pursuing a similar career path?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions – knowledge is power!

What do you get up to outside of work?

I am always listening to music – another day another soundtrack! I love going to see live music as often as I can and recently picked up my electric bass guitar after a very long time. Who wants to start a band?!

I also spend a lot of time outdoors. I recently moved out of NYC to the beach on Long Island, so I have enjoyed the nature that the beach and state parks have to offer. I love to cook and entertain, and love going to restaurants.

If you could quickly and easily learn any new skill, what would it be?

I would be fluent in Italian.

Share a memorable adventure or travel experience you’ve had during your free time. How did it impact your personal growth or perspective?

My friend and I had been robbed on the beach in Brazil and decided that jumping off the side of a mountain in a hang glider seemed like the logical thing to do in response. I have a fear of heights – but only in certain circumstances like driving up mountains.

The ride up to the platform we were jumping off was terrifying. I cried all the way up, covering my eyes! The lesson I learned was not to empower fear to let you miss a single moment of life. I should have been looking out the window taking in the views, but I was too worried about the car driving off the side of the road to spot a blue butterfly. I am still afraid of heights…

London, 22^nd February, 2024: Talon, the global independent Out of Home (OOH) agency, today announces the appointment of Sue Frogley as Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead the business globally as it targets further growth and expansion.

Frogley is an accomplished industry leader with over 30 years’ experience growing successful global media businesses. She will join Talon from Publicis Groupe, where she was CEO of its media arm in the UK for over six years. Under her leadership, Publicis Media UK grew into a £2bn+ billings operation, thanks to several new business wins across its media agencies Zenith, Starcom and Spark Foundry. Before that, Frogley was President of Global Client Solutions at Publicis Groupe and previously spent over 13 years at Dentsu (then Aegis Media), where she held several global leadership roles, most latterly as Global President of Commercial Operations.

This appointment follows a rigorous selection process. Frogley will report to Stewart Easterbrook, chairman and joins Talon’s global board. Eric Newnham, who has acted as interim CEO for the past few months, will revert to the role of Founder and strategic advisor to the board.

Frogley is the latest in a series of new senior hires, signalling Talon’s commitment to ongoing strategic growth worldwide. Last year, Stewart Easterbrook joined as Chairman, the appointments of Mike Saunter as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Henry Lucas in the newly created role of Group Chief Commercial Officer soon followed.

Frogley’s appointment follows a period of significant growth for Talon, which celebrated its 10^th anniversary in 2023. Since Equistone Partners Europe, one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity investors, invested in the business in July 2022, Talon has completed the acquisition of Evolve, the fast-growing, independent specialist OOH business, and the acquisition of Novus Media Canada Corp (now Talon OOH Canada).

In her new role, Frogley will focus on further international growth, driving Talon’s digital capabilities and awareness of OOH as an effective, creative, data-driven media channel.

Stewart Easterbrook, Chairman, said: “Sue is a formidable and dynamic leader with a wealth of experience leading global media businesses. I am thrilled to have someone of Sue’s calibre leading our business and look forward to working with Sue, and with our teams, to drive further growth in the scale and ambition of Talon.”

Sue Frogley said: “I have long admired Talon’s proposition, ethos and trailblazing spirit to challenge perceptions and drive growth in the OOH sector. Over the past 10 years, Eric has developed a talented team that has successfully built a unique and expanding global business that holds an enviable position in the industry. I can’t wait to get started and help unlock even more growth potential and shape Talon’s next important chapter.”

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According to Statista, global Out of Home (OOH) revenue is projected to reach US$38.41bn in 2023, led by traditional OOH with a market volume of US$20.87bn in 2023. Meanwhile, in MENA, digital OOH (DOOH) is the format expected to drive growth over the next 5 years, more than doubling, from $288.28 million in 2023 to $616.27 million in 2028. This is a significant increase, bolstered by a hunger for DOOH and its capabilities in the region.  

In Talon’s Dubai office, we are dedicated to growing and nurturing the channel, providing a seamless experience for our clients. This year, we’ve been busy, showcasing our commitment to innovation, industry leadership, and global collaboration. In this blog, we are reflecting on the milestones achieved during the year and celebrating what is possible when you think outside. 

Talon’s International Summit in London 

Setting the tone for the year, Managing Director, Chadi Farhat, and Client Director, Mansour Wehbe, joined the leadership teams from Talon International, Talon Ireland, Talon Germany and Talon APAC, to discuss our progress, goals and plans for the year ahead. 

We’re constantly challenging ourselves and the industry to re-invent the possibilities of what OOH can be and we’re proud to be the largest independent OOH global network, expanding our reach from Dubai through our centralised experienced team. 

World Out of Home Organization MENA Forum in Dubai

Next, we attended and presented at the World Out of Home Organization’s MENA forum in Dubai – the first in-person regional event to take place there. Over 200 delegates attended the event, drawn from the region’s major media owners, media agencies, marketers and suppliers, all major growth drivers in their respective markets. 

On the first day, Managing Partner, Adrian Skelton, hosted the panel “Qatar 2022 – How the World Cup Impacts a Country,” – reflecting on the results that the World Cup delivered and how OOH in Qatar was as good as any other World Cup event. “Quality, innovation and possibilities in Qatar are huge, and the standards of OOH quality is there.” 

Client Director, Mansour Wehbe, also participated in the panel “View from the OOH Buyer Side: Challenges & Opportunities,” highlighting that opportunities in OOH in the region lie in DOOH, considering that digital screens bring higher revenue due to higher inventory. 

