Nicklin’s insights from 450 ad agency visits

Steve Nicklin, the OAAA’s VP-Marketing, has visited over 450 ad agencies and met with over 2,000 media planners since 2013 to advocate for the out of home (OOH) business.  Insider asked Nicklin to talk about OOH and offer insights about today’s agencies.

What are the questions you get asked by agencies about OOH?

The range of questions is broad, but it’s our OOH research that invokes the most dialogue because agencies are focused on effectiveness and results. We’ve never had better proof points on the value of OOH, so their engagement with the research is a strategic win for the industry. Recently I’ve been mentioning our forthcoming research on attribution (to be released later this year), and the reception is very positive.

What does the OOH business need to better communicate to agencies to get a bigger share of ad spend?

OOH’s ability to maximize any agency media investment. Today, most competitive ad channels struggle to deliver massive reach, but OOH still delivers it and can ignite the impact of all other media. Particularly with digital media, OOH truly is an amplifier, such as our ability to increase the ROI of search by 40 percent. Plus, our recent Benchmarketing media mix optimization study revealed how OOH should be increased across the board to maximize overall media plans.

What’s the most surprising thing you experience in your agency visits?

Agencies are tasked with more than ever before, so it’s a real challenge getting a meeting commitment. However, once in the door, they are always gracious and appreciative we’ve taken the time to address them personally. Other media channels aren’t doing educational outreach in the same manner as OAAA; the agencies acknowledge that and genuinely appreciate our visits.

What surprises the agencies about OOH?

OOH’s pattern of continuous growth while other traditional media is declining. It’s compelling to reinforce the struggle all traditional channels have with audience fragmentation due to the fact they’re content-based, and OOH is not.

Nicklin recently met with the staff of Marc USA in Pittsburgh

What is the best one-liner from the agency presentation?

“OOH is big screens driving consumers to small screens.”

Is technology typically your friend or foe in executing the road shows?

Definitely a friend. I carry three computer dongles so I can connect to almost any set-up. During my first year, I was particularly grateful for On-Star. I was rushing to grab lunch before my next appointment, so I locked my laptop in the trunk – along with the car keys. Thankfully, the rental car company was able to open the trunk remotely, and I was on-time for the appointment.

Funniest comment during an agency presentation?

I show the Clorox “Bleachable Moment” campaign from Las Vegas. Clorox and its agency developed a list of over 200 words that would be automatically blocked from consumer-generated messages appearing in the real-time digital locations. Once during the presentation, a senior team member was surprised at the long list of banned words. He said it would have been only about five words when he was young.

What the best meal you’ve had on the road in the past year?

I’ll give you two restaurants. Uchi in Austin and The Modern in New York City. In addition, The Modern had the best staff I’ve ever encountered.

For OAAA members interested in the OOH Capabilities Road Show, you can see the entire presentation by webinar on June 27 at 2pm ET, including OOH research, outstanding creative examples,  the latest in OOH and social/mobile convergence, plus excellent case studies. Register here.

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