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Between them they manage, orchestrate, lead & make vital decisions. This year for International Women’s Day, we decided to interview 3 of our women employee’s to find out what IWD, and its theme #EmbraceEquity, means to them.

Question 1: What does IWD and its theme #EmbraceEquity, mean to you?

International Women’s Day for me is an opportunity to celebrate women, our achievements, resourcefulness, and bravery.

#EmbraceEquity for me is about honouring authenticity, actively supporting differences, doing what’s right, not what it’s easy, showing empathy and just be kind.

Question 2: What are you most proud of?

I’m proud of the challenges I’ve overcome in raising two wonderful daughters as a young single mother. If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Question 3: Which powerful woman do you admire the most?

It will have to be Oprah… her strength, resilience and courage are truly remarkable. Her dedication to empower women from impoverished backgrounds through education and the way she uses her voice to stand against child and women abuse are just a few of the reasons I admire her.

Question 1: What does IWD and its theme #EmbraceEquity, mean to you?

International Women’s Day in my opinion is a day to celebrate all women globally. It’s about recognising our achievements, finding, and celebrating our values and being made to feel valued and more importantly being part of a tribe that promotes gender equality. Raising the bar to support each other and be women’s greatest cheerleaders.

Question 2: What are you most proud of?

I would have to say hands down, I am most proud of being a Mum to my beautiful daughter Amy. From very small beginnings arriving at 14 weeks early to a very independent and sassy 8-year-old, she has taken me on one of the greatest and most fulfilling journeys of my life to date, not to mention unexpected! I’m excited for what’s to come!

Question 3: Which powerful woman do you admire the most?

There are 2 powerful women I really admire. The first one is my Mum! A powerhouse, always thinking of and helping other people, from family to her community, always there at a moment’s notice when you need her.

I really admire Michelle Obama as a powerful woman too. I think she is an inspiration to all women as carved out a very successful career for herself, while raising 2 young children and becoming the First Lady, all while keeping her feet firmly on the ground and being the best version of herself. Her book is really worth a read!

Question 1: What does IWD and its theme #EmbraceEquity, mean to you?

International Women’s Day is a day to acknowledge and honour the women’s rights movement globally and a day to celebrate the women in all our lives. #EmbraceEquity for me is about cultivating a mindset that promises inclusivity and a shot at equal opportunities.

Question 2: What are you most proud of?

Moving to a new country and starting from scratch.

Question 3: Which powerful woman do you admire the most?

Jacinda Ardern & Kamala Harris – A small percentage of the world’s leaders are women. Leaders like these two are unafraid, bold, and live life on their terms. One was the youngest female prime minister of a country and the other rose through ranks being a child of immigrant parents. They’re indeed an inspiration!

2023, a new year full of new possibilities.

A new year to grow and build a brand, whether it’s a start-up or a fully established business.

A new year to engage with audiences in new and exciting ways.

Although the year has already started in a recession, our opening statement still stands whatever way you slice it. With ten years under our belt, three of which we spent in a global pandemic, we know more than anyone that brand-building and engaging with consumers is more important now than ever.

It’s important to note that this is not the UK’s first recession, nor will it be our last. Since 1923, this country has faced 8 major recessions and from all of them we have bounced back even stronger. Statistically, most recessions only last 12 months – but brands must not “write off” the year and hope for the best.

We’ve learned many lessons along the way about brands and how they behave. There will be brands that win and brands that lose but the brands that hope for the best and fade into the market will be out of sight and eventually be out of mind. As an independent, global Out of Home (OOH) media agency, we’re here to showcase what we do best and show brands how they can grow in a recession by putting OOH to the test.

As it’s already well documented that increasing spend during a recession can increase sales during times of adversity, we won’t focus too much on that. Instead, we will bring these tactics to life and explain why it’s not just advertising that’s the right thing to do, but why OOH is the right choice to make your brand thrive, not just survive in this recession.

To do this, we’re going to break down the three stages of your campaign plan – Strategy, Creative and Measurement.

ONE: Strategy

In a fast-moving world of marketing and media, it’s easy to overlook the basic principles of marketing – Product, Price, Place and Promotion. These 4 principles should still form the bedrock of your marketing strategy. However, each of them should be approached differently in times of financial hardship and economic uncertainty.

Product

In marketing and media planning, it is vital to establish where your product fits within the market during a recession. You must also understand how your target audience will interact with it from a purchasing decision point of view.

Typically, marketers target based on demographics, but during a recession adopting a psychological segmentation that takes into consideration consumers’ emotional reactions to the economic environment may deliver greater success.

However you choose to define your product and segment your audience, Talon’s proprietary technology platforms can help you achieve this goal. For example, with our DMP, Ada, we can help you to understand bespoke audience segments and provide insights based on real and recent consumer behaviours to create more precision in OOH planning and buying. This results in an average of +32% increase in targeting efficiency, resulting in uplifts for ad recall, consideration and purchase intent.

Price

One of the biggest areas of opportunity, but equally risky, is how a brand prices their product. Although it often feels longer, most recessions only last 12 months. So, although discounting may increase sales in the short term, you run the risk of devaluing the value of your brand in the long term. Put simply, the price of your product is a key differentiator in the perception of your brand. Significantly discounting a product is comparable to turning an Audi into a Ford or a Rolex into a Timex.

By showing resilience on both the price of your product and your advertising budget, your brand can reap rewards, particularly when keeping OOH as a part of your marketing mix. In the most recent time of uncertainty, brands that continued to invest in OOH saw a 51% shift in ad recall and + 16% for purchase intent.

Place

The place, or where your product is available is a hugely complicated yet impactful part of your marketing and media strategy. Whatever place you decide to sell your product – OOH can help increase purchase intent by 10% on average – this figure lifts to 12% when using long dwell formats such as transport and lifts to the high 50s and 60’s for call to action and brand consideration after being exposed to OOH.

