At the end of this month, my 12-year term as President and CEO of TAB will come to an end, and so too will one of the most rewarding chapters of my career.

I joined TAB with no experience in Out of Home advertising. After a brief academ-ic career, I spent much of my time work-ing with syndicated research companies and advertising agencies.

Nothing has been more gratifying to me than my work with the members of TAB and the OOH industry. Together, we have built a high quality ratings system from scratch. From the start, it was a collaborative effort with executives of TAB member companies, leading research and software companies, and the TAB staff working to design a rat-ings system that meets the needs of a medium significantly different from other local media. As I take my exit, I leave you with several lessons I have learned during my tenure –

Today’s TAB Out of Home Ratings are a valued asset. The TAB Out of Home Ratings system meets the needs of the industry and provides a valued currency for the buying and selling of our me-dium. As we have recently added transit ratings and ratings for digital spots, we have demonstrated that it can expand to meet the needs of a dynamic media landscape. Another evolution of the ratings is the incorporation of INRIX’s speed data into our system, which repre-sents merely a first step toward leverag-ing new data options.

Collaboration is the foundation for growth. Continued collaboration be-

Lessons Learned Through an Evolution of OOH RatingsBy Joe Philport, President and CEO, TAB

tween buyers and sellers, researchers, and platform providers is the only way to grow our industry. No one person has all of the answers because the right questions are still being formu-lated.

Ratings are only one piece of the puzzle. No one believes more in the importance of ratings than I do, but ratings are not a quick-fix solution for growth. They are an essential ingredient for conducting media transactions and are part of the larger advertising eco-system. They must seamlessly fit into all advertising busi-ness processes—from the basic buy/sell transaction to the clients’ ROI analytic systems. This requires ap-plications platforms and the ability to merge OOH ratings with other media data, new insight data from big data sources, and client sales data.

Standards, process, and platforms should not be overlooked. Before the value-proposition of ratings is fully real-ized by our clients, we need to be using the ratings with consistency. That takes standards and platforms. Standards and platforms make the process more fluid and accountable. TAB has facili-tated that process by recommending standards and providing TAB ratings to new 3rd party analytic companies.

Mainstreaming is the roadway forward. It is only natural for companies to want control of “their data”. But in the evolv-ing world of big data, I believe that ulti-mate value comes from the mainstream-ing of data throughout the eco-system. Putting data into the hands of potential clients translates to greater consider-ation and greater demand.

The future of our industry’s research and ratings is bright. The time has come for a change of leadership at TAB. The ratings system provides a strong founda-tion for moving forward into a world of big data, new solutions and a stronger information-based value proposition for our industry.

Although I am leaving my current posi-tion at TAB, I am not planning on leaving the industry. I am pleased to continue working with the TAB Board and Sequent Partners in the transition process and look forward to seeing where this excit-ing collaborative journey will take us.

Thank you for your support, your insights and your friendships. What we have today has become a reality through your efforts, and because of you, our indus-try’s future looks bright.

December 22, 2014

Joe Philport shown here with a framed copy of the December 2 Congressional Record, in which Rep. Dave Scott (D-GA) offered a tribute to Philport.

Outdoor Advertising Association of America • 1850 M Street, NW, Suite 1040 • Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 833-5566

January 30OBIE Awards Judging Miami, FL

March 10 DOOH Summit at DSELas Vegas, NV

March 13-16SXSW Digital Show Austin, TX

March 22-25 4A’s Transformation Conference Austin, TX

C A L E N D A R

Outdoor Advertising Association of America • 1850 M Street, NW, Suite 1040 • Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 833-5566

F e b r u a r y 7 , 2 0 1 1 P a g e 2December 22, 2014 Page 2

Values OOH PSAs Now Available

2015 Conference: Save the DateThe 2015 OAAA\TAB National Conven-tion + Expo will be held at the Manches-ter Grand Hyatt Hotel on May 11 - 13, 2015. Registration will open in the New Year. The national convention program will ex-amine shifts in overall media strategies and identify specifically how OOH adver-tising can amplify a media campaign. It will also serve as a platform to confirm a future vision for the entire OOH industry to rally around, provide compelling proof-points, and instill confidence in the vibrant future of the industry.

A lineup of respected speakers will inform, educate, and inspire the national convention audience. The program includes two full mornings of general ses-sion presentations and an afternoon packed with motivating workshops. Agenda │ Speakers │Expo │ Hotel

The Foundation for a Better life has revealed Phase 12 in its successful Pass It On OOH campaign. The popu-lar national public service campaign partners respected celebrities, historic figures, and hometown heroes to pro-mote positive emotional and lifestyle values, motivating others to “pass them on.”

This year’s line-up of leaders appearing on billboards, bus shelters, and other OOH for-mats across the US includes William Shakespeare, John Wayne, Albert Einstein, and local heroes of our time.

