By Mike Donaldson, Outdoorlink International
The WOO Global Conference is one of those events I genuinely look forward to every year. There’s something about getting media owners and industry leaders from around the world together in one place that brings better conversations than you’ll find anywhere else.
Outdoorlink is taking a different approach this year by hosting a workshop on June 3rd, just ahead of the WOO Conference in London. Too often the operational backend of OOH and DOOH gets ignored by operators and the industry at large, when a few economical, easy-to-implement adjustments can bring massive efficiency gains and dramatic cost reductions.
The conversation we think needs to happen
The OOH industry is in a great position, with phenomenal growth driven by digital conversions and strong strategies. However, as networks scale, they bring unexpected operational complexities with them: more faces, larger footprints, additional digital inventory, and increased advertiser expectations around uptime and performance. For a lot of operators, the infrastructure underneath all of that growth hasn’t kept pace.
Fuel costs are up. Labor costs are up. On-site service calls run companies an average of $175 to $250 each. Add to that the constant drive-by checks operators rely on just to catch screen outages and electrical issues before clients do.
That Visibility Gap, between what operators assume is happening across their network and what’s actually happening, keeps growing and can be overwhelming. It’s quiet, it’s consistent, and across a network of any real size, it adds up fast.
What the workshop covers
We designed this session to be practical and discussion-driven. The goal is to give operators a clear picture of where their network actually stands and what small adjustments can generate meaningful returns.
We’ll work through five areas together:
- A benchmarking exercise where everyone scores their own operation across four areas: visibility, control, efficiency, and reliability. Most operators find it eye-opening to see where they actually land.
- A look at the real cost of reactive operations, including energy waste, unnecessary on-site service calls, dark ads, and the revenue at risk they bring.
- Real-world examples of what industry leaders are doing to close the gap with different applications of Outdoorlink technology.
- A walkthrough of what intelligent infrastructure looks like in practice: smart controllers, remote monitoring, and data analytics that shift operations from reactive to proactive.
- A practical framework for how operators can start closing their own gap, whether through a targeted pilot on their most problematic faces or a broader network rollout.
Attendees will leave with a benchmark score on their own operation, a clearer sense of where margin is quietly leaking, and some easy-to-implement strategies to address it.
Why this matters right now
Advertiser expectations are increasing. SLA pressure on digital is real. The operators building smarter infrastructure today are able to scale without proportionally increasing their costs and headcount.
Outdoorlink has been in this industry for over 20 years and works with operators across 25+ countries. To say we have learned a little is a massive understatement. The patterns we see are consistent. We’re excited to share the best practices we’ve learned with the industry at large.
Come join us
The workshop will take place on June 3rd at 5:00 PM at the Hilton London on Park Lane, right before the Welcome Cocktail Reception.
Space is limited. If you’re attending WOO and feel you might get something out of spending 45 minutes with us, reserve your spot at https://mailchi.mp/outdoorlinkinc/6mpl105521 or reach out directly at mike@outdoorlink.com.
I can’t wait to see old friends and make new ones next week in London.
Mike Donaldsom, Managing Director, International
Outdoorlink
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