This is proof of OOH’s role as a fantastic trust builder – even more importantly, in a recession. If your advertising preference is online, then we’ve got some news for you. According to research conducted by Outsmart, OOH is proven to drive consumers online, delivering:

+17% uplift in smartphone brand actions
61% average OOH call to action rate
+29% increase in web traffic during an OOH campaign.

Due to its environment in the physical world, OOH is great at hitting prospective customers on the high street can influence last-minute purchasing decisions and footfall. As O2 recently discovered with their Black Friday OOH campaign, they were able to increase store visits from their target audience by more than 186%.

Although buying behaviours are heavily impacted in a recession the fundamentals of advertising theory are not… a balanced advertising and communication plan is crucial for success. Outdoor is a fantastic brand builder, but it can also significantly improve short term impact – particularly when combined with other media.

OOH pays back in terms of ROI when OOH share of a media plan is at 17% or more (current average is 11%) and can amplify the effects of ‘Recession preferred’ mediums such as social media & search by more than 50%.

When it comes to traditional TV, OOH is and always has been a hugely complementary channel. 70% of light TV viewers are exposed to OOH and this figure jumps even higher to 82% in 16-34 year olds. For the harder to reach 16-24 year old category, who according to Ofcom, spend 7x less time watching TV than over 65s, heavy viewers of VOD are 45% more likely to be exposed to OOH.

TWO: Creative

Promotion

During a recession, trust in institutions tends to decline. So, brand building and promoting a product goes a lot further than simple visibility. As we saw in the pandemic, reassuring simple and strong creative is important for building brand trust.

With OOH, over 98% of the UK and US population is reached by OOH ads every week, making it an excellent channel to communicate these simple and strong messages. Reassuring messages that reinforce an emotional connection with the brand and demonstrate empathy (for example, by conveying a sense that “we’re going to get through this together”) are vital.

The best way to drive trust is through a strong brand presence and strong creative messaging. Tweaks to your creative messaging can have a hugely positive impact on campaign performance. For example, in 2021, McDonald’s launched a campaign with a simple reassuring message of ‘We Deliver.’ This was an incredibly valuable proposition at the height of the pandemic when public places such as restaurants were not as appealing to customers.

Home delivery during the pandemic was a practical message, but emotional messaging can be equally impactful – particularly when using large format OOH which is proven to increase emotional intensity by 43%.

#SendingLove was another campaign that was live during the pandemic, that utilised emotional messaging. We along with Talon International and Grand Visual launched a global initiative to promote messages of love and raise money for the global COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The user-generated messages of love and unity were displayed on digital OOH screens in 38 countries worldwide with social media amplification ensuring the messages were seen both in and outside the home.

If truly authentic, purpose-led marketing can assist brands in standing out against undifferentiated competition – which could be essential at a time of price sensitivity.

For example, with sustainability a key responsibility for audiences and brands alike, OOH can be used to supplement an authentic sustainability message for brands in various ways.

THREE: Measurement

Measuring the success of your campaign should be the staple of any activity – particularly when budgets are under increased scrutiny.

At Talon, we offer bespoke measurement services as we know that understanding client objectives and KPIs is vital. Once the KPI is identified the measurement option, requirements, feasibility can all be discussed to ensure the measurement is bespoke to the campaign. Talon’s measurement studies can identify uplifts in footfall, brand perceptions, and sales following exposure to an OOH campaign.

In addition to bespoke measurement options, we can provide performance norms due to our ongoing benchmarking project.

And lastly, recessions are temporary, but decisions brands make can be long lasting. It’s up to you whether you grasp with both hands the possibilities that come with a new year. It will be whatever you make it. By taking the initiative and focusing on brand building and engaging with consumers, your brand can use this opportunity as a jumping off point, to build a brand that thrives not survives for years to come.

By Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director, Talon APAC.

The World Out of Home Organization (‘WOO’) hosted its APAC conference in Malaysia in October 2022. We listened to updates from around the region for two days, including Korea, Japan, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Australia, and Singapore.

I had the pleasure of presenting with Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific‘s Chloe Neo on behalf of the buyer/agency side to give insight into the view we see of OOH, not just as a medium but in context with the total media mix. The following is a summary of the presentation (with a few new updates), and if you would like a short version, take a look at this article by Campaign Asia Pacific.

For context, the Asia region is of considerable importance to marketers regarding diversity, size, and affluence. Marketers can grow market share, revenue, and ROI if targeted effectively.

Projections show Household Income (HHI) and Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (uHNWI) in the region will grow over the next five years. Asia’s consumers are at the forefront of global consumption, with projections that this will continue over the next decade.

McKinsey “Meet your Future Asian Consumer”, 2021

Over the past few years (including the two years of covid), a few key trends are emerging that are impacting the consideration of OOH media in the marketing mix and influencing investment in OOH. Research shows that including OOH in a campaign can uplift effectiveness and impact and drive consumer advocacy, consideration, and purchase intent. However, marketers will remove OOH from a schedule without consistent proof points. This leads me to my first point.

PROOF

There is a persistent demand from marketers for proof.

OOH media needs to invest in ‘proof’ continually. Without proof points (pre and post), OOH is at risk of being removed or reduced on the plan. It is a persistent and growing requirement for considering OOH in the media mix.

Pre-proof can be in the form of audience, movement, psychographic/ behavioural, and buyer-graphical data. It can also include neuro-impact scores, traffic counts, population, demographic, reach, and frequency.

Post-proof can be through campaign verification (physical, digital, and programmatic), research, case studies, and campaign analysis.

