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 Anant East, Chief Technology Officer at Talon.

Explain your role?

As Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Talon my role covers the delivery of both the support and development of the tools Talon use to operate the business, as well as the many products we have developed to plan and manage campaigns for our customers.

Fortunately, I have a talented team that helps me to do this. My team is responsible for providing this to all the companies within the Talon group, covering:

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

A typical day is a mixture of ensuring the software developers and support teams have everything they need to deliver the services we provide and build new features. This includes unblocking any obstacles they may have, thinking about the future shape of the teams, helping to manage the product roadmaps and the resolution of any incidents.

What do you enjoy most about working in OOH?   

As an industry there is still a lot to do to make use of the appropriate technology for all sides of the industry; all the way from the customers and agencies through to the media owners and suppliers involved in the planning, booking and operations of media campaigns. My role allows me to play a role in the implementation of technology to deliver value to our customers and owners.

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

I’ve worked on both the selling side and buying side of the industry and my most memorable achievement is working together to deliver the automated trading the industry must adopt to remain relevant and more importantly, give access to new customers to OOH.

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

Having worked in manufacturing, finance and retail domains I can honestly say that media and OOH is just as challenging and rewarding, with the added advantage of your friends and family seeing the campaigns you help to deliver.

What do you get up to outside of work?

Sleep, but on the weekends and in my free time I like to hike and am a member of a large walking group. I have walked the West Highland Way three times, most of Wainwrights lakes, the Welsh 3000, Hadrian’s Wall, Jurassic Coast, SWCP, several 100km walks, and that’s just in the UK. I have also hiked in Africa, South America, New Zealand and the Himalayas. Most Sundays I walk 10 to 15 miles usually in the Chilterns.

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

Plumbing as you can never find one when you need to.

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

When you trek through remote places such as the Himalayas and see how happy everyone is with the very few possessions they have it always reminds me to keep things as simple as possible.

Emily Haile, Programmatic Manager and Sustainability Squad member, details the new ASA greenwashing regulations and how brands can ensure their OOH advertising complies.

On a rapidly warming planet where extreme weather is fast becoming the new norm, consumers are now hyper-aware of the environmental impact of the brands they buy. Three in four consumers are calling for companies to reduce their own environmental footprints, and Global Google searches for sustainable products have increased by 130% in the last five years. Eight out of ten shoppers say they would pay more for sustainably produced goods – with this figure rising further among Millennials and Gen Zs.  

In response to this demand, brands are naturally keen to showcase all the ways they are making progress in this area. But when it comes to corporate sustainability claims, consumer trust is low – and with good reason. 58% of CEOs admit their own company has engaged in some form of greenwashing: the practice of making a brand/product appear more environmentally friendly than it really is. Additionally, an EU survey in 2020 found that over half of environmental product claims were ‘vague, misleading or unfounded.’ Even when brands are not deliberately trying to misinform consumers, the prevalence of vague language, unsubstantiated claims and inconsistency across the market means that consumers are confused at best and disengaged at worst.  

With brand values crucial in determining brand trust, and trust now the second-highest factor in driving profit, it’s clear that there are both reputational and financial risks – and opportunities – for brands wanting to promote their environmental credentials. The guidance released by the ASA aims to help advertisers make clear their commitments in this space and reinstate consumer confidence in their environmental claims. 

What are the new regulations? 

In 2021, the ASA identified that the use of ‘carbon neutral’, ‘net zero’ and ‘offsetting’ claims in advertising were at risk of being misleading given low consumer understanding and lack of consensus on their meanings. Subsequently, they have released new guidance for advertisers regarding these claims.  

As of February this year, new CAP guidance requires that advertisers should: 

In June, further guidance was added, clarifying that the environmental impact of the whole business should be considered and not only the specific initiatives or products advertised: 

How can brands ensure compliancy in their OOH advertising? 

OOH, as a broadcast channel existing in the public sphere, is rightly held to the highest standards of accountability. In no small part due to this, OOH is the most trusted media channel (vs. digital and radio) and is particularly strong at driving trust amongst hard-to-reach sceptical Gen Z audiences. OOH is therefore the natural choice of media for promoting a brand’s environmental commitments, but advertisers should be mindful that their OOH messaging should adhere to the new guidelines and any use of ‘carbon neutral’, ‘net zero’ and ‘offsetting’ claims should be well-substantiated. CAP advice should be sought in the case of any uncertainty. 

TfL have made clear their commitment to upholding the new CAP guidance by updating their advertising policy for all campaigns running across their advertising estate. All advertising copy relating to fossil fuel extraction or any copy submitted for brands associated with fossil fuel extraction now need to be submitted to TfL for review, as well as any advertising copy including an environmental claim. TfL request that CAP advice is sought on all such copy prior to being submitted for review. 