The Pass It On messages demonstrate how people can defy circumstances and change lives for the better. Additional new subjects in the campaign include Mae Jemison, the first black woman to travel in space; Madison Steiner, founder of a nonprofit that provides hand-painted shoes to children fighting cancer and living with disabilities; and Joshua Williams, who at the age of five

US OOH to Grow in 2015MAGNA GLOBAL expects US OOH will be the only traditional core medium to grow next year. According to the firm’s latest forecast, OOH is expected to grow 3.7 percent in 2015, while TV will decrease by 1.4 percent, newspapers by 8.2 percent, magazines by 9.4 percent, and radio by 1.2 percent. In revised forecasts, GroupM, Zeni-thOptimedia, and MAGNA GLOBAL each projected that the global adver-tising market will increase roughly 5 percent in 2015. Global OOH media grew by 3.4 per-cent in 2014, according to MAGNA GLOBAL, while newspaper ad sales decreased by 4.3 percent, magazine by 7.3 percent, and radio remained flat.

In the US, MAGNA GLOBAL expects advertising revenues to grow at a rate of 2.7 percent in 2015. The firm esti-mates 2014 US ad spending growth was 4 percent, while it was 5 percent in 2012 and 6.6 percent in 2010 - years that benefited from incremental ad dollars from the Olympics and political spending.

Global digital media grew strongly again this year (17.2%) driven by mo-bile (72%) and social (64%). MAGNA GLOBAL forecasts global digital revenues to reach 30 percent market share in 2015, growing 15.1 percent to $163 billion. Digital media is already the #1 media category in 14 of the 73 markets ana-lyzed by MAGNA GLOBAL, including the UK (highest share in the world: 47%), Australia, Canada, Germany, China, Sweden, and the Netherlands. In the US, digital will outgrow televi-sion revenues by 2017. See MagnaGlobal press release for more information.

founded an organization dedicated to combating hunger and helping individu-als improve their quality of life.

To order billboard and/or bus shelter PSA inventory, visit values.com/bill-boards.

To learn more about the Values cam-paign, visit www.values.com.

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F e b r u a r y 7 , 2 0 1 1 P a g e 2Page 3December 22, 2014

Eye Catcher

FEDCOM Credit Union enhanced this directional bulletin for the holidays by transforming it into an artic pole, leading to the way to either the bank or the North Pole.

TAB to Issue RFP for Research CapabilitiesTAB will issue a request for propos-als (RFP) in January inviting research companies, big data suppliers, and da-tabase/platform providers to work in de-veloping the next generation of research capabilities for the OOH industry.

TAB is currently accepting statements of interest from organizations that may fall into any of the applicable categories.

“As the advertising ecosystem changes, we recognize the need to explore all of the options available to help connect OOH and its data to this new world of advertising,” said Nancy Fletcher, interim CEO of TAB and OAAA President and CEO. “The TAB Board of Directors, along with Sequent Partners, is already hard at work developing a plan to help meet these new challenges and move our industry forward.”

TAB recently commissioned consulting firm Sequent Partners to work with the Board and a special TAB Leaders Task Force to assess its options and set the course for the future of OOH measure-ment.

There are several areas in which new solutions are of interest:

• Improved information about people who travel past OOH formats on roadways and other venues throughout the United States

• Expanding the measurement to non-measured OOH formats

• An ROI connection that brings “point of sale” or other proximity marketing information (relevant to advertisers) into the system

• Improved connectivity of buyers and sellers, planners and buyers, and other connections in the advertising community that facilitate the con-sideration and buying of OOH media through analytics and platforms

• Integration of OOH ratings into respected syndicated media da-tabases, and other multimedia systems, to show how OOH works in the media mix.

More than a decade ago, TAB worked with leading research companies to develop what’s now TAB Out of Home Ratings, which measure audiences for over 400,000 units of roadside OOH formats.

This year, TAB introduced ratings for over 1.5 million ads in various transit venues, as well as spot ratings for digital OOH bulletins. The expansion to time-based digital OOH formats required the incor-poration of INRIX speed data, represent-ing TAB’s first foray into big data solu-tions.

For more on TAB, please visit www.tabonline.com.

Industry Awards NominationsAt the conclusion of each biennial national convention, the OOH indus-try pays tribute to its most influential leaders and visionaries. The OOH Industry Awards are given to individu-als who have added to the legacy of the OOH industry with extraordinary contributions made over many years.

The Industry Awards will be presented on the final day of the 2015 OAAA\TAB National Conference + Expo in San Diego May 11-13.

Nominate OOH industry professionals to receive the Distinguished Achieve-ment Award of Excellence, the Mar-keting Award of Merit, and the OAAA Hall of Fame Awards.