It is also cyclical. Campaign verification, analysis of results, and post-campaign recommendations should be a discipline that folds into the proof points for future campaigns. Verification, including physical, digital, and programmatic, post-campaign reporting, benchmarking research (claimed and transactional), brand metric measurement, conversion results, and results against agreed performance metrics, all contribute to proving the performance of OOH.

“If there is no trust or recency in the ‘proof’, OOH risks reduction or removal from the media plan. That lessens the opportunity to demonstrate the power of OOH and the opportunity for the industry to grow.”

Thankfully, OOH is measurable. Continual investment in research, data, and reporting with verified, validated data that is recent and relevant will contribute significantly to OOH remaining on the plan.

Equally important is industry collaboration to build unified platforms like Outdoor Media Association‘s MOVE to provide standardized industry benchmarks that marketers and their agencies accept. It will also increase trust and acceptance from marketers inside and outside the region.

PACE

The media-buying world is rapidly moving to self-service with a growing demand for faster access and engagement with media owners. Pace does impact media investment, whether it is speed to market, speed to respond, or accessibility via technology to speed up processes.

Emerging and existing technology will help extend OOH’s buying capability. OOH media owners need to open up and automate access to inventory, access to avails, access to specifications, and access to long-range planning. It will remove complexity, fuel self-service, and contribute to a position for OOH on the plan, whether traditional buying or programmatic.

OOH media in the APAC region need to invest and adapt to buyer demand and build the capability to respond to the global pace of business. It will allow brands and their agencies to self-serve to a level of autonomy not yet seen in the region.

“We are in the era of self-service. Technology is fuelling this expectation. Media that does not embrace it will be left behind.”

While we always strive for more time, short-termism is still in play. ‘Post-pandemic recovery’ remains a mindset with less long-term planning and more campaign-by-campaign orientation.

Removing complexity, systemizing and automating processes, opening up access to inventory, and connecting to platforms (via partnerships or collaboration) will contribute to a position on the plan for OOH.

INNOVATION

Innovation is a permanent trend, and OOH inspires in many ways. From printing techniques, digital screen tech, data-informed creative, use of public space, or hardware innovation. It all contributes to using OOH media beyond simple spots and sites.

OOH has always had the flexibility and creativity to work independently and create message layers and multi-sensory impacts. The most recent campaign using multi-sensory layers is the stunning The Coca-Cola Company Christmas campaign on The Piccadilly Lights from Ocean Outdoor in London. It includes live carollers, screen domination, interactive creative (song lyrics), and a mobile Coca-Cola truck driving past the site. All beautifully contextual leading up to Christmas.

“The OOH industry has an album full of innovation examples. Simply put, OOH innovation allows brands to transcend spots and sites. When Talon APAC advocates for OOH in the media mix, we can easily demonstrate impressive innovation in the APAC region.”

Product innovation is epitomized by Dole Food Company , screen-printing posters using ink made from real fruit waste (here) to authentically demonstrate their charter of zero-waste. 3D, anamorphic screens across APAC, including Big Tree’s CUBIG@ KLCC Junction in Kuala Lumpur to oOh!media’s Bourke St Mall in Melbourne and Ten Square, Landmark of Good in Singapore; create iconic, brand-enhancing campaigns.

Continuous innovation, including AR, VR, and 2D extensions, will grow the OOH APAC industry and significantly drive results for clients.

Data innovation to inform locations, target audiences and identify the best placement is not new. However, applying data to inform creative and develop deep connections with consumers through contextual relevance should be continually innovated.

In the last ten years, OOH has used digital to create contextual relevance, which research has shown to be at least 19% more effective. Brands. Agencies and media should look to ways data can inform the development and execution of campaigns. It creates impact and attention that positions OOH as a media leader and heightens consideration when planning campaigns.

Of course, this data should always comply with local privacy regulations and appropriate use of data. Here is an excellent article from ForwardKeys on using data to inform OOH campaigns.

Hardware innovation in OOH is uniquely positioned to affect public spaces positively and comes with great responsibility. Innovation in hardware, structure, and the physical build of OOH will attract brands and have a lasting impact on our environment.

Hardware innovation in the APAC region has included:

the installation of sustainable materials for more efficient use of energy (JCD)
repurposing posters/skins for multi-purpose (oOh!) and;
theBreath® by Clear Channel Singapore Pte Ltd significantly improving air quality.

This innovation leads me to my final point and onto a significant trend impacting OOH investment and inclusion in media planning – PURPOSE.

PURPOSE

Consumers are more aware of purpose when deciding to buy. Equally, there is pressure on brands to deliver on purpose and demonstrate commitment to DEI – Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and ESG – Environmental, Social, Governance, and Sustainability practices.

It is often considered a ‘Gen Z’ driver of consumption. If you look at the statistics below, you will see that while Gen Z is leading increases in preference to buy from sustainable brands, the uplift is across all generations.

Purpose is here to stay.

World Economic Forum + “State of Consumer Spending” – November 2021

At the time of the WOO conference, Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific announced a partnership that illustrates where ‘purpose’ is leading the media industry. They “expect to see more stringent, measured frameworks for pitches, proposals, and partners over time. As well as the creation of standardized metrics such as carbon footprint across clients’ media selections, supporting brand sustainability plans in the long term.”

The physical manifestation of purpose within OOH media is developing rapidly, with APAC emerging recently with impressive developments. For OOH to maintain relevance in the region, it is essential to persist with a purpose-driven product, business, and action that addresses ESG and DEI and improves the public spaces in which OOH resides.

What does this look like now and in the future?

Living Walls using live plants improves the site’s visually and contributes to an improved environmental impact by eliminating up to 10kg of CO² per sqm per year.

Eco Paint providers, such as Airlite, offer air-purifying paint to paint advertisements on walls or create bespoke murals.

Latex Ink – Revolution360 is now using HP Latex Ink, which is 65% water-based, and completely biodegradable, with no heavy materials or hazardous air pollutants.

