OOH Insider - SPECIAL EDITION - Buy/Sell with Doug Cordova and Brian Rappaport

Between the zoom and the, in the live stream. And then I'm just going to drop the link back for James and some of the other folks let's see.

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Okay. Get my soundboard up. Brian there's sound effects.

that's very cool. We're going legit today. Uh, or as legit as a bootleg as possible. So, Hey everybody. Thanks for tuning in. This is a really exciting afternoon edition YouTube live so excited for everybody to be here and join us. You see it on the screen. That's. We're talking about the buy sell conversation.

Douglas Cordova from rapid fire, Brian, rapid four from Quam media group, gentlemen. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having us. So, uh, to bring the guests at home, up to speed of what today's is going to look like five topics, each going to get 60 seconds to distill the idea behind that topic down into as clear, concise, a thought as possible.

Um, it's not a debate. Obviously we each have our own. There's no right or wrong. It's all relative. Um, so it's going to be an exciting time to share your perspective on the topics you guys got any questions for me? No, I'm excited. It's a good way to end. All right. Cool. Well with that,

let's jump right in Doug Cordova. The first one is going to you, my friend. So with 60 seconds on the clock. What is your role in the ecosystem of advertising? So rapid fire, as you know, as part of the advertising ecosystem, uh, we combine a high recall offline platform with, uh, retargeting, uh, mobile retargeting and attribution.

And just from a larger perspective, the seller sides in the ecosystem, we're the people that make the world go around. We have the products, we have the things that the people see we're exciting, we're fresh, and we're always raring and pressing. We're always raring, ready to go. I think, um, from a perspective, working at a couple of other companies, I think ratified brings something very interesting because we combine several different, exciting opportunities within one strong, again, high recall offline opportunity and we operate Navajo and we operate in mobile.

We operate in digital and just excited to be a part of this whole thing. Uh, love being on the south side, wouldn't trade it for the whole entire world and interested. See what Brian has to say. Like you said, sales, make the world go round. That was your 60 seconds prior rapport. How do you fit into the ecosystem of advertising?

Yeah. Um, well, cons on the buying side, I've been on the buying side, my whole, my whole industry life for 12 plus years. Um, we are, you know, an agency or almost, you know, I like to say a concierge that is dedicated to providing a personalized approach to, of home buying and planning. Um, focusing on strategy attributes.

Um, and measurement, look, there's a lot of great platforms out there in the environment and a lot of great shops. And I always think that there's a great way for all of us to work together. And there is because there's so much business to be had, but I just think that, you know, what, what we do here is really sit down with a client and understand what they're trying to reach and make sure they get in front of that audience.

The last thing we want as a client to be up somewhere, just because it looks pretty, it needs to make sense at home. It's not defined by how much you spent. But where you are and where you're in front of. And that's kind of why I founded Quanta to offer all brands. Um, you know, that opportunity, obviously we do love the DTC world, but we work across all categories.

And, um, we're just trying to make things a little bit more, uh, you know, one-to-one, one-on-one connection with, you know, the growth of. Awesome. So there we go. We've got an idea of how Doug on the sell side, Brian, on the buy side, how they fit into the ecosystem. So let's dive into our next topic, which is direct client relationships.

Brian, I'm gonna give you the opportunity here because on the sell side, obviously we want to get to the decision makers and sometimes the agency, just as in the way, how do you see the sell side in the direct client relationships? Look, it's like one team one dream. The way I see it, the most annoying thing is when you have a partner and I hate using the word render, I'm really trying to get rid of that word in general.

So when you have a partner on the sales side, that wants to get in touch has a great idea, a great product, rapists and media for, for a specific client. And they know that an agency has that client or a person, you know, in the agency world has a relationship with that client. If they know that and purposely go around and go straight to the client and just start paying.

It odds are nine times out of 10. That idea is going to be redirected back to the agency of that person. Now, if my partner on the sales side comes to me and says, look, this makes sense for this client because X, Y, and Z, this is what we can do. Here's a great deal. Here's a great way we can pitch it together.

Can we set time for both of us to go into the client together? We'll basically tag team it and go from there 100%. I think that's important. And I think it's really not great on the agency side when they're so protective and. So close to the chest that they don't want those in the sales side to have anything to do with the client.

