OOH is off to a fantastic year, growing over 7% in the first quarter and that strength continues into second quarter for many Independents. It was fantastic seeing so many OAAA members at the OAAA OOH Media Conference in Dallas, and the energy and excitement about our medium was palpable.
The Independent Advisory Council is focused on keeping this momentum going, and at our most recent quarterly meeting, we reviewed the Independents’ Summit and discussed current marketplace trends. Here are top-line summaries from the expert panels at the Summit, along with other priorities noted in our Council meeting.
New audience measurement presents new opportunities
The new Advanced Measurement System (AMS) will soon be in test markets and help turn the real-world power of OOH into greater buyer confidence, stronger market trust, and future growth. Powered by Ipsos, AMS will make OOH easier to plan, compare, measure, and invest in alongside every other major media channel, and provide to brands and agencies:
- Highly accurate, behavior-driven audience metrics.
- A deeper understanding of who is being reached, not just how many.
- OOH metrics that align with digital, TV, and retail media formats.
- Reliable OOH inputs for MMM, MTA, lift studies, and attribution.
OAAA is developing a Q & A guide along with additional resources to help all of us position this enhanced system to our clients, so they understand how it will benefit them.
AI offers smaller companies valuable efficiencies
The AI panel discussion generated real interest because it offered practical advice instead of hype. Marcus Danneil, Mile High Outdoor, shared the many ways he deploys the technology including analysis of contracts, education on specialized topics and use of PLAUD, a portable note-taking device for summarizing meetings and other content.
Erica Glotfelty, digital and marketing strategist, stressed the importance of maximizing prompts, checking sources, and recognizing the need to augment your SEO strategy with one focused on optimizing your digital content and brand authority so that large language models (LLMs) incorporate and cite your business in their responses.
OAAA’s SVP Andy McDonald stressed the need to develop company AI usage guidelines and stressed unpaid platforms offer little to no protection for sensitive company data.
The AI platforms most popular with the panel: Claude and ChatGPT.
Creative is the gift that keeps giving
The panel featured a unique mixture of creative and sales professionals preaching a unified message on the important role creative plays in generating ROI for clients. Brandon Sweeney, Link Media Outdoor, shared a succinct nine-step process to build client relationships that produce commitment to excellent creative. Moderator Mendi Robinson of Lamar and OAAA’s Creative Committee chair shared an outstanding line to use with clients and ease the process of revising client generated artwork or creative crafted for other media channels: “We’ve optimized your creative for OOH.” Sales expert Karen Goumakos, Reagan Outdoor, emphasized the need for patience and small steps to ease clients into highly successful creative campaigns – and shared the impressive results they generate, including earned impressions in social media.
Any OAAA members who didn’t benefit from seeing the Summit creative panel or join for the webinar presentation of it on June 23, can download the materials and watch a replay of the webinar here.
Looking Ahead to More Success in 2026 and 2027
Topics the Council is examining for next year’s Summit or future OAAA webinars include:
- Leveraging creative in a variety of practical, affordable techniques including extensions and 3D elements.
- Succession planning, leadership coaching, culture creation, hiring, and retention.
- Government affairs updates on state-level activities, and education on leasing and easements.
As always, please reach out to me, or our OAAA staff liaisons, Steve Nicklin ([email protected]) and Mike Hershey ([email protected]), with your ideas on topics you’d like to see as the focus for our Independent OAAA conference programming, webinars and other content.
Happy selling and let’s keep the momentum!
Diana Stevenson
OAAA Independent Advisory Group Chair
CEO, Grace Outdoor
Published: June 24, 2026