Poster Evolution in many production companies has resulted in switching out traditional PVC banners for non-PVC materials and reducing the harmful effects of the disposal of PVC products. Urban Vision s.p.a. was one of the first media owners to introduce pollution-eating banners. The posters include a pollution-absorbing layer, creating a more eco-friendly product. Lightweight polyethylene vinyl billboard skins are routinely reused and repurposed at the end of their life cycle into various finished products like benches, sleepers, and bollards.

Green Roofs on bus stops increase biodiversity and support nature recovery. They can also absorb rainwater, urban heat and contribute to cleaning the air. Including solar panels also means that transit stops can run on green energy. JCDecaux Middle East is leading the way with the use of green energy to power the majority of their digital portfolio across airports and roadside.

World Out of Home Organization also announced the industry’s first Global Sustainability Task Force led by WOO Board member Katrin A. Robertson. WOO President Tom Goddard said about the initiative:

“There is much good work being undertaken by many [OOH] members, including some of the largest players in the business, but we must remember that we are a highly diverse industry in terms of stakeholders and owners and WOO can play a bigger role in helping members, smaller operators in particular, improve and communicate their sustainability performance.”

OOH in the APAC region will benefit from adopting and pioneering development that improves people’s lives and public spaces. It will also maintain relevance when a marketer considers media in their campaigns. It will become the standard, not the exception, in the future.

We are emerging from a two-year chrysalis that has disrupted the world forever. Marketers are more accountable than ever, and marketing plans are under scrutiny.

If the OOH media industry does not continue to adapt and make inroads into measurability, attribution, and independent verification (proof), harness technology to create self-service, ease of planning, and speed to market (pace), persistently push the boundaries of OOH capability (innovation) and authentically commit to positively impacting public spaces, the environment and people’s lives (purpose); OOH as a medium runs a significant risk of insignificance.

Talon continues driving, supporting, and advocating for OOH in the media mix. We know from our decade of client campaigns and creative innovations with Grand Visual that OOH is innovative, builds brand awareness, consideration, and drives purchase intent, and uplifts effectiveness when in combination with other media in the mix.

Taking on Interns is an integral part of our business, they tend to challenge the way “we’ve always done things”, while also bringing fresh, new ideas to the company. We also love being able to provide students with real-life experiences and introduce them to the OOH industry. After spending a month with the team, we asked Alannah to write up about her experience at Talon in Ireland.

My name’s Alannah Kelly and I am a final-year Advertising and Marketing Communications student at TU Dublin. I was thrilled when I was offered the opportunity to work with Talon in Ireland for the month of January 2023. I was excited to learn more about the world of OOH, especially after learning so much about it in college. I could finally see how things were done in the real advertising world!

As I have found during my time at Talon, the OOH advertising industry is growing at a strong and steady rate. I’ve learnt many invaluable lessons that I will take along with me in my professional career. It was interesting to learn about Talon in Ireland’s background – what exactly is OOH, why advertisers and brands should use it and who their media partners are. I also learnt about the different roles and what they involve such as marketing, PR, dynamic, creative solutions, operations, research, and Insights to name but a few. Learning about these roles allowed me to understand the day-to-day aspects of the company while also giving me an idea of what role I would like when I complete my degree.

Over the last three weeks, I’ve worked on numerous projects and gained many new skills. My first project was on mapping where I learnt all about the tools used to place campaigns to best target consumers. I also worked on some competitive reviews which I loved as they gave me an excellent insight into the many trends that can be seen in OOH. It was also great seeing the many clients Talon in Ireland work with. I enjoyed participating in brainstorming meetings for upcoming campaigns, these meetings allowed me to see just how creative OOH can be. During my time, Talon’s People Forum organized several nice gestures and activities to coincide with Blue Monday. The activities were a global mental health talk, a team lunch, grabbing a colleague for a walk and a boardroom transformed into a chill-out area for the afternoon.

My time at Talon has been great, I have had the chance to meet so many amazing people while also seeing the process of their incredible work. From working at Talon, I have developed many skills and gained great confidence working within the OOH industry. I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity and thankful I was so lucky to have such an amazing company to work for!

Thank you so much Talon in Ireland for being so welcoming and for the amazing opportunity!

In recent years, Out of Home (OOH) advertising has shown massive resilience in reinventing itself and staying relevant. Technological advancements and the digitization of media assets are transforming how and why advertisers use the medium. With digital fatigue one of the main challenges to be faced by advertisers and today’s consumers smarter and more tech-savvy than ever, they have more control over the ads they would like to see. Companies that want to stay agile, need to return to more established channels such as OOH. A recent study conducted by Talon UK and OnDevice Research recorded that OOH had the largest increase in trust across any medium, jumping from 14% to 57%, while 40% of people were more positive towards Out of Home compared to 16% for online ads. Looking ahead to the 2023 OOH forecast, we predict modest double-digit growth in the OOH channel. As new technologies continue to emerge, and consumer behaviour evolves it has become clear that OOH is now perfectly positioned to take its rightly place as a lead channel in the communications mix.

VW’s sustainability OOH billboard sketched entirely with pencil

Prediction: The road to net zero.

2023 must be the year of sustainable innovation for the media and advertising industry. Whether that’s rethinking the way we plan and buy, looking at energy consumption, or offering brands more green products and services in the planning process such as recycled material for posters or using electric fleets for billposters, sustainability should dominate conversations across all media channels.

Prediction: Programmatic will be one of the most promising advertising opportunities in 2023.

Digital Out of Home has created huge opportunities for brands. We now have a format that holds the necessary tools to drive a more targeted, memorable, innovative, and measurable campaign. With continued investment from media owners in the digital out-of-home space, this channel has untapped potential going into next year, which brands need to take hold of.