I think it's wrong. There's been so many times where I've gone and present.

go for it. That's fine. I love it. I think that that's a great point, right? Because we're going to try to go around you. And I've been on both sides of the equation on the agency side and on the sell side. Uh, and it's exactly that it's going to get back to the agency at some point. And you're going to need to bless it.

Um, so having those good relationships, but Douggie talk to me. Why is it so important for you to go direct to the. So, especially when you're a smaller guy and a big fish, when you're not as well known, the direct client relationships are everything. I mean, 90% of rabbi's revenue last year came from direct clients, uh, where, you know, the totem pole, whether we'd like to think it doesn't exist, it exists.

And how agencies buy is who they've been buying for more often. So we need to make our name. We need to push ourselves forward. We need to get in front of the people who will tell the HTS, Hey, had this great meeting with rabbi fight. Really love the plot. Really love what they're doing. We'd like you to work with them on the next campaign and you and listen, not all the sellers are the same, not all the buyer steam.

I will tip my cap to Brian. He's always been awesome. Taking meetings, understanding what we're, what we're coming to the table with and moving that up the line. But not everyone's like Brian and sometimes, you know, you've talked to a client and they tell you to talk to henh. He still won't talk to you. So what, what does that leave you?

That leaves you with your only, the only way you can go is to continue working with that client and help and hoping one day we can all work together. Brian's exactly right.

and I think that you hit it on the head there. And Brian, it's a word that you used that I think is the right word. It's it's the concierge. The agency is playing air traffic control and making sure that all the planes are staying in their lanes. Um, so having a good relationship. And Doug, you just described it.

If you do end up going direct to the client, obviously ratified, it's a significant part of the business, but it's still important to have that great relationship with the agency. So I think that's a, that's a pretty good perspective on how that stacks up. Let's talk about vendor meetings. Obviously you guys sit on different sides of the table there.

Uh, Doug kick us off. What's a, what's a vendor meeting. Like what are you trying to get out of that? The agency's there. If the client's there, what's your mission? What's your goal? So I'm going to separate the two and I'll do it as quickly as I can only have 60 seconds. So for the agencies, we want them to understand all the aspects of rapid fire.

I worked for some of the big guys and it's different when you come in. Here's our inventory. This is where it is. So if your client's interested in any of these DMS, this is why you should buy for rapid fire. We're a multi-faceted company. So they have to kind of understand all the different moving parts and why we're a sell-through for the clients.

You're talking to someone who controls the entire budget. So when you're talking to that, then you're trying to understand, Hey, this can be pulled from digital. This could we pull from mobile. This can go to your ad a home and we can build it all to. The out-of-home main sheets. It's helping them understand that, listen, you can go to your client and you could try to get more money for out of home.

And this is how we're going to help you do that. So it's, it's two different types of means both equally as important and vendors for the, for the vendor side, the agency's really helped because they bring the one to many approach, direct clients. I'm only handling one. I talked to Brian, I'm speaking to 10, 15, 20 companies at one time because Brian speaks for all of them.

So there's so much value in that way. Makes sense, Brian. Yeah. I mean, look, I think it's really important that that every agency takes at least a meeting with someone that they're not familiar with or, or someone, you know, that they feel can, can provide a service for their clients. I think on the other side of things that, you know, the selling side would start looking at meeting with more groups, as opposed to whole agencies, it gets lost in transit.

And when you have a room of 30 people, sometimes, you know, people start to zone out, they focus on eating the launch, they focused on their black, not blackberries on their phones. And it's a little talk. So if you know a client's agent, if you know an agency, you know, the way it's broken out, you know, who has each account and those teams, you don't meet with the smaller teams, get them like one-on-one and like resonate with them.

This is what we have to offer you. This is why it makes sense for your client. And this is what we can do for you. And that's it. And then don't follow up, you know, three weeks later and ask for another meeting. You know, to be fair to agencies, everyone's doing that. But if you do have a new offering, then yeah.

