TVM DOOH is the biggest digital-out-of-home network in restaurants & bars. TVM DOOH’s owned and operated digital screens are always on and located in central positions such as behind the bar and main dining rooms. With the ability to hyper-target ads and segment audiences, TVM DOOH can specify relevant content, such as showing live odds to 21+ Pittsburgh Steelers fans in a sports bar broadcasting a specific game, or promoting a certain beer in locations which serve that product.
We spoke with Tom Yates, Partner and Chief of Product at TVM DOOH.
What’s your role at TVM DOOH?
As the Chief of Product, it’s my job to make sure everything we build, software or hardware, works seamlessly and looks beautiful. Supported by our excellent engineering team, I make sure integrations to leading partners like Place Exchange are implemented quickly and smoothly. I also work closely with our Chief Commercial Officer Pedram Danesh (pedram@tvmmedia.com), who leads our Brand Sales operation on getting direct campaigns up and running.
What are some recent company milestones?
We are now live in 1,250 sports bars in the USA and once again hit a 100% sell-through rate in many of our venues for the first month post-Corona (thanks PX!). We have improved our data across the system, with impressions from Geopath and reports from Mira on campaign effectiveness showing a 69% increase in new user acquisition for iGaming brands. We have also just closed several long term direct deals for the upcoming NFL season, so we can see the future is bright!
Which verticals/brands do you work with most?
iGaming is certainly a big one and we are definitely well suited to that sector with our placement in sports bars and with the screens always on next to live sporting events. But we see big campaigns across the board as we have a great general reach, from Dunkin’ to Drink and Drug Drive campaigns from the US government to more locally focused campaigns for businesses. Of course we work with beverage companies as well, including Dos Equis, Fireball, Jameson, and others.
What differentiates TVM DOOH inventory?
In comparison to Connected TV and other platforms in bars and restaurants, our main differentiator is we have our own screens and they are big – 50” in 95% of cases and we have gone bigger. Being in the vertical portrait orientation means they stand out from other screens. They are always on and never turned to non-TVM content. We also benefit from the data of the TVM Play platform that we are built on, which means we know what games are showing in the bars, what events are happening, what drinks are being served, etc. We don’t purely show advertising content on our screens either, the majority of the content is uploaded by the bar owners on TVM Play so that keeps the focus on our screens.
What do you know about the TVM DOOH audience?
They are over-21, they are are out having a great time, they love to look at our screens which we can confirm that by the traffic driven through to our clients and our own websites. They are also back in a big way – our traffic is currently at 110% of pre-Covid (2019) numbers so there is obviously a lot of enthusiasm to get back out there. Our audience spends a long time in front of our screens – dwell time for TVM is in terms of multiple hours, not a 30 second walk-by.
How has COVID-19 changed your outlook on OOH?
It was a tough time for a lot of companies in the bar industry and in DOOH as a whole. But we rode the storm well, and we actually used it as a great opportunity to grow – we added more venues than ever during this period, and we continue to add 180 new venues every month right now across 16 States. As I mentioned earlier, DOOH is back in a big way and I’m only expecting it to grow with partners like Place Exchange and with programmatic buying playing a major role.
What do you value most in your partnership with Place Exchange?
The support. Once we started our partnership, we were immediately invited to a dedicated Slack channel, and when we ask questions we get them answered. We’ve seen great growth in our revenues and campaigns with PX and I feel a real connection with the people we work with there. Many thanks to the team there helping us out, you know who you are!
What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not at work?
I like to really focus on family and friends. As a partner and founder, I love my job and it doesn’t feel like work, but it’s important for my productivity to spend some hours every day not thinking about it – it means I often come up with innovative new ideas and solutions whilst ‘not thinking about work’. Doing something physical like a long run or bike ride is good to stop your mind going, as long as you are working hard enough! I’m also looking forward to traveling again and will hopefully meet up with the PX team in NYC soon!