What else is on the horizon? 

This is only the beginning of the conversation on environmental claims in advertising. Since the CMA launched its Green Claims Code in 2021, it has been applying this to its sector-by-sector review of misleading environmental claims. ​In January 2023 the CMA announced it would widen its review to FMCG and this investigation remains ongoing.  

Concurrently, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill is undergoing parliamentary approval which could give the CMA new fining powers to deal with greenwashing as a misleading practice, which could be in place as early as 2024. Now more than ever, brands should ensure that their environmental credentials stand up under scrutiny from regulators and consumers alike. Not only will this stand them in good stead against future regulatory developments, but the accelerating nature of the climate crisis also means that eco-consumerism is not just another marketing trend – it is a fundamental shift in buying behaviour that is here to stay.

Advertisers should see this as an opportunity: those who put in the groundwork now will enjoy increased consumer trust, loyalty and ultimately profitability in the years to come. 

New York, NY – September 14, 2023 – Talon, the global independent Out of Home (OOH) media company, today announced that it has formed a strategic North American partnership with Mediaplus to develop and execute data-driven, creative, and measurable OOH campaigns for advertisers. The partnership, which extends Talon’s existing global relationship with Mediaplus, launched with a spectacular, high-impact, digital-led OOH campaign for De’Longhi North America, a global leader in the specialty coffee and espresso category known for superior Italian design and breakthrough technology.

“OOH remains a strategically essential medium for our clients to create real-world and human connections with their audiences and drive brand and business outcomes,” said Tamara Alesi, CEO of Mediaplus North America. “Talon is at the forefront of the OOH evolution with innovative proprietary data-driven tools and technologies that drive ROI and best-in-class creative. With this partnership, we are advancing our clients’ access to a highly evolved, digitized, and innovative offering enabling differentiation of their brands.”

Mediaplus North America is part of Mediaplus Group, Europe’s largest independent and partner-managed media agency with 35 offices across 18 countries. Since launching in 2022, Mediaplus North America has seen accelerated growth. Proud of the company they keep, the client roster includes De’Longhi, Siemens, and Hardcrafted LLC to name a few.

Mediaplus will leverage Talon’s industry-leading talent and best-in-class OOH suite of products, powered by proprietary technologies, to enable advertisers to capitalize on a transformed, data-driven medium. Talon will be integrated into Mediaplus’ strategic and evolved planning process in North America to maximize OOH innovation, relevance, and effectiveness for Mediaplus clients.

“Mediaplus is expanding rapidly in North America and innovation is what sets them apart. Our collaboration will be focused on unlocking the creative and brand-building power of OOH and driving full-funnel outcomes for Mediaplus clients and partners,” said Jim Wilson, CEO, Talon (North America). “OOH has morphed into an advanced media platform that delivers reach, frequency, and results and is unmatched as a creative canvas for brands to bring their stories and experiences to life at meaningful scale. The strengthening of Talon’s partnership with Mediaplus — with combined goals to drive effectiveness and improve business results for clients — will undoubtedly deliver better outcomes for advertisers and add genuine value to the top and bottom line.”

About Talon

Talon is a pioneering global independent Out of Home (OOH) media agency focused on delivering effective, creative, data-driven integrated OOH communications. Combining independence with a collaborative approach, Talon promotes open and transparent working relationships between many of the world’s leading agencies, clients, and media partners. Headquartered in London with offices in Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Manchester, New York, Toronto, and Singapore, Talon delivers expertise at global, national, regional, and local levels. Additionally, the agency has built a global OOH planning and buying network – Talon International – covering 100 markets across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. For more information, please visit www.talonooh.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Mediaplus

Mediaplus is part of Serviceplan Group, the largest independently owned, agency group in Europe, across 18 countries and with more than 5,500 employees. In North America Mediaplus is a boutique with the backbone of a giant, making the agency the perfect fit for brand partners. Mediaplus’s operating model offers flexibility to brands, without sacrificing access to strategic critical planning, technical and executional tools. They provide the additional freedom to access the group’s full global and integrated capabilities. Mediaplus delivers on the best of both, efficiency with their global clout, effectiveness with a hands-on and personal approach. For more information, please visit www.mediaplus.com and follow up on LinkedIn.

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. ​ 

This week, Talon US CEO, Jim Wilson, chats with Todd Palatnek, Senior Vice President of Client Development for Talon US, to learn more about the newest member of the Talon family!

Todd, welcome to the Talon family! To kick off, tell us about your background along with your expectations for the future of OOH?   

Having spent over 17 years immersed in the dynamic world of OOH, I’ve gained a unique perspective from both agency and vendor angles. Throughout my journey, I’ve always believed that adopting digital into OOH will play a crucial role in shaping the industry.