Heineken Zero’s Dry January OOH Campaign

Prediction: Growth in Multi-channel integration.

Looking ahead to next year, we see Out of Home advertising integrating with other channels especially, TV and online. According to BARB Mediaplanner+ 2020, investing 26% of TV budget into Out of Home has a positive outcome on reach, with OOH and TV working most effectively at different times throughout the day. When looking at OOH and Online, a recent 4^th space project, from Talon UK shows that by adding FMDOOH to a social campaign increased effectiveness across the brand funnel by 23%. Exposure to FMDOOH had a positive impact on the whole brand funnel from awareness through to call to action, not only generating desire and interest but generating consumer action. In fact, it was in consumer action that we saw the largest shift (+48%) when FMDOOH was added to a social plan.

Prediction: Data & Technology will supercharge the campaign planning process.

2023, will deliver numerous new technologies and further enhance existing tech.

To date, data has powered both dynamic and programmatic campaigns and, although, in the early stages of this market, it’s set to continue but in more innovative ways. We envisage more clients using clever data sources to capture audiences on the move with impactful and attention-grabbing campaigns.

Applying a prescriptive approach to the campaign planning process is a high priority for 2023. At Talon, we have plans afoot to invest and launch new platforms that will ensure that our planning process is second to none and will give clients a more granular level of measurability and accountability.

Prediction: Advertisers will get creative.

Grabbing and maintaining attention will be huge for brands heading into next year. The longer a brand can stay top of mind with consumers the better, because of this we will see more brands shift spending from performance marketing into brand building, making OOH the perfect canvas. Talon’s research shows that special builds not only position a brand as exciting and innovative but positively influence consumers’ purchase behaviour. In 2018, Talon UK conducted a special build campaign effectiveness research study whereby they compared those exposed to special builds vs those that were exposed to standard OOH formats. The results showed a +15% increase in positive impression of the advertising, +17% increase in consumer action and +35% increase in purchase consideration.

Summary

“2023 promises to be another exciting year in Out of Home’s renaissance. With a wider industry lens on areas such as data & tech, programmatic, creativity and of course sustainability, we believe Out of Home is uniquely placed to take a leadership role in each of these spaces. As we begin to shift focus to next year, the team at Talon Ireland are excited to lead that renaissance and champion Out of Home’s unique proposition, all kickstarted early with our new branding and new office move” – Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director, Talon Ireland

For THE FINAL PART of our reflection series, the Talon team SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS AND PREDICTIONS FOR 2023.

At Talon we’re the changemakers, the trail-blazers, the provocateurs, the pioneers of OOH. Combining a heady mix of creativity, technology and data, our senior leadership team share their expert opinion on what OOH and the wider media landscape will look like in 2023.

“2022 has been another successful year for Talon, with the rebrand, expansion into MENA and APAC and even more campaigns that pushed the boundaries and cemented us as industry pioneers who are constantly re-imagining and re-inventing the possibilities of what Out of Home can be.

In 2023, we expect to see a lot of uncertainty due to rising living costs. However, if the last three years have taught us anything, it’s important for brands to stay on and keep the momentum going. If we can survive living through the unknown, we can prepare and plan for what is coming. The OOH renaissance is here.”
Barry Cupples, CEO

“2023 promises to be another exciting year for OOH. We expect to see continued growth in programmatic trading and a continued appetite for using the blank canvas that is OOH to deliver messages in innovative and special ways.

Sustainability will be of key importance and it’s our job to communicate the industry’s efforts in all that we are doing to be kinder to our environment in 2023.”
Aoife Hudson, Deputy Managing Director, Talon Ireland

“Clearly there are some global economic headwinds that will influence our market, however, OOH has never been in better shape. The inventory and our ability to leverage data and tech platforms to drive effectiveness is continually improving.

OOH is very well placed in the wider media landscape to improve client outcomes, and the huge steps forward the industry has made in sustainability makes OOH one of most responsible choices a client can make.”
James Copley, UK CEO

“I think Q1 is going to bring a lot of unknowns for every industry, including media. Clients are going to wait and see what the economic impacts are on consumers, before committing budgets. However, the OOH industry is in a fantastic position. The medium delivers trust to consumers. People are spending more time OOH than ever before, and the investment in technology means we can now be smarter, delivering audience-based outcomes. 2023 is going to be a challenge, but it’s one we are ready for!”
Luke Willbourn, Chief Client Officer

“From an International perspective, despite a number of political and economic uncertainties I’m confident we’ll see a return of passengers to a pre Covid level in airports and an going commitment from clients and agencies to invest in OOH globally to deliver on their strategic objectives.”
Adrian Skelton, Managing Partner

“2023 will be an interesting year for OOH, as the cost-of-living crisis continues, we expect to see more brands reviewing their media strategies and OOH represents a real opportunity for brands to effectively use media to build trust amongst consumers.

Research from the last economic downturn clearly shows the benefit to brands ‘staying on’ during a recession, and as we enter the start of an uncertain year, 2023 represents a good opportunity for brands to evaluate strategy and ensure they have the right share of voice to stay front of mind and strengthen market positioning.”
Helen Saffer, Group Client Services Director

“Continued growth and development, plus an ever-increasing focus on sustainability and impact on the environment which will without doubt continue to be high up on the agenda for any CMO / key decision maker at client level.

Fortunately, OOH continues to make great strides in this area and the industry as a whole takes sustainability very seriously. From DOOH screens using 100% renewable energy sources, to zero carbon vans now provided for billers, and the phased-out use of non-recyclable materials means Out of Home already has the key foundations for building on a renewable future in 2023.”
Jamie Finn, Group Client Services Director

“Even more blurring of the lines between OOH and Experiential. The two environments work well apart but when combined the results multiply even further. Media owners are investing in this space and we’re primed to support brands in this space.”
Jay Young, Chief Client Officer

Here’s to a successful 2023 and a happy, healthy and successful New Year to all our clients, agencies and partners.

