OOH Uncut Podcast: Biagio Patti
Biagio Patti, Chief Media Officer, Crowley Webb, joins host Rick Robinson, CEO, PJX Media, on OOH Uncut, the 5-minute podcast featuring OOH advertising experts from the media world.
December 4, 2023
Out-of-Home Media is often viewed as a supplemental medium rather than a complementary one to media mix strategies. The perception of Out-of-Home as an additional rather than an integral part of the advertising mix hampers its recognition and inclusion in planning discussions.
It is important to set proper expectations and measure Out-of-Home performance against them. Rigorous analysis, attribution, and a focus on middle to upper funnel metrics will demonstrate Out-of-Home's value and drive growth in market share.
Biagio Patti Discussion on OOH Uncut Podcast with Rick Robinson
Rick Robinson: Rick Robinson here with PJX Media. And today we have yet another episode of Out of Home Uncut and today's guest is one of my favorite people, Biagio Patti, and he's the Chief Media Officer of Crowley Webb in Buffalo, New York. Hello, Biagio
Biagio Patti: Hi Rick. How you doing?
Rick Robinson: So glad to have you back now for our audience out there Biagio was one of our favorite guests on season one. And if you remember, we asked What can out of home, do that? No other medium can do. and beyond I had a great conversation, he mentioned, how he loves how out of home shows up, how it could be beneficial to the community, how it brings validation and credibility for a brand just that's that statement of planning a flag. it can create theater of the streets like radio r of the mind out of home creates theater of the streets. and how important it is to just invest in the care and craft of executing out of home, not only from a planning point of view, but from a creative point of view, And what you're really doing is telling your audience, that you see them, right? You see them and…
Biagio Patti: Yes. Right.
Rick Robinson: you care about them, and they're important. So with all that being said,
Rick Robinson: Season two a little more dose of reality in this question, which is with all the great stuff about out of home that you mentioned.
Biagio Patti: It's great.
Rick Robinson: Why is the industry stuck at 5% share? Why is it stalled out there?
Biagio Patti: Yes, an excellent question. Rick, from my perspective, what I would say. I thought a lot about this is, I believe that out of home is viewed more as a supplement to media mix medium extra strategies as opposed to a compliment to it.
Rick Robinson: Best. but,
Biagio Patti: So essentially, can the addition of outdoor to the overall mix ield? This greater impact or, Do we have Frequency enough impact from the other pieces that are already there. Where when you have to at times make these series of regrets, if you will, Is it one of those that just doesn't get the kind of recognition that it should does? It have that presence at the table at the time of planning as other channels do? And I've had a lot, Discussions with buyers and advertisers over the decades and I often feel like it's very much viewed in that supplemental position.
Biagio Patti: And until things continue to improve inform in the form of performance analysis attribution. I would say Better expectations setting to validate is out of home. Actually, delivering on what is supposed to for each campaign until it gets there. I think it's gonna be hard to really shift it out of that view of supplement verse complement. And I'm not suggesting that in every instance, it's a supplemental check channel, but I do think there's too many instances where that's the case. It's like I just got, Where can we go? Let's cut these out. that's…
Rick Robinson: Right.
Biagio Patti: how it's there. it's almost discrediting out of homes. Value, If you will to the overall mix in the overall strategy, which I think again comes back to the root of do we have the right expectations for what it was supposed to do in the first place?
Rick Robinson: And we measuring it correctly.
Rick Robinson: It's just fascinating to me that Supplement complement. Those words are almost They have a lot of the same letters in an even and…
Biagio Patti: Hundred percent.
Biagio Patti: Yeah. The.
Rick Robinson: very similar But vastly different outcomes and I think you've really surgically nailed this. Because it's way easier to let go of a supplement and…
Biagio Patti: Absolutely right.
Rick Robinson: it is a compliment.
Biagio Patti: It is it
Rick Robinson: So I'm sure you're going to go here, but I'm going to ask, how do we prove compliment?
Biagio Patti: This.