For the second day, Group Chief Strategy Director Sophie Pinto Del Rio, and Managing Director Chadi Farhat, shared their expertise on “The Evolution and Impact of Data-driven Strategies in OOH.” During this keynote, Sophie and Chadi shared Talon Benchmark data showing that clients who used intelligent audience data see positive outcomes. 

The data shows that deploying intelligent data through technology are: 

4 times more likely to drive brand consideration 
15% more relevant to lifestyle vs. OOH benchmarks 
2 times more effective than social media at driving purchase intent.

It was a fantastic opportunity to focus on the possibilities and appetite for the region comprehensively with our industry colleagues. 

Campaign Middle East’s Agency Guide

Following the successful MENA forum, we proudly unveiled our feature in Campaign Middle East’s agency guide. The guide offers the industry a 360-degree view of the OOH industry in MENA. We’re proud to be the only independent OOH industry featured, sharing our expertise and thoughts on effective OOH. 

Read the guide here.

Talon Turns 10 

Back in 2013, Talon was founded in the UK with a plan to revolutionise the world of OOH advertising. In 10 years, the business has grown substantially – securing our spot as a leader in OOH planning, creativity, effectiveness and technology. The business now spans over seven territories, including Talon MENA which was launched in 2022. 

We’re proud to be part of a business built on being the changemakers, the trailblazers, the provocateurs and the pioneers. Find out more about our decade in OOH.

Talon MENA – Members of IAB MENA

Proud members of IAB MENA since 2022, this year saw us actively participating in the development of the first DOOH whitepaper for the region. Contributing our expertise, knowledge and dedication to adding value to the market, “This State of DOOH in MENA,” highlights the key areas of DOOH that advertisers, measurement companies and media owners need to be aware of. 

The whitepaper is available for download here.  

Alongside this , Business Development Director, Rezarta Bytyci, also took part in a podcast with a panel of fellow experts from Amazon Ads, Publicis Media and Google to highlight the value proposition of DOOH from the buy-side & sell-side. The podcast covered topics such as the available formats, the benefits of cross channel planning and integrating with other channels, the measurement opportunity and some of the challenges and opportunities in growing DOOH in MENA. 

Listen to the podcast here. 

Talon x American University in Dubai (AUD) 

As the changemakers, the trailblazers, the provocateurs and the pioneers; nurturing young talent with aspirations of joining the industry is extremely important. 

This year, we visited AUD to deliver a lecture to marketing students, preparing them for OOH – OOH’s evolution and future. It was a very enlightening session, in which our team showcased the capabilities and sophistication of the OOH and how data and technology are fueling the efficiencies and effectiveness of this medium. 

Campaign Middle East’s OOH Guide 

For the latest OOH guide, our Client Director in MENA, Mansour Wehbe, provided an overview of global trends of OOH and DOOH with valuable insights through our experience of advising and servicing global campaigns for our MENA region clients. 

As the only independent OOH agency featured, Mansour shared his extensive knowledge of the trends that will drive OOH’s global evolution.  Read the issue here.

World Travel Market (London)

Rounding off the year, we attended the World Travel Market (WTM) event in London in association with Saudi Tourism Authority. For 42 years, WTM has been the most influential 3 days in the travel industry, providing a fantastic location for travel and tourism teams from around the globe to meet and build relationships. It was great to network, listen to some fantastic speakers and catch up with our own clients! 

Thinking Outside in 2024 

2023 has been another fantastic year of establishing ourselves as the independent OOH specialist agency of choice in MENA, taking MENA campaigns global.  In 2024, we look forward to continuing to grow and nurture the OOH channel, reimagining the industry to deliver greater value for our clients whilst inspiring people and caring for our planet – it all begins with thinking outside.  

We’d like to thank our clients, agencies and partners for their support, and we wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. 

The pioneers of Out of Home

At Talon we’re the changemakers, the trailblazers, the provocateurs, the pioneers of Out of Home (OOH). Combining a heady mix of creativity, technology and data, our team share their expert opinion on their OOH predictions and what they’d like to see more of in 2024.

“A continued push towards automation and data driven decision making. More intelligent optimisation of campaign briefs to ideal plans.”
Anant East, Chief Technology Officer, Talon

“I’d like the whole industry to be more collaborative. If we put our efforts together, I think we have a real shot at generating more effective outcomes, growing OOH and making more meaningful change happen.”
Sophie Pemberton, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Talon

“Data has been a hot topic in OOH for a number of years and rightly so but sometimes the focus on optimising media plans at site level has come at a creative cost.

Thankfully, we’re already starting to see the dial turn back and our clients and agencies are increasing the attention they give to the creative that sits within the poster. If we fail to make creative impact, no amount of audience optimisation can deliver the ROI our clients need and deserve.”
Jay Young, Chief Client Officer, Grand Visual

“Exciting. Looking forward to playing in new spaces and technologies. In particular the new Printworks ceiling and Battersea Power station promise to be fantastic new canvases for brands.”
Ben Gardiner, Head of Client Services, Grand Visual

“Definitely more digital, more data, more automation and more AI across the OOH landscape. Hopefully more sustainability, and equity being promoted within out of home organisations.”
Amy Horton, Group Chief Transformation Officer, Talon

“I think the OOH Industry in Ireland is going to be one to watch in 2024. 2023 marked the resurgence of so many brands to our medium, through clever executions and creative displays. Continued investment by media owners in roadside DOOH, a focus on sustainability initiatives and measurement of OOH are going to be hot topics for 2024 and set OOH apart.”
Caroline Decourcy, Insight Director, Talon Ireland

“The global OOH landscape is rapidly evolving and it’s been fantastic to see some of our partners developing the inventory to follow some of the industry’s trends and technology advancements. The rise of DOOH enables more and more flexible and efficient campaigns which our teams are taking full advantage, as well as offering creative opportunities that I’m looking forward to seeing of more and more.”
Camille Uzan, Business Director, Talon International

“OOH is an exciting industry to work in and is undergoing not only a renaissance as a medium but transformation as an essential communications channel. OOH and other media will be in a race to adopt, centralise and integrate the right AdTech and MarTech to transform business processes and enable smarter, faster and better service to marketers and their agencies.