Part 2 of our reflections series, Talon’s team discuss new initiatives, launches and share advice.

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 experienced team are reflecting on new initiatives, launches and sharing advice for others who are striving to work at the very edge of what’s known with Talon.

A New Year full of new initiatives

After a turbulent couple of years, ensuring that OOH is even more accountable has been a key focus for us in 2022. At the beginning of the year, we introduced classic OOH site inspections and digital OOH verification on a client opt-out level. Bringing more effective and accountable campaigns to our clients, agencies and partners.

Group Client Services Director, Jamie Finn, explains, “We developed appropriate ad-tech to simplify and streamline reporting for both Classic and Digital OOH, allowing us to ensure full accountability for every single campaign we plan and buy and addressing any under-performance accordingly ensuring that what our clients buy is exactly what is delivered in the public space.

Since the start of 2022 we have verified the playouts for almost 350 digital OOH campaigns and physically inspected more than 3,200 classic OOH frames – providing key data and insights to our clients and without a doubt something we will continue to build upon and fulfil for our clients and agencies as we enter 2023.”

The rise of Programmatic DOOH

Over the past 12 months, the demand for pDOOH has increased from advertisers across all sectors. With flexibility and cost efficiency recognised as the key strengths of the channel, spend in pDOOH is forecast to grow in the near future.

Group Client Services Director, Helen Saffer, elaborates, “2022 has really seen the turning point for brands embracing pDOOH and we’ve seen more advertisers using it strategically to add in a behavioural audience targeted layer to their OOH strategy alongside traditionally bought impact and fame building formats.

We expect this momentum to continue to build as we move into 2023, with brands who have already tested the water returning and continuing to develop bespoke OOH strategies, alongside new advertisers looking to expand their online strategies to boost additional reach via pDOOH.”

All our initiatives and launches started with our people who constantly challenge themselves and the industry at large – “to imagine what’s possible when they think outside.”

Expanding into MENA & APAC

Back in March, we announced the expansion of our global footprint in Asia-Pacific and Middle East, with our new hires Melanie Lindquist and Chadi Farhat leading MENA and APAC respectively.

The opening of Talon’s new offices in both the UAE and Singapore was a highlight for Tom Perrett, International Client Services Director, “Bringing further leadership, experience, and interconnected business opportunities across borders.”

Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director, Talon APAC, added, “The APAC market is largely untapped but with huge potential. Being in the same time zone and hubbed in Singapore has allowed us to work closer and faster with clients to drive campaigns within the region but also take regional clients onto the global OOH.”

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, our team was working hard to launch an API connection between Plato and NetSuite. This has strengthened our automated process from booking in Plato to invoicing in NetSuite for our US, UK, MENA & APAC markets.

Group Transformation Officer, Amy Horton, said, “Launching the API connection between Plato and NetSuite has been a huge achievement. For the first time, we have an organisational design that will give us a great structure for our further growth ambitions.”

The Evolution of Talon

Another project we were working on behind the scenes was a strategic repositioning for Talon. As we approach our second decade, we commenced a brand refresh project to support our ambitious global expansion and commitment to being the global OOH media agency of choice.

It was time to “think outside.”

This refresh began with merging Talon’s award-winning Creative Solutions team with industry-pioneers Grand Visual to offer a full suite of OOH and digital OOH creative services. Discussing the merge, Chief Client Officer at Grand Visual, Jay Young, said, “The relaunch of Talon’s Grand Visual is of course the most exciting. We’ve now combined our creative solutions team with our brilliant in-house studio to create a creative OOH powerhouse. We now get to spend more time with clients, more time brainstorming exciting ideas and we’re winning more awards. It’s an exciting place to be right now.”

With our full rebrand unveiled in December, CEO, James Copley, said, “Working in a business that is surrounded by great creativity, it was really gratifying to see all that great thinking and execution applied to our own brand.”

So, with the year behind us, knowing what you know now, what is one piece of advice you would give to your 2021 self?

“We are currently living in a world where things can change very quickly and are often out of our control. Don’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. Focus on what you can control, not worry about what you can’t.”
Luke Willbourn, Chief Client Officer

“When you’re leading a team, you have to spend time thinking about the mid and long-term strategy. This can sometimes place your focus consistently in the future rather than the present.

I’ve had to teach myself to avoid the allure of what might happen and to focus on the next 8 hours only. Every morning I think ‘what can I do today that will nudge us closer to our goals.’ It’s been a game changer for my mindset, wellbeing and general performance.”
Jay Young, Chief Client Officer

“Be brave – leverage the power of the burgeoning Talon network and understand the importance of informed risk to help unlock real growth.”
Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director, Talon Ireland

“It’ll be a busy year so buckle up! But in all seriousness, we’ve learnt to be kinder to ourselves as human beings and within a team when it comes to our workloads.

You can’t be what you can’t see so I try to be quite vocal about aiming for a work life balance. At Talon, we don’t ever sit still, we are always striving to lead the way, to grow, to learn and 2022 has been no different.”
Hayley Tiptaft, People Director

To get the first look at part 3 of our blog, when our team share their thoughts and predictions for 2023, 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.

For Part 1 of our reflection series, the Talon team highlight their favourite campaigns of 2022.

With the new year approaching fast, we’re back to reflect on the past 12 months. In this series, we are celebrating the creative, data and technological boundaries that were pushed in 2022 and sharing our expectations for Out of Home (OOH) and the wider landscape in 2023.

