The Minicom Interview

This week we speak to Tony Alwin from Clear Channel Outdoor. Tony is Senior Vice President of Creative, Marketing & Public Relations and has over 20 years of experience in Outdoor Advertising.


Minicom Blog: Tony, thanks for joining us.
Tony Alwin: My pleasure.

MB: What are you guys currently up to?
TA: Our main focus is building our digital networks up in the major markets across the country. We reach most of the DMA's (Designated Market Areas) with our digital displays in the high traffic inner city. Besides that we have our digital coming to our transit shelters in San Francisco – and all of our shelters will have the ability to deliver Bluetooth. And of course there is Times Square where we have a large presence.


MB: With a company the size of yours, I guess you can do things that others can only dream about.
TA: We have networks in 18 of the top 20 cities in the country, not all our digital yet though. We have digital networks in 10 of the top 20 cities. We are in most urban areas and have a lot of really great locations in these areas. We reach millions of people with our technology.

MB: How are people in the marketplace reacting?
TA: Advertisers are really interested in digital technology. They've responded to what we're offering with great excitement. No longer does it take time to erect an outdoor billboard – it can be updated far quicker than was ever imagined. The message can be updated from a computer instantly. They're asking "How do we do it? How do we get more?" They're coming to us faster than we can keep up. For a while part of the problems concerned measurement or lack thereof but we have a few things coming together in the area of real-time measurement which are very exciting.

MB: What do you think the next trends will be?
TA: More communication and interactive elements. We have the ability to deploy Bluetooth technology at all of our shelters. There will be the ability to text with digital displays and interact with them via your cell phone. I think Europe is more advanced in using content delivery to cell phones and cell phone marketing, I think that the U.S. will expand in that area in the future.

MB: ClearChannel Outdoors just doesn't run only advertisements – you also do a lot of community related stuff don't you?
TA: That's correct. We had a program running in conjunction with the FBI where we posted the mugshots of dangerous criminals. This has resulted in six direct arrests which is fantastic. We also run other public services, using our network to the benefit of the community such as Amber Alerts (abducted children alerts) and also emergency alerts such as such as informing those in Minneapolis that a bridge had collapsed. Our signs advised drivers to stay away from the area. The same thing happened in Philadelphia where we advised people to stay away from a crime scene.

MB: Over the years, what changes have you noticed?TA: Obviously the technology has made things possible which weren't before. The drop is price and improvements in LED technology makes things more feasible and cost effective. The technology is much more user- friendly. There is no motion on our screens and we've done well over the years to educate people that it isn't TV but despite the technological advances, more attention still needs to be paid to the content side of things. The ability to update advertisers messages constantly demands that we product a lot more creative, and we have an opportunity to do better, more engaging creative. It’s a good time to be in outdoor advertising.

MB: Was lovely speaking with you Tony.
TA: Likewise.