The businesses that commit to the investment will grow faster and those that watch and wait will be left wondering about all that lost opportunity.”
Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director, Talon APAC

“OOH will continue to be uniquely positioned to deliver on both shifting brand awareness metrics and driving action. As data and technology increases, appetite in programmatic DOOH will continue to grow and attract new advertisers into the channel.”
Aoife Hudson, Deputy Managing Director, Talon Ireland

“I love how ambitious our industry is and at Talon we strive to be bold and at the forefront of change. In general, I think that industry wide we will continue to grow and evolve our ESG strategies, deepen DEI further into the fabric of our organisations and dare I say it… AI will become more prevalent in our working culture which will bring about new learning opportunities and productivity efficiencies.”
Hayley Tiptaft, Group People Director, Talon

Here’s to a successful 2024 and a happy, healthy and successful New Year to all our clients, agencies and partners.

Out of Home is changing fast, and Talon is at the forefront of that change. We’re passionate about OOH and are on a mission to drive the growth of this sector within the media industry – changing perceptions of it as a legacy medium to one that is highly connected, effective, creative, sustainable, and measurable for our clients.

In this blog, our team reflects on new initiatives, launches and share advice for others who are striving to work at the very edge of what’s known.

Welcoming Talon Canada & Evolve

In 2023, we welcomed Talon Canada (formerly Novus) and Evolve to our growing family, strengthening our ambitions to become the largest global independent OOH agency. “The acquisition of Novus Canada and Evolve continues to demonstrate our growth and allows us to implement consistency in OOH globally,” said Anant East, Chief Technology Officer.

“Transitioning from Novus to Talon was our most important rebrand and business initiative to date,” adds Sarah Kim. “We’re so happy to be part of this global OOH group!”

A focus on sustainability

2023 was also the year that we hired our first ever Sustainability Manager, Alice Date, and officially started our journey to achieve B-CORP status.

“I’m incredibly excited to be leading and continuing Talon’s sustainability program,” said Alice. “There is a clear enthusiasm across the organisation for being a driving force in creating a more sustainable industry – and I’ve enjoyed channelling this enthusiasm into clear, practical, and impactful initiatives.”

“It’s been a game changer to bring Alice on board as our full time Sustainability Manager,” adds Sophie Pemberton. “Sustainability has rapidly developed into one of the most important topics for the industry this year and it is so important that we can now meet the expectations of our clients and support our supply chain in delivering their goals.”

Grand Visual’s Jay Young added, “I’m incredibly proud to be part of an organisation who are far down the road on a journey to achieving B CORP certification. As many will know, the certification requires a huge amount of time, investment and operational re-appraisal so it shows the value we place on ESG as a business.”

Celebrating and championing effectiveness

For a second time, Talon was awarded the prestigious IPA Effectiveness Accreditation – signaling an outstanding commitment to putting effectiveness at the heart of our agency and being true partners of growth.

“Retaining the IPA effectiveness accreditation is an endorsement that we are delivering on our core values to drive innovation in the market, champion creativity and to build a responsible evidence-based economy in OOH,” said Emily Alcorn, Head of Effectiveness.

“To celebrate, we decided to host our own Eff’ Week at Talon for our agencies and clients to critic key themes within the industry and what they mean for OOH. Championing our learning centric culture at Talon.”

Introducing ‘The Hub’ to Ireland

Over in Ireland, we launched a new business division called ‘The Hub.’

“In February, we launched The Hub. Its function is to ensure we are delivering in terms of executional excellence from both an operations and investment point of view,” said Deputy Managing Director, Aoife Hudson. “The re-structuring allowed us to refocus our efforts in the two key areas of planning and execution. It was a key step in our long-term plan of scaling the business in Ireland and growing the medium.”

“The launch of the ‘The Hub’ has been game changing in maximising opportunities for clients across two key pillars of execution – investment and operations,” adds Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director. “This restructure has allowed us to better focus our efforts and capabilities in planning and investment as we scale our business, whilst ensuring operational excellence at all stages of the campaign life cycle.”

Talon’s menopause support group

“Because of menopausal symptoms, 10% of women in the UK leave their jobs and many more are passing up promotions,” says Amy Horton, Group Chief Transformation Officer. “Menopause is not just a gender or age issue; it is an organisational issue which can impact colleagues both directly or indirectly.”

“Awareness around this topic is key to reducing the stigma attached to menopause and encouraging people to talk more openly about it. At Talon, we have created a menstruation and menopause policy which aims to support our people during these stages of their lives. We have even created a menopause and peri-menopause support group, which I am proud to be spearheading.”

So, with the year behind us, knowing what you know now, what is one piece of advice you would give to your 2023 self?