Despite two years of recovery and re-growth, the world of OOH has changed and continues to change fast. Boundaries are being redrawn every day; with OOH becoming a more connected, creative, effective, measurable and sustainable medium than ever before. This year, OOH has seen the strongest recovery coming out of the Pandemic, with an increase of +146.2% in expenditure. The first quarter of 2022 also outperformed expectations by +7.7%.

According to the latest data from IAB, the UK’s ad market is set to grow a further +4.4% in 2023 – further accelerated by the demand for programmatic digital OOH (pDOOH), with 38% of media professionals adding to the pDOOH budget.

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

Standout campaigns from 2022

All the campaigns below showcase the best in “thinking outside” in 2022 – exemplifying independent thought and big ideas, bolstered further by Talon’s technology, data and measurement expertise.

Specsavers: Should’ve 2.0

In Q1, Specsavers made its return to OOH with three ingenious special builds. Choosing Specsavers as his standout campaign, Chief Client Officer, Luke Willbourn, said, “2022 has seen the boundary for creativity pushed to its limit, with clients showcasing fantastic executions on a weekly basis. My favourite campaign this year was Specsavers Should’ve 2.0.

A simple, but brilliant campaign, it encapsulated Specsavers’ playful side. The campaign was also a great example of how brands can use social channels to amplify OOH executions.”

Netflix: Warriors of Future

For Talon APAC’s Managing Director, Melanie Lindquist, the Warriors of Future campaign for Netflix stood out to her the most.

“Talon in Singapore worked with the client on a strategy to select iconic sites for this global campaign, including the Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Taipei Arena, Storm Cromination and Nasdaq + Midtown Financial. This created an impactful campaign with shareable content for the client’s large online followers and fans.”

Guinness: Summer

The 2022 standout campaign for both UK CEO, James Copley and Group Client Services Director, Helen Saffer, was Guinness’ surfboard creative – a discreet nod to their iconic 1998 ‘Surfer’ TV ad, brought to life outside across the UK

“This was a great example of creative and media placement working perfectly in sync to deliver a standout campaign that really resonated with consumers,” said Helen. “The campaign used bespoke installations to cleverly capture the iconic Guinness pint, with ‘Guinness’ surfboards placed across iconic UK seaside resorts.”

James adds, “The Guinness special builds were a great combination of creativity, context and location that led to some stunning executions that really cut through and made an impact.”

BBC: Brand Building

The BBC utilised the magic Talon OOH formula of creativity, data and technology throughout 2022 – which saw them winning both the Brand Fame award at the Drum OOH Awards and the Brand Building award at the Clear Channel OMA’s. Aiming to ensure they were at the forefront of a cluttered market; OOH was primed as the perfect platform to reach and engage with new and existing audiences to encourage positive perceptions of the BBC.

Group Transformation Officer, Amy Horton, said, “There wasn’t really one campaign that stood out to me, however, the breath and varied executions of the BBC’s campaigns this year have been incredible. They seem to get the balance right between creative use of OOH and simple effective messaging.”

Specsavers: Ireland

Over at Talon Ireland, Deputy Managing Director, Aoife Hudson, chose Specsavers as her standout campaign for 2022. “The OOH Industry in Ireland had been lagging in terms of data and technology compared to other markets. At Talon, we’ve been the pioneers of leading the OOH industry forward in that regard.

With that in mind, a piece of work that truly stood out for me was our work with OMD and Specsavers – Ireland’s first multi-media-owner programmatic digital OOH (pDOOH) campaign. The campaign went on to win 2 gold media awards – Best OOH campaign and Best Collaboration between Talon Ireland & OMD Ireland.”

John Lewis: Newness

No stranger to programmatic DOOH, John Lewis launched its “newness” campaign, which was delivered via our proprietary DSP, Atlas. Discussing the campaign, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Sophie Pemberton, said, “We ran a 20-week campaign across 12 cities with new copy being delivered each week on panels and at times which we’re specifically chosen to reach ‘Busy Inspiration Seekers’.

The initial results were brilliant and showed that audience visitation to those stores across the campaign period increased by a whopping +47%! We’ve seen phenomenal growth this year across from across all our agency partners and an increased appetite to apply intelligent data to deliver even more effective campaigns.”

To get the first look at part 2 of our blog, in which our leadership 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 festive season seems to start earlier and earlier each year. As soon as the door closes on Summer, and Halloween is out of the way, brands turn their attention to Christmas and begin fighting for consumer attention and securing that all-important space on consumers’ shopping lists. October (23%) and November (22%) are key priming periods for early Christmas shoppers, even more so this year. With prices rising, our latest research suggests shoppers are moving their gift buying to earlier in the year, with many having already started (24%). This appetite to get going comes as no surprise given the current climate.

Consumer behaviours are ever-changing, and brands must keep up. To help with this we surveyed 250 respondents 16+ to get a glimpse of how the nation is feeling heading into the busiest quarter of the year.

With the cost of living rising, Christmas 2022 may be challenging for some, however, consumers are still craving acts of kindness and instances of connection. When looking at the differences between spending power this year versus last year, our research suggests that 73% of shoppers plan on spending more or the same this Christmas. With 26% citing that they have more disposable income than the previous year. Family is also a common theme this year with 35% citing that they will be spending more as they want to make this Christmas a special one for their family.

According to Kantar, Irish grocery sales were worth 3.1 billion during the 12 weeks to 26^th December 2021. This year, our research suggests that the Irish public is geared up for a larger Christmas with 33% planning more family gatherings. More guests mean more food and 53% plan on trading up to a more premium retailer, with only 20% of shoppers staying loyal and sticking with their usual store.

For many, shopping for the Christmas season is all part of getting into the festive spirit. When looking at the in-store versus online shopping patterns we noticed a stark difference from last year. In 2021, 45% of shoppers were doing all their Christmas shopping online, this year that figure has decreased by 31% to 14%. With a further 38% of shoppers planning on doing a mix of in-store vs online. For those choosing to buy gifts in person, 47% are planning to visit shopping centres, 24% will visit the high-street, with 30% doing a mixture of both. This presents an opportunity for brands to capture consumer attention using the OOH channel.

