Robbie Dery (pictured), oOh!media’s Chief Commercial Officer, is celebrating ten years with the Out of Home Media Company. To celebrate, Council Magazine goes behind the scenes to find out more about Mr Dery’s role with ten questions to celebrate ten years (14 years if you include Eyecorp!).
Tell us more about your role?
My role is to oversee the commercial, data and product strategy and operating leadership across the oOh! Network. It’s my responsibility to lead the investment strategy and drive growth across all portfolios.
What is your most valuable skill, particularly through challenging times?
Having lived through 9/11, GFC, SARS, a pandemic and now rising inflation, there are a few key attributes which are critical to not just getting through the challenging times, but also for delivering strong competitive advantage.
Remaining agile, be ruthless when focussing on what is crucial, and ensure you have great people around you who are empowered to make decisions and are not afraid to have tough conversations. There’s no rulebook for these situations so be prepared to make decisions quickly, act decisively and don’t be afraid to do things differently.
Stay connected to your teams, customers and partners. Having a well prepared and composed team means you can work through any challenges efficiently and effectively.
How businesses and individuals behave in tough times says a lot about the organisational culture and a person’s character.
A challenging time is when everyone is finding it tough, so showing some empathy has proven to not only deliver good business outcomes, but also brings us closer together as a team and to our partners.
What excites you the most about your role?
I get to work with fantastic people in a business that provides the freedom to challenge and innovate. There is nothing more satisfying than finding new and different ways to deliver more value that benefits our partners and our business.
Creativity, data analysis, and good hustle go a long way!
What is the biggest change/progression you have seen in oOh! in the past 10 years?
The advances in data and technology. Digitisation has changed the way we operate as a business and industry and data has changed the way we measure and value it. This will have some of the biggest impacts on growth.
With an emphasise on the progression of councils, how is oOh! contributing to the strategy of councils?
Most people don’t realise the vital role we play in enhancing public spaces through our services. We invest in our assets to provide quality infrastructure for the communities in which we live and operate.
- We work behind the scenes, day and night, with a team of cleaning and maintenance operatives, to keep assets – like bus shelters – clean and safe for everyone.
- We use our vast array of signs as community message boards to inform, engage, and entertain citizens, donating around $25 million in media space every year to charities and not-for-profits.
- This year, we have created an ESG Department at oOh! to solidify our commitment to sustainability and we are already working with councils on how we can integrate these solutions with our infrastructure.
We are focused on oOh!’s purpose – to make public spaces better and brands unmissable – and we are passionate about delivering on that commitment in our daily work.
What trends do you predict in both Out of Home and consumer behaviour?
For oOh! 2023 will be about exploring the shift in the way we feel mentally and emotionally about how and where we live, work and play. We’re embarking on a robust research study on How Aussies Move that will be launching early in 2023, and we can’t wait to share the findings of the future for the cities we live in.
What is your proudest work moment?
Well, I still get excited about the growth of Out of Home and the scope of how we continue to evolve. It’s always hard to cut it down to one but creating the premium Qantas Club, Business Lounge and Chairmans Lounge digital media strategy which consistently delivers the highest net promoter score (NPS) of all Qantas products is one of my proudest working moments.
Where do you see oOh! in 2023?
Our focus will continue to be on data and technology. But we can never lose sight of the fact that people remain at the heart of our communities.
At oOh!, we remain cognisant of our responsibility to the communities we engage with. As we develop new products and public infrastructure, we will continue to follow the approach of consulting with stakeholders – our government partners and the communities we all serve – to provide solutions that make the greatest impact.
Building on diversity and sustainability as we remain committed to exploring ways in which we can work together with communities and councils at all levels to make public spaces better. Driven by our ESG team, we will be innovative in our approach to how we use less power and create a smaller carbon footprint.
And with the innovation of our data and technology build valuable creatives to keep people engaged in the communities that they live in.
How does oOh! stand out from other media companies?
Our scale drives audience attention and delivers benefits and information for citizens and communities. We utilise our signs – both classic and digital – to turn public spaces into art galleries.
Through extensive data and consumer insights capabilities, we deliver a strong return on investment for advertisers.
Finally, where do you see yourself in another ten years time?
Who knows!
This is a sponsored editorial brought to you by oOh!media, for more information go to https://oohmedia.com.au/