“2023 has been a year of strong growth for Grand Visual with us hitting a range of key objectives we set for ourselves at the start of year. I’ve learnt it’s important to enjoy the journey always. When you enjoy the process, you’ve achieved success before ever needing to hit a goal. This doesn’t just apply to business but all areas of life.”
Jay Young, Chief Client Officer, Grand Visual

“My piece of advice is simple, it’s about believing in yourself, believing in your ability to perform the role you have in Talon, knowing that you are capable of that position and encouraging team members to step outside their comfort zones and do even greater things!”
Caroline Decourcy, Insights Director, Talon Ireland

“Expand your knowledge sphere. No one campaign is planned in silo and it is important for us to expand our knowledge outside of OOH to ensure we understand what role it is playing, how it is working with other channels and what is round the corner.”
Emily Alcorn, Head of Effectiveness, Talon

“Love what you do and do what you love. Everything else is secondary.”
Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director, Talon APAC

“Fostering innovation and creativity – even if the concept feels premature. Although risk assessment is important, by testing and exploring, you will be the expert by the time the market catches up.”
Aoife Hudson, Deputy Managing Director, Talon Ireland

“To steal a line from that iconic 80’s movie Ferris Bueller… ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’ As we approach the end of a busy year at Talon Ireland – opportunities to pause, reflect and reset are really important. Demanding that space for you and the team to recalibrate, celebrate how far we’ve come and plot the next phase of the business’s journey are of utmost importance and need to be prioritised.”
Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director, Talon Ireland

To get the first look at part 3 of our blog, when our team share their thoughts and predictions for 2024, make sure that you are following us on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also keep up to date with the latest Talon news and views by signing up for our monthly newsletter here.

With less than 20 days to go until we welcome in another new year, the Talon team are back for the fourth edition of our annual wrap up. In this series, we celebrate the campaigns and accomplishments of the last 12 months and share our expectations for Out of Home (OOH) and the wider landscape in the new year.

Despite cost-of-living concerns and belt-tightening, OOH revenue for the first half of 2023 totalled £554m, an increase of +4.7% year-on-year (Outsmart). Q3 2023 advertising revenue was up +4.9% compared to Q3 2019, the first time this has been higher for a corresponding quarter pre-pandemic.

We’re predicting OOH will grow +7% to £1.26bn in 2023 and +5% to £1.324bn in 2024. For 2024, we estimate that digital OOH will account for 66% of overall OOH revenues, totalling £874m.

In this blog, we’re reflecting on some of the standout out of home campaigns in 2023 from our clients this year that reimagined and re-invented the possibilities of what outdoor can be.

Our favourite Standout Out of Home campaigns in 2023

All the campaigns below showcase the best in “thinking outside” in 2023 – exemplifying independent thought and big ideas, bolstered further by Talon’s technology, data and measurement expertise.

Starbucks: How data-driven OOH helped win the hearts and minds of Gen Z

In 2023, Starbucks embraced a data-driven, cross-format strategy to boost brand appeal and attract the attention of Gen Z in the highly trusted OOH environment. A first of its kind approach for Starbucks, the campaign has achieved notable results, including a year-on-year increase in rewards customers, improved ROI, and multiple weeks of record sales in 2022/23.

Choosing Starbucks as her standout campaign, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Sophie Pemberton, said, “Our collaboration with Starbucks has been exceptional, receiving recognition at the Drum Awards, Media Week and the OMAs. Our data integrations and digital activation strategies are really setting a new standard across the industry which we hope to build on next year.”

Budweiser & Pepsi MAX

For both Grand Visual’s Chief Client Officer, Jay Young, and Head of Client Services, Ben Gardiner, the activations for Budweiser and Pepsi MAX stood out to them the most.

“Our Budweiser billboard at the start of the year absolutely stole the show,” said Jay. “We transformed a billboard into a live music stage and provided a unique platform for underrepresented artists to showcase their talent to the world. One of the artists was given a record deal off the back of the campaign and we won a bronze Cannes Lion in June. It doesn’t get better!”

“For me it’s a tough choice between Budweiser’s ‘this billboard is yours to take’ and the Women’s World Cup reactive campaign for Pepsi MAX,” said Ben. “Both were epic for very different reasons but they both had massive ambition and creative drive. They were bold, brave and showed what’s possible when all teams really pull together and in the same direction to move mountains.”

Johnnie Walker Xordinaire

“It has to be Johnnie Walker’s launch of its exclusive Blue Label Xordinaire for me,” said Alanna Solanilla, Business Director, Talon International.

“As well as securing premium airport signage in Heathrow, Paris, Incheon and Hong Kong, our team secured our first airport campaign in Seoul’s Jeju Airport. We also secured the launch of a bespoke pop-up tasting lounge in Dubai Airport. This beautiful and premium installation drew inspiration from the refined ambience of a Parisian hotel. We’re very proud to work with Diageo and Johnnie Walker, exploring familiar environments but using innovative and interactive formats.”

Lenovo

“The team have done some fabulous work this year, and Lenovo comes to mind,” added Camille Uzan, Business Director, Talon International.

“The Lenovo F1 campaign in the UK stood out as the first-ever 3D project for Talon International with impressive campaign results and significant extra value for the brand. It led to strengthened ties with agencies and clients, showcasing Talon International as a strong partner to work with as well as a strong social amplification using Talon’s channels and a fantastic uplift from Assembly, Lenovo and Formula 1’s channels themselves.”

Yorkshire Tea: Tea so nice, Brits won’t shut up about it

Launching in Australia last year, Yorkshire Tea has since been ranked the best-tasting black tea in the country. To celebrate, whilst raising awareness for Aussies who hadn’t yet tried Yorkshire Tea, we launched a cheeky OOH and experiential campaign in Sydney and Melbourne.