Biagio Patti: I go back to the expectation setting that's critical.
Rick Robinson: Mm-hmm
Biagio Patti: So whether it's, pure performance where it's lead generation, do we have Vanna URL set up, Do we have phone number set up? Do we have unique phrases that we can then capture in terms of search, to be able to really try our best to attribute back? Do we see overall lifts in organic and direct social? Do we see lips when outdoors introduced into campaigns from a performance standpoint? We need to pay attention to those metrics, that expectations and then apply our findings to them. I think in terms of brand performance, There's still ways to do in a lot of people aren't really aware that you can or don't feel or believe that you can, but we partner with companies all the time, we do our own research as well, which helps to validate on aided and aided awareness familiarity of brands. Add recall
Biagio Patti: Consideration Levels and Their Campaigns. We've recently run with our friends at Pjx, Media, Excellent team there. And and that was actually through third party. We're actually able to prove lifts in at recall and consideration of our brands, so it's there, I think being able to align on what we expected to do up front, and then proving it out after it's critical because then you help to validate when we get new The 2024 budgets. We're all in that planning right now. when we're doing that, it's easy to say, look, these numbers were so strong here. Those levels were effective to what we were hoping to achieve. Let's maintain or increase. Those slightly other markets where there doesn't mean it couldn't get there. They must have not been properly budgeted or supported so they need more. I think that's how you can grow your market share.
Rick Robinson: so now, In order to get to the compliment status. Setting expectations.
Biagio Patti: Yeah. 100%. Yeah.
Rick Robinson: All And measuring in a way that demonstrates that it is a compliment. Straight on question,…
Biagio Patti: Correct. Yes.
Rick Robinson: does that kind of measurement hold as much water with brands as the lower funnel measurement?
Biagio Patti: Yeah.
Biagio Patti: It does because we're using it for that more middle to upper funnel and…
Rick Robinson: Mm-hmm
Biagio Patti: without that you're not helping to drive and push through to the bottom. So those increases are noticed at the bottom but you have to still validate all of those parts at the very top and until you do that, it's really hard to say. Here's the chair for outer people.
Rick Robinson: It's too opaque,…
Rick Robinson: You don't know. Right.
Biagio Patti: It is more percent and…
Biagio Patti: then it's easy. You just, have these ways of we have to say that to this and say but why? there's no reason to do that.
Rick Robinson: Right? It's that wave of the hand.
Rick Robinson: We'll be okay without it. because,
Biagio Patti: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. that in itself is I think a really big problem. And, I have a concern because I look all the time and marketer, and Insider intelligence for different stats and actually shows. Two things one, which is good out at home is growth. So it was I believe 2019 to 2025 1.5 billion dollar increase out of home spending. Phenomenal. The problem is the overall ad spend is projected to be so much higher.
Rick Robinson: Yep.
Biagio Patti: That percent market share is actually supposed to drop, so that scares me by about 30%. So we're talking not necessarily just about is it there? How do we even At that percentage,…
Rick Robinson: Yep.
Biagio Patti: let alone try to grow it.
Rick Robinson: Which is kind of crazy Given the fact that we have growth population, density humans, communicate, visually the, millennial and gen z generation in particular love out of home because it's not in the way, it doesn't interrupt them which although their media kind of does there's an affinity for the big public statements.
Biagio Patti: That's right.
Rick Robinson: I mean, there's so many things that are super hyper positive about a home. Yet we have this stalling out so I know we can keep talking about this.
Biagio Patti: Correct. Yeah.
Rick Robinson: I say this to every guest.
Biagio Patti: We did it.
Rick Robinson: Every time, one of the great things about out of home uncut is that our short form act makes you get right to the point.
Biagio Patti: That's right.
Rick Robinson: And your headline is not lost. I think on our listeners and the members of the out-of-home community, become a compliment versus a supplement, similar words, vast difference in, meaning Biagio thank you, as always for getting right to it, appreciate having you and take care mate.
Biagio Patti: Thank you, I appreciate it, Rick.