Overall, the nation’s mood seems to be an optimistic one, with 49% looking forward to a normal Christmas without restrictions and 26% excited to see family and friends. As the Christmas shopping season has begun, what can advertisers and brands do to make the most out of this time of year? Based on our findings, see below a few points to consider:

Advanced planning: With shoppers actively seeking Christmas deals earlier than usual. Consider planning your Christmas campaigns ahead of time so your brand is top of mind for consumers.
Despite inflation, spending power is still prevalent: Our findings suggest that despite inflation, the nation’s mood seems to be optimistic, however, businesses need to be sensitive in their approach and adapt their strategies accordingly.
Strong Community Connection: With friend and family gatherings being a common theme throughout our research results there is still that sense of importance in our local communities. So, although there are no movement restrictions in place brands should be making a conscious effort to reach these areas in their outdoor campaigns.

Methodology: Research was conducted by Spark Market Research, on a main urban sample of 250 respondents 16+ using an online methodology.

If you read our previous collaboration with Orb, you’ll know that over the last few months we have collaborated with some of our media partners to take a deeper look into the different areas of creativity in OOH. This month, we teamed up with XL Media and turned our focus to the enduring power of a special build.

Talon’s research shows that special builds not only position a brand as exciting and innovative but positively influence consumers’ purchase behaviour. In 2018, Talon UK conducted a special build campaign effectiveness research study whereby they compared those exposed to special builds vs those that were exposed to standard OOH formats. The results showed a +15% increase in positive impression of the advertising, +17% increase in consumer action and +35% increase in purchase consideration.

Before the pandemic, there would be no denying that the demand for special builds was low. However, the tides have turned and since 2020 we have seen a marked increase in appetite for creativity. Brands are looking to interact with and encourage consumers to remember their OOH ads – while also hoping for that share on social media. With all the new creative briefs hitting our desks, we sat down with Jeff in XL Media to take a look back at some of our favourite out-of-the-box moments.

As we’re entering a new era of creativity in OOH, looking back what campaigns stick out for you & why?

I very much liked the special that we built for White Claw. Mark Anthony Brands wanted to create something memorable around the New Year’s Eve celebrations, so we built a large freestanding ‘2022’ installation, with each number made out of real White Claw cans. White Claw has 4 flavours, so each 2022 number was built from that flavour can. We further reinforced this with 4 custom programmed LED colours for each number, representing each flavour. These LEDs pulsed individually for each flavour and then simultaneously at the end of the sequence. From a rigging perspective, this was above a canopy and footpath so plenty of behind-the-scenes work had to be carried out to ensure a structurally safe installation without causing any damage to the building. The main reason I like the campaign is because of its simplicity and that it looked as strong both during the day & the night.

Another campaign I liked was the launch of Lucozade Alert. Suntory wanted a giant oversized can, to literally pop from the billboard. My concern with these types of builds is that often, products when enlarged never look like the real product when finished and sometimes look a little cartoonish. Our goal for Lucozade Alert was to provide a very premium looking can that looked identical to the real product in terms of proportions and finished look. For the build, we scaled the cans support frame from a real can and worked from there. We were delighted with how this one turned out.

What are your thoughts on the future of creativity and what advice can you give to brands who are looking to find the best route to take, e.g., special build, murals etc?

Creatively, there is always something good brewing with numerous great ideas being regularly proposed to clients. However, in terms of deciding on the best route to take, I would advise you to work hard on the creative and the tag lines. Identify an unusual element of the creative (that ideally has never been done before) and build that into your OOH special. More than ever, as consumers, we are being bombarded by messages fighting for our attention, good OOH campaigns need to, not only be clear & simple but, incorporate a clever attention-grabbing twist with the standard printed message which results in increased audience engagement and ensures that the campaign’s message not only registers but STAYS with them.

About XL Media

XL Media Ltd is a Dublin-based OOH advertising company specialising in quality one-off builds & installation. We seamlessly connect a diverse range of skills, experience & craftsmanship to deliver premium OOH projects to the highest professional standards. Visit www.XLmedia.ie

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Question 1: What does IWD and its theme #EmbraceEquity, mean to you?

Question 2: What are you most proud of?

Question 3: Which powerful woman do you admire the most?

Question 1: What does IWD and its theme #EmbraceEquity, mean to you?

Question 2: What are you most proud of?

Question 3: Which powerful woman do you admire the most?

Question 1: What does IWD and its theme #EmbraceEquity, mean to you?

Question 2: What are you most proud of?

Question 3: Which powerful woman do you admire the most?

PROOF

PACE

INNOVATION

PURPOSE

Prediction: The road to net zero.

Prediction: Programmatic will be one of the most promising advertising opportunities in 2023.

Prediction: Growth in Multi-channel integration.

Prediction: Data & Technology will supercharge the campaign planning process.

Prediction: Advertisers will get creative.

Summary

For THE FINAL PART of our reflection series, the Talon team SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS AND PREDICTIONS FOR 2023.

Part 2 of our reflections series, Talon’s team discuss new initiatives, launches and share advice.

A New Year full of new initiatives

The rise of Programmatic DOOH

Expanding into MENA & APAC

The Evolution of Talon

So, with the year behind us, knowing what you know now, what is one piece of advice you would give to your 2021 self?

For Part 1 of our reflection series, the Talon team highlight their favourite campaigns of 2022.

Standout campaigns from 2022

Specsavers: Should’ve 2.0

Netflix: Warriors of Future

Guinness: Summer

BBC: Brand Building

Specsavers: Ireland

John Lewis: Newness