Discussing the campaign, Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director of Talon APAC said, “To achieve our objective of raising awareness, we implemented a three-pronged approach consisting of data-driven audience targeting with Large Format OOH and DOOH sites, DOOH sites in proximity to Yorkshire Tea stockists and experiential sampling. A tea-riffic 1.4 million tea bags were sampled by ambassadors over the 4-week campaign!”

Scene + Loyalty Launch

Choosing the Scene + Loyalty launch as her favourite campaign, Talon Canada’s, Sarah Kim, Senior VP Client Partnerships said, “This campaign was part experiential, part programmatic and 100% fun as it included a game show taking place in a transit shelter. Not to brag, but it also won ‘Best in Show’ at the Ad Club OOH Awards.”

Specsavers: Hearing Services

Talon Ireland’s Insights Director, Caroline Decourcy, chose this clever campaign for Specsavers which utilised onomatopoeia, “One of the most ingenious OOH campaigns this year for me has to be Specsavers Hearing Services.

Clever creative using words, depicting sounds, was showcased across multiple environments nationwide. The campaign communicated a sound so articulately with audiences that were captivated by the meaning behind the ads. A great example of a brand conveying a distinct message to grab audiences’ attention using the power of OOH.”

To get the first look at part 2 of our blog, in which our team reflect on new initiatives, launches and share advice, make sure that you are following us on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also keep up to date with the latest Talon news and views by signing up for our monthly newsletter.

The last year has been a strong period for Out of Home (OOH), and as we look to 2024, the sector shows promise for continued growth and transformation. This dynamic industry has consistently evolved, given back and provided advertisers with exceptional creativity, data-driven strategies, and technology-driven outcomes.

It’s not surprising that consumers prefer in-person media channels for advertising over online platforms, with OOH and digital OOH (DOOH) ranking among the top five channels. No longer just a medium that drives primarily top-of-the-funnel outcomes, OOH is successfully driving bottom-end metrics too.

Overall, global OOH revenue is projected to reach US$38.41bn in 2023, with DOOH projected to reach US$17.54bn. By the end of 2024, global OOH is predicted to reach US$45bn. DOOH is set to see further significant growth and is predicted to grow 17% – driven by further media owner investment and increased investment in programmatic OOH (prOOH).

Curious about the future of OOH? In this blog, we’re diving deep into the upcoming trends and insights shaping the landscape for 2024:

The Positive Impact of OOH

Data-Driven Outcomes

A Drive Towards Attention

Creativity and Technology Unite

The Brand Fame Comeback

Standardisation of Programmatic OOH

Retail Media & DOOH drives Path to Purchase

Enhancing OOH with AI

The Positive Impact of OOH

OOH will continue to come together as a collective to showcase the sustainable and giving nature of the channel.

A recent study by PwC, commissioned by Outsmart, found that in the UK 46p in every £1 that is spent in OOH goes back into the community. The industry will focus on the positive impact of spending in OOH towards public infrastructure and communities whilst working to reduce OOH’s impact on the environment.

Another study (Outsmart, Legacy Media – out soon) has shown that when compared to TV, Press and Online, OOH has the strongest ESG credentials – ranking highest for Environment and Community.

Data-Driven Outcomes

The death of the cookie is stated to finally happen in 2024, meaning the era of highly targeted ads will end and advertisers will need to seek new ways to drive brand objectives.

OOH continues to impact across the whole funnel. In 2024, we will see a further drive towards performance and bottom-funnel metrics with brands using first and third-party data to create audience-first OOH campaigns.

We will see even more brands gravitate to utilising OOH for data-driven outcomes. Programmatic OOH impacts metrics across the entire brand funnel amongst optimised audiences. The strongest impacts are seen in bottom funnel metrics – preference and purchase.

A Drive Towards Attention

Understanding attention in advertising will become even more important. Attention in OOH is not a new metric and is imbedded within the methodology of Route. However, understanding how attention is given to inform effectiveness is what should be looked at; not only understanding where someone has looked and for how long, but correlating that with the impact – good or bad – to showcase the influence attention metrics can have on brand performance.

Kantar’s recent Media Reactions is a key example of how attention is coming to the forefront of conversations surrounding media effectiveness, citing a 90% correlation between channels that consumers claim capture their attention and those that they prefer.

51% of marketers claim their marketing budget decisions are influenced by attention, but Kantar’s report shows a clear divergence between what marketers think delivers consumer attention, versus what consumers think captures their attention. There is a 90% correlation between channels that consumers claim capture their attention, and those in which they prefer seeing advertising.

Creativity and Technology Unite

Over the past year, we have seen significant developments in creative DOOH, from AR and VR to 3D and AI. In 2024, brands will begin to realise the possibilities and potential of these developments even further to engage audiences, build brand share and deliver significant ROI.

Looking back at our 4^th Space Research, as well as Ocean’s “Neuroscience: Redefining Human Engagement” and “Digital OOH: The Vital Ingredient,” creative digital OOH executions are proven to supercharge impact and deliver significant increases in attention, purchase consideration and memory encoding:

Full motion DOOH copy is viewed 60% longer than static
Special build OOH can increase purchase consideration +35% vs traditional
Increase in consumer attention when using 3D DOOH +15% vs 2D
Stronger memory encoding for live stream content 3x vs full motion.

