Company: Adams Outdoor Advertising
Markets: Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin
Headquarters: 3801 Capital City Blvd., Lansing MI 48906
Phone: 770-333-0399
Adams Outdoor Advertising (AOA) operates an out of home plant in 7 eastern and midwestern states. Adams was founded by Steve Adams in 1983 and is privately held. Kevin Gleason is President and CEO. Gleason serves on the Board of Directors of Geopath and the OAAA and also owns the Refugio Ranch winery and Roblar Winery. Insider talked with Gleason.
Adams Outdoor and Creativity
Adams Outdoor is a company full of people who are crazy about billboards. It shows in everything we do. From our responsibility as the major voice for OOH in the markets in which we operate, to the creative approach we take, we work hard every day to bring the power of OOH to our clients . From a creative perspective, AOA has always been known as a powerhouse. We are unique in the industry as the only OOH company to win an Obie Best of Show which happened in 2015. We feel OOH is BIG, BOLD and BEAUTIFUL, a feeling that transcends and helps us live our mission statement everyday:
Our Mission: “To reinvent the medium known as outdoor—to prove that OOH advertising is more powerful than anyone has yet to imagine.”
Adams recovering from covid
To a large extent, that feeling carried the organization through the disruption caused by COVID. Last year was challenging for everyone but we also learned from this disruption and emerged a leaner and stronger organization. This year we threw out 2020 as a comp and comp against 2019. So far, Q1 was down 4.2% against 2019 while Q2 will be down just 0.6%. June 2021 revenue will exceed 2019. Operating profit for the 2nd quarter of 2021 will be up 2% vs 2019 and 30% over 2020. Over the past thirteen weeks, new bookings have outpaced 2019 by 13%. It is our expectation to end 2021 slightly ahead of 2019 revenue with OP up nicely. What we anticipated as an eighteen month recovery now looks like less than twelve months depending upon when you started the clock.
What qualities would you like to see in the next Geopath President?
Recently, the OAAA in partnership with MediaLink just refreshed the 5 Year Plan/Outlook for the industry providing highlights and analysis on the OOH industry as a whole. The highlight I resonant with the most is on page 9 where it says “…this is a Big Moment for explosive growth in the post-pandemic, multi-channel media environment.” In my opinion, taking advantage of this environment will be achieved only if the industry unites and agrees upon a common currency. Agency models (MMM/MTA) do not register OOH as effective. A common currency will be a helpful starting point in solving for this. “Measurement (from currency to attribution) is a critical stepping stone for OOH to be considered a growing medium vs a diminishing traditional channel.” Medialink.
This is why it is so critical for the OAAA and Geopath to come together and become the voice for OOH in this very robust media environment. I am hopeful that Geopath, under new leadership, will see this as a mandate. Right now, we believe that OOH has the power and right now that power is in our hands.
Having said all that, I need to go and see what’s happening in the vineyard. Its stacking up to be a great vintage.
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