I had the privilege of contributing to the growth of C2C Outdoor, a specialized OOH group, serving as Vice President for a decade until its acquisition by Posterscope. My journey then took me to Waze, a Google company, where I pioneered a new OOH product and spearheaded its expansion across the OOH and digital landscapes. Subsequently, I joined MediaMath as Vice President of Client Success, leading the Retail team and overseeing a talented group of 15 individuals. At MediaMath, my role as a mentor and leader extended beyond the organization’s boundaries, as I played a pivotal role in cultivating growth within the Retail vertical across all programmatic digital channels.

My career has traversed the digital media landscape, offering me a front-row seat to the transformative evolution of OOH. Today, OOH stands at the intersection of boundless creativity, cutting-edge technology, and an expanding range of inventory formats, making it an exceptionally thrilling medium. The ongoing digital revolution within OOH, driven by data and technology investments, has elevated it into an advanced media platform. This platform empowers advertisers to achieve remarkable results through broad-reaching brand awareness campaigns or precision-focused performance marketing initiatives.

As more marketers across sectors embrace the potential of OOH, there’s tremendous growth potential. I am eager to assist brands and agencies seize this opportunity – to help them reimagine OOH’s possibilities to think outside and drive their businesses forward.

Omnichannel marketing has become increasingly important for advertisers. How do you see OOH fitting into the broader landscape of omnichannel strategies?

Now more than ever, advertisers are focused on maximizing their investments by putting their dollars into the most effective channels. Many are prioritizing an omnichannel approach. They’re testing and learning to see which channels are working — and OOH has the data and tech to prove the results.

Including OOH in an omnichannel strategy is way more than just extending reach. It allows marketers to influence consumers with cohesive messaging across channels. Advertisers that integrate OOH into their cross-platform strategy can truly reap the benefits of engaging with consumers throughout the entire customer journey.

A prime example is the growing trend of connecting OOH and CTV campaigns. We’re seeing more advertisers testing and connecting audience data between CTV and OOH in an integrated campaign. Watch this space!

What’s your view on getting more advertisers to increase their ad share spend in OOH?

Education is critical to unlocking the vast potential within OOH advertising and is one of my core priorities as I work closely with brands and agencies. Many marketers remain unaware of the expansive capabilities OOH offers today, which has come a long way from the days of simply placing a static billboard ad with a local vendor. I am passionate about educating on the evolution of OOH’s capacity to yield measurable results and how it’s advanced – unlocking a world of opportunity!

At Talon, we stand at the forefront of this evolution, equipped with industry-leading technology, a team of experts, and a wealth of compelling case studies. We are passionate about illustrating how OOH continues to transform and its unique value as the final touchpoint along the consumer’s path to purchase. There’s a wealth of untapped opportunities in this space, and through education and innovation, we can unlock its full potential.

What attracted you to Talon, and how does Talon exemplify the pioneering of technology and data-driven insights in the transformation of OOH advertising?

Talon’s appeal lies in its pivotal role in reshaping the out-of-home (OOH) advertising landscape through cutting-edge technology and data capabilities. In the realm of education, Talon empowers brands and agencies with tools that streamline the OOH planning and buying process, liberating them from cumbersome manual procedures and spreadsheets. Notably, Talon’s comprehensive inventory scoring system offers advertisers invaluable insights into the most effective locations for their campaigns, enhancing the precision of their strategies.

Furthermore, Talon leverages innovation, particularly in targeting and measurement within OOH. Audience targeting enables advertisers to zero in on specific demographic segments, leveraging mobile location data to identify real-world movement patterns, allowing advertisers to obtain inventory that best reaches their target demographics. Talon’s advanced measurement and attribution solutions close the loop by directly linking OOH ad exposure to a wide array of results, including brand sentiment, purchase intent, foot traffic, and website visits. This empowers performance marketers with reliable insights into the impact of OOH campaigns on consumer journeys and path-to-purchase, emphasizing OOH’s unparalleled ability to deliver broad-scale results.

What drew me to Talon is its position at the forefront of OOH’s transformation, driven by leading-edge technologies and expert teams. Talon’s unwavering commitment to innovation and substantial investments in tools and technology guarantee an exceptional experience and foolproof outcomes for advertisers. The phenomenal creative capabilities of Grand Visual are another attribute that sets Talon apart, being awarded consistently for creativity at prestigious events like Cannes Lions. In this exciting era for OOH, there’s no better place to be part of this transformation than here at Talon.

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 Mel Lindquist, who leads our Asia Pacific expansion as Managing Director for Talon Singapore.

Explain your role?   