The Brand Fame Comeback

OOH is well known for its ability to provide broad reach and deliver brand fame, in 2024 we’ll see advertisers revisit the channel’s number one strength. With a 98% UK population reach, OOH is, of course, powerful at driving reach. However, it is also incredibly powerful at driving brand fame (+23%) and brand trust (+8%).

The likes of PepsiCo, McDonald’s and HSBC lean into OOH’s strengths to build their brands and we’ll see more and more brands follow suit, using it to build awareness and impact.

Continued Growth of Programmatic OOH

2024 will see Programmatic OOH (PrOOH) technology continue to develop, and we’ll see a drive towards the standardisation of PrOOH alongside more OOH media owners trading through programmatic.

Programmatic OOH spend is predicted to grow over the next 18 months by a third on average (VIOOH State of the Nation). The move towards ever more digital and data-driven outcomes through programmatic will continue to increase, with consumers demanding more dynamic video content to connect OOH to their other digital media channels alongside a growing demand for greater online-to-offline opportunities.

Advertisers will continue to adopt PrOOH as part of their omnichannel digital strategies, alongside many new brands entering the market as barriers to entry are removed.

Retail Media & DOOH drives Path to Purchase

The role of OOH within the Retail Media ecosystem will continue to gain momentum and DOOH, will become a pivotal player in every shopper marketing strategy.

Leveraging first and third-party data, DOOH ensures your message reaches the right audience at precisely the right moment, from the outset of their journey to the final in-store purchase. It’s the missing link that seamlessly connects the worlds of home and store, providing brands with a unique opportunity to engage with consumers on an entirely new level.

The integration of DOOH with retail media networks will enable marketers to supercharge their shopper marketing – with advanced measurement and attribution solutions linking OOH ad exposure to critical business outcomes.

Enhancing OOH with AI

As the drive towards AI integration within businesses continues, OOH agencies and media owners will continue to integrate AI to improve efficiency, creativity and copy to create even more effective OOH campaigns.

Watch this space_

By Lucy Baumgartner, Senior Effectiveness Executive.

In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, cross channel measurement is a hot topic. As each media channel’s roles and capabilities continue to evolve, it is becoming more difficult to effectively assess and compare their performance. However, cross channel measurement is fundamental in understanding the role of each channel within the wider media ecosystem and how best to implement each channel to achieve your campaign objectives.

At Talon, a consistent approach to measurement in line with OnDevice Research has allowed for the effective comparison of OOH (Out of Home) benchmarks to those of other media channels. This analysis has reinforced that OOH’s position within in the wider media landscape has changed significantly. OOH’s role and the way it is used within media plans needs to be re-evaluated to reflect the fundamental part it is now playing across the entire brand funnel.

OOH is continuing to fulfil its traditional role of driving brand fame and trust. Paper and paste campaigns deliver an average uplift in unprompted brand awareness of +8% while also delivering an astonishing +10.3% uplift in brand trust. Meanwhile, long term benchmark analysis has shown that cut through on digital channels is becoming more difficult, with average uplifts in unprompted awareness dropping from +3.5% in 2018-2019 to +2.6% in 2020-2021.

However, the rapid development of DOOH (Digital Out of Home) and PrOOH (Programmatic OOH) has seen OOH take on new functions that were traditionally only associated with online performance channels. PrOOH is now able to deliver stronger uplifts across bottom funnel metrics compared to online digital and social channels.

On average, Talon Atlas campaigns drive uplifts of +4% in brand preference, and +5% in purchase intent. Meanwhile, digital sees purchase intent levels remain stable (+0.2%), and social delivers a +1.7% uplift.

The effectiveness of OOH to influence and resonate with consumers is unsurprising in the context of Kantar’s recent Media Reactions which placed OOH and DOOH as 3^rd and 5^th respectively as consumer’s top preferred channels. Much of this is down to consumer’s desire for in-person experiences and a push against what’s viewed as invasive and untrustworthy online channels. These trends are expected to continue into next year, with VIOOH’s State of the Nation report predicting PrOOH alone will continue to grow on average by a third over the next 18 months.

Use OOH to reach your campaign objectives

These benchmarks demonstrate how OOH is now able to achieve a much broader set of objectives, hitting each level of the brand funnel through a blend of multiple formats and strategies that OOH and DOOH offer, communicating with consumers in a way that they are receptive to. Classic paper and paste continues to deliver the brand fame and cut through that OOH is synonymous. By tapping into data and utilising audience targeting, reactive activation and dynamic creative, OOH can go beyond being a canvas for eye-catching brand campaigns to driving preference and purchase intent.

Want to know more about using OOH to reach your campaign objectives? Get in touch with your Talon representative or alternatively, drop us an email.

By Effectiveness Executive, Ellie Reeves.

Navigating Attention Dynamics in OOH

Off the back of IPA Effworks and Future of Media, Talon’s Effectiveness team sought to bring the key debates, themes and trends seen across the industry in-house. While the demands of day-to-day planning are higher than ever before, it’s fundamental to understand the wider media landscape to ensure that our campaigns – and channel – are as effective as they can be. Media events and publications are largely dominated by digital channels, while OOH agencies have to read around their trends to interpret the state of our own. With speakers from Route, OnDevice, and Analytic Partners, this week offered a unique opportunity to look at key themes within the OOH industry and the role these play within the wider media ecosystem.

ATTENTION

Highlighted by Dr Grace Kite at IPA Effworks, inflation will be the core impact on consumer sentiment and behaviour for the foreseeable future. With consumers increasingly shopping around for the best price, brand loyalty is down while shoppers are actively looking for brands to support them through hard times. As a result, it’s an incredibly important time for brands to be advertising – the battleground will be in gaining meaningful attention among consumers in an oversaturated advertising landscape.

