Dean Koby is the President of Hispanic Indoor Media & inPlace Media which operates a Place Based Media plant across the US. We are running an interview series with Dean on the Hispanic & Multicultural Media market. Today, Dean talks about getting into Out of Home and what the Hispanic & Multicultural market is like.
How did you enter the Out of Home business?
I spent years working on the agency side at Ogilvy, Y&R and a couple of other agencies back in the day. I fell in love with the industry – the people, fast-paced energy, creative aspects and the fact that I could actually see all my hard work “out-in-public” was a huge bonus.
I kind of just fell into Place Based Media while working in the Bay Area. In 2001, I was working with a client launching a new hip hop radio station, so I bought some Restroom Advertising from a good friend who operated a local plant in Central California. I was very quick to realize that this was a valuable space for brands and a dynamic industry with endless possibilities.
By the start of 2002, Hispanic Indoor Media (HIM) was open for business and focused on delivering static media campaigns reaching Hispanic audiences inside Restaurants, Bars, Nightclubs and at Convenience Stores.
Our first major campaign came from Bromley Communications for Tecate Beer across the Top 15 Hispanic Media Markets. Thank you again Bromley Team!
How did you get involved with Hispanic and Multicultural Media?
Working on various accounts at the agencies, I developed a passion for audience targeting and segmentation. Plus, I’ve always had an affinity for the Latin culture through travel and living in NYC and California. Bringing two of my interests together made starting my company fun and has kept me extremely motivated over the past 23+ years.
Back in 2002, there really weren’t many national Place Based Media vendors and no one was solely focused on the Hispanic audience. At the time, it was our focus that helped us build strong venue partnerships in local communities, develop our processes and advocate for Hispanic ad budgets from major brands for hyperlocal targeting.
By mid-2004, we were quickly earning the trust of agency buyers who helped push us into expanding our capabilities into reaching Asian, Black and General Market audiences.
Talk about the Hispanic Indoor Media (HIM) and inPlace Media market.
We own and operate dedicated venue inventory in local communities nationwide. But, above all, our focus is 100% on the clients needs and handling all of their campaigns with “care”.
Really, at the end of the day, any good sales person can get a contract from an agency, but it’s what happens afterwards that’s most important. While it looks easy to place a campaign at 500 C-Stores or Laundromats across 10 markets, there are so many moving parts behind the scenes to make it happen in a way that’s OOH compliant.
Over 2 decades, we’ve been delivering campaigns that are consistent with OOH standards – 5 day posting periods and 100% proof of performance. We don’t let anyone down or underdeliver.
In 2017, we officially introduced inPlace Media as a division of Hispanic Indoor Media. inPlace Media handles all non-Hispanic campaigns.
Today, HIM-inPlace Media owns and operates static and digital signage @ 200,000+ venues across 10 distinct venue networks engaging numerous audiences nationwide including Hispanic, Asian, Black, General Market + “harder to reach” segments.
We’ve delivered nearly 6,000 campaigns for many of the most respected brands in the nation.
How is the Hispanic and Multicultural market different?
Over the past few years,100% of the US population growth came from multicultural and diverse populations.
Also, the US Hispanic purchasing power is “through the roof”. In 2023, the US Hispanic GDP equated to the 5th largest GDP in the world and the second fastest growing economy. These are extremely valuable segments and if brands aren’t including Hispanic or Multicultural audience targeting in their marketing plans, they’re missing out on market growth.
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