Reach back out and go back in again and they should give you the time. You just have to explain why it makes sense to come back in there. Any agency denying a meeting with someone on the selling side, it shouldn't happen. And it's poor for the industry as a whole makes sense. That's already really great insight, I think from the sell side and the buy side of what the advantages are and creating a good, healthy relationship.

With the agency while still stressing the importance of sometimes going direct and just continuing to cultivate those relationships that I think a lot of people are looking for answers like that. Networking we've, uh, we've all got different goals when we're networking. Brian, this one's for you. Start us off.

What is your goal? When networking, are you looking to network with the sell side? Do you network exclusively with the clients and let the south side come to you? What's that world look like for you? I'll come meet you as many and meet with as many people in the industry as humanly possible. I don't care what side that they're on.

It doesn't matter. I feel like the more people, you know, and the more people. Um, that you sit down and get 15 minutes to, it's going to help you out in the long run. It may not help you or benefit you tomorrow, but it could really help you a year from now. And for me, you know, it's always been my mantra to sit down with somebody.

Now, if it's through zoom, it's through zoom, but like, let's chat if I've never met with them. If I think maybe there's nothing that can come out of this. Like, so what, like what's 10 minutes going to do let's sit down, let's have coffee and maybe that saved. If you hit it off and you can help them out, they may send you a client down the road.

Vice-versa, you know, in two years they may be at another company where they may be client side and they may remember you it's come back so many different ways to me that for me, it's not about business versus business versus let's make a connection, see if we can help each other. And if nothing, like, maybe this is just a good person and like, I'll see you down the road and who knows.

I mean, it's great. What do you look for when you're networking? So I think this is one thing our industry does not do well enough. I think we pit each pit each other against each other way too often when we're just trying to build ourselves up, we're trying to get more market share. I think we need to be doing a lot more of this, both on the sell and the buying side.

I had a call yesterday with. Technical competitors, people in my positions who work for different companies. And it was amazing. We just talk about the status of the industry, what we're doing, how we're trying to push the needle. And everyone has ideas and you're like, wow, that could really work for me. Or this could really work for me.

Listen, no one out-of-home company can solve every challenge for a client or every challenge for an agency. So we should be working more together to help spread the love and help grow the industry as a whole. So all my. I always try to help people. You ever call me? You say you need something. I will say yes, 99.9% of the time, because that's what I do.

I think we just need to be doing more of that, especially coming out of this. Um, and what's everything that's going on today. I think, um, networking is going to be more important than ever and helping each other is going to be more important. Right. And I think that obviously this situation sort of sucks.

We, we'd probably all like to be out doing the things that we like to do, but it's created so many more of these conversations. And I, I see that paying dividends now, but also 6, 12, 18 months down the road, because we're probably getting to know a lot of people that we wouldn't have taken the time to otherwise get to know.

So networking get to know everybody. Cause you never know. Uh, I shoot, I talked to a guy the other day that does like, um, like swag and stuff for event. Who knows he's not in our space, but maybe I can help him out with a, with an event or something like that. Or maybe you can help me. So I totally agree.

Get to know everybody. All right. Let's see. I think we're onto the last topic here. Um, deliverables Ryan, you started this last time. Doug. Start us off this time. Deliverables. What is rapid five deliver specifically? What do you expect for yourself to deliver? And what do you expect back from, uh, from the agency or from the client side?

So what ratified delivers is results. That's our main goal. Our main goal is to understand your KPIs as the client, the agency, whoever the, whoever we're working with and to deliver those results as the best as humanly possible. Uh, that's why attribution is such a huge part of what we do, because we can show you at the end of the year.

Here's what rapid fire did. Here's how we delivered. Um, and that's what drove me to rapid fire, no pun intended. Uh, I think also we're supposed to make the agency look good and we're supposed to meet the client. Whoever worked with the client, look good, make them be the heroes. You know, they put trust in rat five.

They put time into rap five. They put money into. We're job is to make you look amazing. So that's our deliverables on our end. That's what our team focuses on. Uh, we want, you know, I've gone to business development because that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to build a relationship. I'm not looking for one night stands.

I want this to grow. I don't want to work with the people that I've worked with throughout my whole career. I've done it for the last 11 years. I planned to do it for the next 60. So if I don't show you results, Uh, over-deliver from what I said, I was going to, that's never going to happen. That's where I stand up and all that.