Kantar’s recent Media Reactions is a key example of how attention is coming to the forefront of conversations surrounding media effectiveness, citing a 90% correlation between channels that consumers claim capture their attention and those that they prefer. Consumers placed both OOH and DOOH in their top three attention grabbing channels, and top five preferred channels. Though 51% of marketers claim their marketing budget is influenced by attention, the paper’s findings showed significant discrepancies between perceived and actual consumer preferences. Reflecting on a broader shift towards in-person advertising experiences, Kantar emphasised the importance of attention on strategic decision-making. But how are media channels themselves understanding attention?

Digital channels have been almost systematically referring to attention as ‘the new metric’, calling for its incorporation into measurement frameworks and an understanding of the concept across different platforms and formats. By comparison, OOH has been researching and quantifying this concept for decades. Euan Mackay outlined the sophisticated methodologies that have been used by Route to determine the visibility of OOH, making OOH the only media channel where inventory is 100% viewable. Eye-tracking projects with Lumen mean that we have an extensive understanding of how pedestrians view the world around them, and as a result, how many people really see an OOH ad. While digital impressions can overestimate an audience by up to 91%, OOH uses visibility-adjusted impacts as a truer measure of campaign reach and are embedded into the currency of OOH.

MEASUREMENT

While impacts are a significant differentiator of OOH from other media channels, in the words of Ceclia Dones, “impressions just prove you spent money”. Holistic and thorough measurement has been an increasingly prevalent topic of conversation in the media industry, highlighted by the Future of Media’s decision to create a measurement track this year. Dones was one of many speakers calling to distinguish metrics of delivery and metrics of effectiveness, highlighting the inconsistency of these across media channels. For brands, the key challenge will be defining and measuring success across channels and markets in a coherent and comparable way.

For media channels, the challenge is in justifying individual channel effectiveness to clients while appreciating our role within an omnichannel strategy. As campaigns run across multiple channels, we need to measure in the same way. Speaking at Talon’s Eff’ Week, OnDevice’s Sarah Robson outlined both the necessity and complexity of constructing an omnichannel measurement framework, claiming: “data is driving what we do and yet there still isn’t one coherent way of measuring what we do”. Effectiveness needs to be independently assessed, looking at the whole strategy and understanding the cumulative impact of channel spend. Effective measurement is being able to unpick where a campaign has worked and what hasn’t worked – where improvements and adjustments need to be made in future strategies.

ECONOMETRICS

Instrumental to the effectiveness of a measurement framework is the use of varied metrics for success, looking across the brand funnel to chart awareness, loyalty, trust, and sales, to name a few. Another key buzzword in the industry, econometrics has been increasingly leant on as the sole framework for quantifying channel effectiveness through ROI. Through econometrics modelling, OOH is typically positioned as a channel that delivers poor ROI. This is largely due to very few data points being ingested, lacking granularity, and failing to account for incredibly important factors like creative performance, regional differences, and seasonal impacts. Hearing from Justine O’Neill at Analytic Partners, our Eff’ Week looked to assess the challenges and opportunities for OOH and econometrics.

Fundamental to accurate econometric reporting is collaboration. Agencies must be transparently and productively working together to ensure that detailed, accurate data is used. For OOH, this means utilising Route data at a regional, or even frame, level. With channels running together, it’s difficult to isolate the effects of each, so a broader understanding of the media plan and channel spend will have a significant impact on reading results. While econometric modelling is an invaluable tool for clients, it’s not to be considered in isolation. Ten years on from their initial publication of ‘The Long and Short of It’, Binet and Field reminded us at IPA Effworks that short-term metrics must be considered in tandem with the long to assess and maintain long-term brand penetration.

UNDERSTANDING TRUE CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVENESS

Understanding true campaign effectiveness means identifying the objective of the campaign and how that can be measured with the right framework. There’s a need for multiple measurement frameworks in place to fill the gaps for each other. If 41% of ROI is driven by creative quality, versus 59% for executional elements, then we have to be measuring and optimising creative performance. Peter Field has highlighted that brand trust is becoming increasingly fundamental to driving profit, so measurement must take into account emotional and behavioural metrics also. Ultimately, cutting through the clutter requires a thorough understanding of the objective, strategy, and brand, with frameworks in place to measure and optimise the process for the betterment of clients and agencies alike.

Talon’s Eff’ Week allowed us to go beyond proving the need for measurement, to debate and understand at a broader level what effectiveness means for our agency. As quickly as the media industry evolves so do measurement and effectiveness conversations, meaning as an agency we must stay abreast of key issues and topics within the industry. As the first OOH agency to receive IPA Effectiveness Accreditation in 2021, the event was another great opportunity to show our commitment to a culture of constant learning.

WATCH NOW

With less than 100 days until Christmas, we’re seeing consumers immerse themselves in the spirit of the season. From days out and trying festive menus to shopping for gifts and dinner with loved ones, the onset of winter ushers in shifts in consumer behaviour. All these activities, alongside normal day to day life, mean that audiences will be OUTSIDE this festive season. Out of Home advertising at Christmas provides the perfect opportunity for brands to influence consumers.

