You asked for thoughts on the Vistar acquisition.. here are a few of mine.
T Mobile Ads’ acquisition of Vistar is the most significant moment in the DOOH industry… ever.
The M&A activity in this space has been characterized by digital billboard roll-ups and 8x ebitda multiples. The major OOH companies issue corporate bond and buy new digital displays and companies. The industry grows as a result by a few percentage points a year – rinse and repeat.
Enter Vistar Media. A dyed-in-the-wool ad-tech company that committed itself to ushering in the future of programmatic DOOH. A company that no-one supported in the early years.. They made their mark by bringing new demand to the channel by making tech and data available to empower digital-focused advertisers. They outcompeted everyone to win the new budgets, and grew their product set and market-leading position consistently over a decade.
Fast forward to today. The world’s most valuable telco sees both the potential of DOOH and the value of Vistar’s solutions to the tune of $600m – cash!
I believe that T Mobile looks at DOOH and sees unlimited potential – and why wouldn’t they?!
Every trend and significant input cost is moving in the right direction for DOOH networks— hardware, software, connectivity and infrastructure.
Screen costs are going down over time. Screen quality is going up. Content quality is getting better, while costs are going down. The rails have been laid for programmatic buying and selling, at scale, and major advertisers are buying and buying again and again!
Two of the most complicated issues for digital networks is the availability and cost of connectivity, and access to quality and reliable data signal… two challenges uniquely solved by T Mobile!
T Mobile stands ready to both foster a tremendous amount of growth for DOOH networks and advertisers alike, and to capture much of the value it creates as its customers grow their network footprints and sell hundreds of millions worth of media through its platforms.
T Mobile, by acquiring Vistar, is telling all of us that it is ready to lead the charge. It is ready take over Vistar’s mission to usher in the future of DOOH.
Me, and my colleagues at Screenverse, share T Mobile’s optimistic vision for the industry… a vision that rejects incrementalism and embraces the exponential potential of DOOH!
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