I’m not bashful to admit that my knowledge of marketing doesn’t come from schooling, an entry level job, or even friends in the industry. Instead, it started 6 years ago as an “ah-ha” moment, along with a big leap of faith. Suddenly, I found myself in the industry with both feet in the funny acronym. Now I’m sitting in my new office (234 Queen St East, come on by!) of my now not-quite-as-new company, Movia, grateful for an amazing team that recently hit 10 full-time staff and has a list of exciting new endeavours on the horizon.

I’ve learned some important lessons along the way about growing a successful OOH start-up and thought I’d use this AdClub opportunity (thank you!) to share a few learnings.

It’s not what you think it’s going to be – OOH is different!
It was probably good I didn’t really understand the space I was getting into when I started Movia or I might have reconsidered it. Unlike the digital arena, which is evolving with new products every couple of hours, ideas in the OOH business take time to innovate. Given that it’s harder to measure campaign impact, many OOH strategies include “rinse and repeat” executions that are the safe play. With the help of the constant advancements in tech, there has never been a better time to initiate some new thinking.

Another learning was that in order to drive true impact with OOH, a reasonable investment level is needed. A $5K budget to test a digital or a direct mail campaign is useful and can prove scalability, but that’s not just possible with OOH. Like my experience, if you’re going to jump in, you need to do so with both feet!

OOH Success takes time, but it’s worth it
OOH is an industry that has been around forever. Success takes time to build; it’s not a quick hit that instantly brings clicks or buys. However, that’s ok because OOH success looks different. It takes time, but the reach and impact can be huge and the effect more lasting.

You can’t fake it, so prepare
Being in over my head is something I felt for the first couple of years in the industry. Encountering so many amazing senior people who really knew their stuff made me appreciate what a novice I was, and looking back, I must have come off as unprepared and amateur. There was only one way around that – prepare and learn more. We’re talking full immersion here: late nights, coffees with others, and lots of humble questions. It pays off.

Yep, like any good business, it’s about the people
Having a solid product offering is an obvious “must-have” for success, but without good people to help you along the way, that great idea or product may never get off the ground. Looking back, it was crossing paths with some true market innovators, buyers and planners, that propelled me (and later my team) to where we are today. Without their willingness to take a chance on Movia, I wouldn’t be writing this article right now.

So, yes, it may be an old adage, but success really does come down to the people. Let’s see what the next new innovation in OOH might be. I know that with everything we’ve learned, the Movia team is set to be a big part of it.