In this blog, we will explore these opportunities and share our heady mix of creativity, technology and data to help brands connect with audiences and reap the rewards using OOH advertising this Christmas. It all starts with thinking outside_

Key Shopping Dates

Christmas shopping is skewed throughout Q4, with big events such as Black Friday, providing audiences with ample opportunity to shop for the best deals. According to an IPA survey, the bulk of Christmas shopping starts as early as September and as late as the third week of December.

The most popular times for gift buying are the first half of November (21%), the first week of December (which has increased YoY from 15% to 21%) and Black Friday Week (16%). Unsurprisingly, 72% of consumers are planning to get the best deals by shopping for gifts this Black Friday. Despite economic uncertainty last year, an impressive £12.3 billion (Mintel) was spent on Black Friday (vs £2.53 billion pre-Pandemic) with a +13.9% increase in high street footfall YoY.

Shoppers are Hybrid

This year, 73% of adults will research their purchases beforehand and 77% of under-35s are setting aside some of their Christmas budget for the sales. According to data from Yodel, 61% of Brits are “hybrid shoppers,” shopping both online and in-store for Christmas gifts.

For the hybrid shopper, we recommend an omnichannel approach. When used in combination with digital channels, OOH increases the effectiveness of online ads by +31%, paid social ads by +56% and +80% for search ads. Consumers already spend an average of 70% of their time outside of their homes – so OOH is a prime channel for reaching these audiences and an omnichannel approach can increase overall reach by 68%.

Timing Your Message is Everything

With audiences thinking of Black Friday and Christmas purchases throughout the festive buildup, it is important to time your message effectively. Audiences are thinking about Black Friday purchases up to 2 months prior to the event, with the majority thinking of their purchases 1-2 months to 1-2 weeks prior. This provides brands with an ample window of opportunity to get their messaging in front of consumers early to avoid the Black Friday clutter.

It will certainly be an end-of-year push to fill stockings for most consumers this year, as their preparations are set to begin sooner than last. So, how do we ensure that we effectively reach these “scramblers” with OOH?

Audience-first Planning

What makes OOH advertising at Christmas so advantageous for brands is its ability to work across all stages of the purchasing funnel. In recent years, the advancements in digital capabilities have shifted the role of OOH from being primarily a top-of-the-funnel medium to working across the whole funnel.

Out of Home’s role has evolved and continues to evolve based on:

Audience Targeting: +15% higher levels of audience relevance
Reactive Activation: The ability to book panels in the hour for the next hour
Driving Bottom End Metrics: 2x increase in purchase intent

Using an audience first planning approach in Out of Home benefits our clients:

Brand 1: Saw a +28% increase in on-target impressions vs. Busy high-street gifter audience
Brand 2: Achieved a +50% Uplift in on-target impressions vs. In-market gifters & the brand’s consumers
Brand 3: Saw a +12% Increase in footfall to the store vs. Competitors during the campaign

One brand in particular, used audience-first planning to drive footfall to store over the Christmas period using Out of Home. Utilising Atlas, the retailer’s campaign activated OOH based on the recent movements of Luxury Christmas Shoppers. As a result, they saw +17% Higher levels of store footfall vs. Their competitors, and a +42% Increase in visits seen in London across the campaign.

Driving Action Through Out of Home Advertising This Christmas

So, how do brands drive action this festive period? There are six ways a brand can achieve this:

Be at the “moment of truth”

Proximity advertising resonates with consumers. Proximity targeting during the festive period offers brands the opportunity to capitalise on the unique context, emotions and activities associated with these special times. Consumers feel that adverts in proximity to the store are more noticeable than adverts in other locations, which influences consumer action.

Lean into context with dynamic creative

This is even more crucial around the holidays and allows brands to connect emotionally with their audience.

Reach more of your audience through OOH

Utilise audience-first planning to optimise any OOH campaign, improve brand awareness and increase purchase intent. With our DMP Ada, brands can be as narrow or as broad as they require.

For brands wanting to optimise their audience-first OOH plan further, we recommend activating digital Out of Home programmatically via our DSP Atlas.

Own key consumption opportunities with programmatic (prOOH)

Data shows that the use of Atlas can deliver strong brand payback on consideration and purchase intent metrics. PROOH drives purchase intent.

Shoppable OOH

QR codes are helping to bridge the gap between online and offline channels. They can provide quick access to holiday promotions, discounts or event information, enhancing the holiday shopping experience and improving the effectiveness of your Out of Home advertising this Christmas.

Amplify with creativity to increase attention

Special builds are a great addition to any marketing plan, whether they serve as a vessel for social content or supplement/lead an OOH campaign. Special builds make an impact and can generate viral attention.

As a result of being exposed to this special build for Sainsbury’s:

64% agreed it made them like Sainsbury’s ad more.
6 in 10 also agreed it made them more likely to shop at Sainsbury’s.

Experiential OOH is another brilliant way of amplifying attention and positive feelings towards a brand. With consumers desiring real experiences, experiential OOH physically places brands in the action.

Ready to sleigh the season with Out of Home advertising this Christmas? Get in touch with Talon today!

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Talon’s International Summit in London

The pioneers of Out of Home

Welcoming Talon Canada & Evolve

Our favourite Standout Out of Home campaigns in 2023

The Positive Impact of OOH

A Drive Towards Attention

Creativity and Technology Unite

The Brand Fame Comeback

Continued Growth of Programmatic OOH

Retail Media & DOOH drives Path to Purchase

Enhancing OOH with AI

Use OOH to reach your campaign objectives

Navigating Attention Dynamics in OOH

Key Shopping Dates

Shoppers are Hybrid

Timing Your Message is Everything

Audience-first Planning

Talon’s International Summit in London 