Love it. Brian, what do your clients expect from you? What do you expect from yourself in the deliverable to your client and how do you expect to deliver back to the sell side? Obviously you got to buy stuff from someone. What do you expect of yourself throughout that ECOS? Well look just kind of going in order, but I expect my clients versus is, is some sort of Greek and understanding of their audience.

So I can properly plan and understand where they should be as opposed to just kind of spraying and paying what I expect most of all from the sales side is that understanding of what I'm trying to reach. I try and send out the most detailed, brief, every single time I send an RFP out the audience where we want to be what we want to do, what we're looking for.

I'm blunt I'm to the point, you know, I'm a little sarcastic, I'm funny sometimes, but. Straight forward and there is nothing more than I disliked. And when someone writes me back, here's your proposal and will be transfer link. When I get a bullet pointed, you know, email back from someone on the sales side, this is why this makes sense.

And they explained to me what they're offering some call-outs, that's amazing to me and that's kind of pop and it's probably going to make it into the final recommendation to the. What the client wants from me. And what they're expecting for me is a really nice build-out deck with an understanding of their brief and understanding of the approach we took to get them there.

If they need to spend more budget, do need to spend more budget. If attributions will be a park, why it should be a part of it. And at the end of the day, how are we going to help them actually see lift and growth? And that's kind of, you know, how we've formatted our recommendation decks. To kind of make it a little bit different than the typical agency approach to show clients, you know, this is what we're looking to do for you and why we think we're going to achieve success in, in this, you know, approach.

So that, that should answer most of it. I feel like there's a lot of missing out, but sure.  do this for days and weeks. Hopefully it's been helpful. I think that it definitely has. I mean, less than 15 minutes, you guys absolutely brought the fire. I think that there were some really, really good takeaways for both sides of the equation.

And that's the goal, right? Elevate out of home. Brian, what are you working on? Right. What am I working on right now? It's really just trying to, to, to champion the industry forward. I think right now, it's, by far and away a buyer's market, the sales side doesn't want to hear it, but it's true, but it's not a bad thing.

There have been so many great partners in the selling side that have come to me and said, look, we want to get clients comfortable with, out of home. Again, stay at homes are going to be lifted. Very soon. People are going to be back out. We know some brands may be hesitant. Here's a, one-time amazing deal.

Here's something that's usually not available. We're giving it to you at this price. You know, here's an extra spot on this digital piece of inventory. And for me, it's that these opportunities not go to waste. You don't want to fire sale blasted out to everyone. You know, if it was a regular day, maybe once a month, I compile a lot of great, you know, last minute opportunities.

And I sort of share them with a bunch of our clients this, this time around, I'm kind of reaching out one-on-one to clients. I know who is specifically low. To, to execute some out of home and to be perfectly honest in the last two or three weeks, I've gotten four or five clients that have not spent with me in the out of home space before to buy out of home because they've taken advantage of opportunities that they just can't miss.

So for me, it's kind of, two-pronged stay in touch with clients, stay relevant, stay on top of the industry, things like that, but also, you know, get ready for, for this kind of mad dash when people slowly start returning to a sense of. A lot of it. It's great to hear that we're seeing newcomers to out of home because of some of the great opportunities that, that do exist.

Doug, what are you working? So a large part of rapid fire is a platform is delivering gig drivers who are, you know, these people are helping flatten the curve to helping keep people at home by delivering they're in people's neighborhoods. So we've taken a hyper-local focus on what we're doing on the stale side.

Uh, really hitting neighborhoods, really helping brands integrate into the places where people are exercising. People are walking outside people. In and around the neighborhoods and honing in on that, we're offering programs to our agencies and client partners at discounts. We never offered before because we want to see them on the platform.

We're donating a percentage of our camps to paints the feeding America, to help, you know, cause everyone should be able to have a meal. We find that really important. And again, we're really focusing on our delivery drivers because they're putting themselves at risk every day, helping us maintain normal lives.

So we're trying to get as many campaigns on the road to help put money in there. Help support them, help support the communities and help flatten this curve to get us back out of the home as quickly as humanly possible.