Talon’s APAC office is strategically based in Singapore as a gateway to the Asia Pacific region. My role is to build the Talon profile in the region, attract new clients to Talon and deliver exceptional campaigns for local and international clients. Importantly, my role is to also advocate for the Out of Home (OOH) industry in the media mix as well as support and drive the continuous improvement of OOH, DOOH and pDOOH performance.  

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

The role spans a wide remit from strategy through to post campaign analysis, as well as client and industry facing meetings and events. Throughout the week I am connecting with existing and potential new clients, presenting credentials or proposals, checking on campaign performance and reading research and case studies. During live campaigns I am verifying placements and communicating with the client and media owners. 

What do you enjoy most about working in OOH?     

I’ve worked in radio, television, digital and now OOH. All are enjoyable to work in but there is something about the visceral impact and tactile nature of an OOH campaign that drives my passion for OOH in a marketing strategy. I love working with marketers and agencies to deliver results using a smart, data-backed strategy that works and when you see it in the physical environment, its exceptional. 

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

The opportunity to be at ground zero of Talon’s APAC expansion has been very memorable as it is a chance to build something from the ground up but with the foundations of an internationally reputable and established business. The first campaigns from the Singapore office will always be very special too with the Warriors of Future Netflix film launch in Tokyo, Taipei, London and New York and the stunning Singapore Airlines, “Welcome to World Class,” campaign on some of the most iconic OOH sites around the world. 

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

I started in radio making tea for the breakfast announcer, reading papers, finding interesting stories and researching information to make great, compelling content for radio listeners each morning.  This was hard work but one of the most interesting roles I have ever had because you did not know what was going to happen each day.  If you have passion for media, you will find a way in via an internship, work experience or entry-level role. Then learn as much as you can from the best people and care about what you produce and deliver to clients every day. That is a great foundation for long career in media. 

What do you get up to outside of work?   

I love to travel and experience different cultures, so I am always planning my next adventure.  Recently I have visited Langkawi in Malaysia, Jakarta in Indonesia and The Azures in the North Atlantic Ocean.  Thankfully, Singapore is an amazing place to live due to its proximity to some of the most beautiful places in Asia.  It’s a 45 minute boat ride to get to Bintan or a 2 hour flight to eat in Bangkok or walk the temples of Angkor Wat.  

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

Other languages. I’d love to be fluent in Japanese and Mandarin. 

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

My first trip to Cambodia in 2007 was life changing and resulted in many more visits.  It was a humbling experience and eye-opening to the privilege I had taken for granted. A simple act like buying rice supplies, reading to children, teaching a sport or giving books to a school had an enormous impact on many lives and I have been very grateful to be able to contribute.

Lucy Baumgartner, Senior Effectiveness Executive at Talon shares the need to know on Talon’s OOH Benchmarks.

With over 10 years’ experience planning and executing Out of Home (OOH) campaigns, Talon have always prided ourselves on thinking outside. We champion the OOH medium that is more effective and more measurable than ever before.  

At Talon, campaign effectiveness is underpinned by a simple but sophisticated benchmark database – which is unlike any other available in the market. With our extensive knowledge of OOH measurement and through following a consistent measurement framework, we have collected a wealth of data covering almost 200 campaigns which provides unique insight into OOH’s effectiveness.  

This data is fundamental to Talon’s planning cycle and forms the bedrock of campaigns. In this series, we will be deep diving into the interesting world of OOH effectiveness.

What are benchmarks and what do they tell us? 

“Benchmarks” is a word that is used a lot when it comes to effectiveness, but what are they? What do they mean and why are they imperative to OOH planning? 

In the world of measurement, synonymous with acronyms, jargon and countless metrics, understanding campaign results and performance can be confusing. Benchmarks are a fundamental part of simplifying this process. They allow us to accurately assess and understand campaign performance by providing an essential point of comparison, giving us the ability to compare performance to wider norms.

Additionally, they provide our clients with the context to effectively assess whether a campaign’s objectives have been achieved. Reporting an uplift in any brand metric is fantastic, however without understanding the context and norms of our channel, that result doesn’t mean a lot, and the campaign could be underperforming against industry standards.

How have we created our Talon Benchmarks? 

At Talon, campaign measurement doesn’t stop at individual clients and brands. A consistent measurement approach across clients, with a standardised methodology and questionnaire, has allowed us to merge and amalgamate all the data from our brand uplift studies over the past six years, creating a rich database of campaign results. From this database, average uplifts across all brand metrics have been created, providing the much-needed point of comparison that campaign assessment requires. For example, on average OOH drives an uplift of +6% in brand awareness and +7% in purchase intent.

Watch this space for more Benchmarks insight… 

While at their surface, our Talon benchmarks are simple, in this series we will explore how layers of analysis into this database provides highly sophisticated insight which underpins Talon planning strategies, informs OOH’s role in the wider media landscape and helps answer industry wide questions.