In a tough market, QMS chief sales officer, Tim Murphy, tells Mediaweek “We are a resilient bunch, there’s no doubt about that.”
The most recent Guideline SMI results showed that outdoor media was the only major media to report growth, with total bookings up 1.6%.
“The medium is very resilient, our audience is only getting stronger. The investment from a form, product, and innovation point of view from all the players, all parts of the sector, is immense,” said Murphy.
“There’s a lot of investment into infrastructure, assets, and networks and that is helping to support that resilience in regards to revenue performance.”
Having joined the company in February, Murphy said the ambition for the company’s sales function “is to be as connected and coordinated as we possibly can be, and to be the best digital out-of-home sales team in Australia. There’s no reason why we can’t be exactly that.”
In the last few weeks, QMS has announced a series of tender wins, including Transport for NSW, The Hills Shire Council, the Australian Turf Club’s Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, and the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s (ARTC) out-of-home assets across Sydney.
Murphy said this has been the result of “a very significant and very acute focus, from a commercial development point of view, around our Sydney offering.”
“That’s been the one part of our network where we’ve had some vulnerability, so there’s been a very, very clear, direct strategic direction around focusing on that part of the country. It’s brilliant when a plan comes together, and that’s been happening over the last handful of weeks.”
In addition to the City of Sydney network – “which we refer to as the jewel in the crown”, Murphy adds – as of January QMS is reaching 92% of all Sydneysiders on a weekly basis.
“They’re terrific tender wins, they set the business up to really shift market share going to 2025. The job for us as a leadership function is to ensure that we’ve got the resources, the capability, and the capacity within our business to make the most of that opportunity.”
Taking on Paris 2024
QMS’ Paris 2024 Digital Screen Network supports both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and was launched in April with partners including Allianz, Stan, