the only legacy medium that's holding its own against the online onslaught. Very simply, our market share is stable whereas all the other legacy media has declined. And the reason for that is [Music] no opportunity will go unchecked. In 50 years time, it's probably going to be us and online left. We're growing the market where the clients don't maybe necessarily realize they wanted it and now they're asking for it. We have AI that already monitors how the artwork performs. We have AI in our shopping markets. The advert can change according to the person looking at it. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me on today's episode. Pleasure to be here. Can you please uh tell us a bit about yourselves? Tom, start with you please. Sure. Thanks, Matthew. Um, yeah, I'm Tom Godard. I'm the president of the world out of home organization which is a notfor-profit body uh with uh 250 members uh in over 100 countries and uh our only purpose is to promote and evangelize uh the out of home medium and um we operate uh uh out of London and out of Milan and uh we spend our time um bigging up uh the other phone medium at this exciting time. It's really great to be back in in the UAE and particularly to be out of London at this time of year is a real treat. So, I'm really happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. It's our pleasure. Thank you for taking the time. And James, if you can please introduce yourself. Of course. Um, my name is James Begnel. I'm the group CEO of the newly formed Multiply Media Group. Congrats. Thank you. previously CEO of Batite Media which was acquired by Multiply Group last year. Uh we have now formed Multiply Media Group encompassing Batite Media, Viola Outdoor Media 24/7. Uh I've been doing this now for nearly 25 years around the world. I've been in the UAE for close to 17 years and I think there's never been a more exciting time to be here and to be in this industry. So yeah, absolutely. Very very uh very happy to be here. Great. Uh Tom, can you please give us an overview about the global out of home media sector? Yeah, with pleasure. And I I just couldn't agree more with James in terms of this being a wonderful time to be to be in the medium um because it seems that all of our stars are aligned um with so many positive things happening. And what we have is a a global industry that is on average growing at high singledigit numbers. The only legacy medium that's holding its own against the online onslaught. Um and there are so many positive things happening in the sector because uh the out of home industry is investing heavily in adtech and and in digital transformation and embracing uh the digital world better than any of the uh legacy media. And um I think uh we're in for a very exciting time in the next few years. I just wish I was uh 30 years younger, that's all. and uh could could enjoy what's going to happen in the sector. He'll ste here in 30 times. Yeah. Yeah. A few a few episodes ago we had a uh we had a a gentleman a professor of biology and um one of the things he's working on is longevity. So I'm pretty sure you'll be with us for another Yeah. Nice to meet you. Yeah. Uh you had said that uh the medium is holding its own against everything which is changing. How is it holding its own and why? Well, very simply, um, our market share is, uh, is stable whereas all the other legacy media has declined. And the reason for that is, um, because as I said, we as an industry are investing heavily in digital transformation, but also other reasons uh, such as um, the audience for out of home is growing. uh people are spending more time out of home. Uh we also are speaking to uh a younger demographic. We are also providing a great balance in terms of brand presence for advertisers who are beginning to feel that they've overinvested uh in in online and are losing some brand identity. uh were attracting uh budgets back from from online and are now seen as a very integral part of the media mix. And is this trend globally or do you see certain regions? Okay. It's global. Can't turn us off when you're getting bombarded online these days when you're out of home, you know, it's there. Very. That's true. That's true. And we have a lot of beautiful u jewels on road, don't we? We do. Yeah. Well, there's there's there's the investment. There's the investment. Exactly. There's the investment. So, yeah, since uh you're saying that this is a trend which is absolutely global and you're seeing it happening everywhere, uh it means that uh we can only see a lot of future growth for for this particular medium within the next let's say 5 to 10 years. Yeah. And you know I'm clearly not the only one who thinks this because you know in recent years and particularly in the last 12 months uh you know there have been some very big investments made in the sector by uh other channels buying in private equity owners investing in the medium. Um, and all of the forecasts that come out from the big six global agencies are forecasting 5 years of kar growth for out of home. Fantastic. And James, speaking of private equity and ownership. So, um, what do you think and where do you see multiply media groups broader media ambitions going? I think our ambitions are limitless. So, you know, I don't want to be uh say that we want to be number one worldwide, but but I think the goal is to be up there. Mhm. Uh and so no opportunity uh will go unchecked for us, you know, I think from the from the top all the way down the remit is to think big, see where there's opportunity. As Tom said, that the market is growing. uh in in 50 years time it's probably going to be us and online left. You won't see many of the other type of media and so I think it's a really good time. We're seeing high double digit growth year on year. So we think it's a great time to to look at opportunities worldwide. So Visa V uh our global competitors were doing double digit growth. They're doing high singledigit growth which is I mean from our UA business our growth is uh substantial. Mhm. Uh and is certainly on par or beating any out of home uh business worldwide. I would think as we can as we as Tom said we see the rapid digitalization. Yeah. And for an industry has this inbuilt growth where you can turn a static sign into a digital sign. Mhm. And multiply the income you know is unprecedented. So for us it's proved to be very good. Uh the quality of signs that we've been building in Dubai and now in Abu Dhabi. So this is part of the sorry this is part of the innovation because um MMG is one of the leaders in the space actually it's probably the leader in the space. So what sort of uh uh innovation uh you are trying to implement so that we can sustain that and implement it globally whenever we start making global acquisitions. Yes. Well for us it's all about data how we drive the change. people working at programmatic how how we can simplify the sales process uh in backlight it's about the quality of the assets that we build right uh how we can build the the market in UA is is is very high-end and so we decided that we would build structures uh that were landmarks in effect where the brands would ask for by name I think Tom you remember that strategy ocean a long time ago and having our c our CPO exot you know he's brought over that policy so it works very well for us. The Triple Crown, the gateway. We recently built our second Triple Crown in Abu Dhabi, which has proven to be beautiful. We we're building we're growing the market where the clients don't maybe necessarily realize they wanted it and now they're asking for it. It's proving to be a very very exciting time. Smart way of creating demand. Um Tom, you like the strategy? Yeah. And and it is a real joy to work in an industry where the owners are are investing heavily. Um and in in in all of the things that James said, you know, plus audience measurement, right? Um and plus uh uh adtech. When we talk about uh digital transformation, we're not just talking about the screens um the sites, we're also talking about the adtech side because on the buy side there is uh a a high degree of automation and we have to match that. Um, and we're doing that now very well through the programmatic channel, but we have to automate all of our trading and make the transactional side as James said, easier. Um, so we know all the areas that we need to invest in uh to stay stay up there and to compete hard against our main uh opposition which is online. and um the the ownership structure in the industry now is such that that investment is going in. See that's a good segue to the best practices in the industry. All these new innovations is changing. So what are the best practices nowadays? Yeah, I mean the the best practices are in implementing standardization, right? Having a common language. uh you know most of the media buying uh professionals now who are coming into uh brands and into agencies are young university graduates who uh are used to being guided by data. Yes. Uh and they're used to having um things automated um and we have to uh also speak their language and we have to speak the digital language. So the investments that are going in uh you know in terms of digital transformation uh on the screens is similarly being matched in adtech data audience measurement uh and standardization. All of these things are elevating the medium and it's part of the reason why um in the UAE you you enjoy a uh a a share in the market which is four times the global average uh 22% of ad spend in the UAE versus an average of five globally. uh and you also have been very um um quick to convert into digitization because you have about 65 to 70% of the locations digitized in the UAE which is double uh the global average and that's why your numbers are the envy of uh uh the world really in terms of uh where you are as an industry. Uh James Dom went through a lot of things there. Digitization, programmatic. Um and we constantly hear artificial intelligence, internet of things. Where are we? We have AI that already monitors how the artwork performs. We have AI in our shopping markets, in our shopping malls, sorry, that um can the advert can change according to the person looking at it who can either interact with it. So I think in all of this it's it's for us it'll be in everything we do I think and and it's a very exciting time. It is definitely and these technologies are already in place right now or we're going to implement some of them are in place but there are many that are coming along as Tom said how we buy the media we are looking at ways of how under our backline model we don't have a rate card for example the prices supply and demand so we are trying to we are looking at developing our own tool which will further enhance the supply and demand model so we can optimize what the price should be in the very good months uh in order to maximize our revenue. Yeah, very smart. And I I would have a slightly more sanguin view on AI because apart from Donald Trump, uh I think AI is is the most talked about thing in in media at the moment. And I remember uh not too long ago um the metaverse yes was the hot topic and the thing that was going to make everything change in the media world and so forth and I don't hear much about the metaverse these days. Now don't get me wrong. I think AI is real. Uh and I think it will improve our efficiencies and it will improve our businesses and it will improve our adtech. But I think it will be more gradual than a lot of people are predicting and um uh I think we should just keep our feet on the ground in terms of uh not overpromising on what AI can do to our business. But we did in our Hong Kong congress uh just uh uh last June have a speaker from Ocean Steven Joseph who's the new CEO and he showed some practical examples of how they are are using it already to improve efficiencies and that resonated with me. I think that's the way we need to look at it. Can you tell us a bit about those efficiencies? We probably need all all day to do that, but we'll do you know we have it in our finance department, our operations department, our marketing department, all of this. So as soon as the booking order comes in, AI gets it through to invoicing and it's gone to the client. No person has to involve themselves in that process for example and how we monitor lighting when bulbs should be changed. Optimizing not just when they blow but understanding when we should change them and screen maintenance and optimizing that and understanding the cleaning processes. Um so there's many ways that it can improve our business on the dayto-day. Mhm. Um did you mention copy approval? copy approval here today we still have to get um government permission. Yeah. And you know, but eventually it should go through. There are there are there are lots of clients like that in in other markets where stateowned bodies do feel they need to sanction copy and I think AI can play a great part in for example speeding that up, speeding that process up because a lot of advertisers, you know, want to be getting close to real time and they don't want to have to wait until copy is approved from from landlord. That would be the dream. Yeah. If we can simplify that and speed it up. Exactly. Exactly. Um there's a lot of restructuring and consolidation happening in the market. What's your thoughts on that, James? I think it sort of follows on from what Tom was saying. It's it's because our industry is still thriving and doing well. It's a market that people want a tartan to take notice and want to get involved in. Uh there was recently a transaction in the UK where a radio company came in to buy uh a large outdoor player and I think you'll see more of that type of consolidation as other forms of legacy media look at the industry. Mhm. And understand we've had some private equity companies uh looking at big companies in America. True. So for us um I think it's perfect timing because we of course will begin that process of looking at opportunities because there aren't many industries that go from static to digital and the same space can multiply by four or five or six or seven. You know it's a pretty good in inbuilt growth. Yes. So it's it's something that we're looking forward to. And how do you see that Tom? Um I I really am a fan of consolidation. Okay. Uh because uh what what happens medie is the the um uh industries in the countries that have consolidated the stats are clear that they do better than the fragmented markets. And why is that? The the answer is because if you're a big player in a market, you are more inclined to invest more heavily in that because you're getting, you know, a decent chunk of a return. And um that's the first thing. Um the second thing is uh getting back into what I was talking about in terms of transactions. Ad agencies um are very time poor um and their margins are being squeezed. So, they're automating more, but they also look to buy at scale, and they want to be able to move money into media fast uh and at scale and with confidence that they're getting what they uh uh paid for. Um so, I think consolidation is is really is really helping that. And um I think I applaud what multiply have done in this market. I've spoken about it from the podium. Uh James mentioned um Ber Media in uh Europe have just made a 625 million uh dollar investment in the Clear Channel assets in Northern Europe. And um a company in Mexico called Global, it's a Mexican TV company um has uh just bought the Clear Channel assets in three of the Latin American. We're seeing legacy media companies acquiring out of home assets because that helps to offset their decline in growth because out of home is a growth sector. Yes, absolutely. And that's why we think we think we can win that the consolidation of business in countries we want to go into. Yes, we think that the there options for consolidation are large. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And um in terms of sustainability, James, what are we doing to make our operations and the business more sustainable? Well, in my previous role at Batlight, uh we set a target in 2022 called Backlight 2026 and it was our 30th anniversary uh that we were going to become carbon neutral by 2026. Uh last year we had uh decreased our carbon emissions by 70% already. So we're well on the way to achieving it by next year. Uh and now as part of multimedia group we are rolling out the same policies. So in Viola outdoor now you'll see that some of the signs are now lit by solar panels. Uh signs that are vinyl panels for example they're taken down and they are recycled. Often they're used um at orphanages or at schools to to be recreated into clothing or into bags. So is and then internally the lighting we use we we our lighting is 70% more efficient right and other lighting our static signs the digital signs we buy are the most efficient in the market so at every point even in our offices we don't have plastic anymore everyone has a bottle and they have to they have to drink from it so we're trying to do our bit to ensure that we hit our our 2026 target and Tom globally do you see this throughout the industry or globally it's patchy. It's patchy. It's patchy globally. Um but in overall terms if you if you go on the world out of home organizations website yes you'll be very impressed because we've got a special uh micro section uh it's a a sustainability repository. We've set up a sustainability task force global um and one of our board directors uh Katherine Robinson uh is uh in charge of that. Um the stats on out of home generally are very good already but we're not getting them out there. Uh we're uh probably the best performing um medium, best performing channel in terms of carbon footprint. Um and but we're doing that because because as citizens, you know, it's the right thing to do. Absolutely. Um and in terms of our livelihood, uh if we don't do it, um our clients are saying if you don't get your act together and join the 2030 carbon neutral club as they've committed, uh you'll be going down the buying chain because we will be buying off media owners who who are taking this subject seriously. I uh not so long ago was asked to do an interview with the global CEO of one of the big six agencies and um before he accepted uh he did some research to see what our credentials were in the world out of home organization on sustainability and if he hadn't been satisfied he wouldn't have taken that interview. Uh so there's a thing called um adnet zero uh which has been set up by the uh the client community, the advertising agency community and uh it's a very very active organization which we're interfacing with and they are committed to carbon neutrality by 2030. That's very impressive. And a number of our clients we have to sign documents agreeing to their sustainability targets and I expect by 2030 it'll be all of the clients. That's music to everybody's ears. In spite of I'm going to mention him again. In spite of Mr. Trump pulling out of the Paris Paris, but uh No, I think businessmen are just going to keep on that on that track and uh and uh certainly we're not taking our foot off the gas. Excuse the pun. No, no, absolutely. And it's expensive to to to do what's right, but you must do what's right. You have to. And so that's it's not it's not a cost. It's an investment in the future. Yeah. We owe it to the future generations, you know, the kids on and so forth. So, yeah, absolutely. We have to we owe it to to to the planet. Um before we let you go, one final question. Um what is the most pressing challenge and opportunities that you see in 2025 and beyond? And what advice would you give for uh the out of home media companies? Yeah, I mean great great question Meta. Uh the the um the challenges are out there. The challenges are we talked about it beforehand. The challenges are dangers of over supply, right? Um when I travel around the world um uh I see uh huge variances in the balance in terms of environmental um numbers uh in the out of home world. Uh so for example uh uh in Africa and in in in India there is a a real problem with clutter that they're tackling and you have a situation where uh a respectable uh media owner with with a high degree of ethics will invest a lot in putting up a uh a an asset that's you know in a beautiful architecturally designed frame. Next week an illegal billboard goes up in front of it. Um so I think um regulation is important. Uh and I think regulation uh comes in two forms. One is we need to make sure that regulation protects uh media owners, ethical media owners. Um but at the same time uh a lot of well-meaning people are are banning certain food products in out of home and discriminating against out of home not all media we have to monitor excessive reg regulation on the other hand um the other challenges we have are collaboration I I think um uh I I think the the the uh uh message I take around is is that we'll do better if we collaborate that uh uh the word I use is that you know we're not competitors we're allies and uh in in the out of home micro uh economy we we work with media agencies we work with our service suppliers um and um we also should work more with um other media owners now of course If there's a government tender, uh, of course, if if a big advertiser is spending money in the sector, we should compete hammer and and tongues really for for that. But but then there's a bigger bigger battle which is the sector battle, right? Um where we want to win share from um from other media. uh in your case in the UAE you know if you win a slice of a budget that's 20% of the media spend what about the other 80%. And for us to go after that 80% and get a higher share of the entire budget we need to collaborate more so so I think um as consolidation comes that that that that tends to follow. Uh but some markets are reluctant to uh to do that and it really is a fact that um sector growth just 1% of sector growth is four times more valuable than 1% of silo growth. Um so I I would like to see the industry um competing at local level uh and that should continue uh but doing a lot more you know together at sector level uh to become more competitive with other media. Yeah makes perfect sense. James any final thoughts? I think it's very exciting time for multiply media group to launch. The industry is on the fantastic cusp of digitalization, data, programmatic, analytics, AI. Uh, and so I've been doing it 25 years and I'm very much looking forward to the next maybe not 25 years, but why not next few years? Why not? If Tom can do 30, he can do 25. Exactly. Absolutely. Tom and James, it's been a real pleasure. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to be with us today. And uh please uh this is a platform you're always welcome to. The next time you're in the UAE, we'll be more than happy to have another conversation with you. Thank you, Mahi. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you. [Music]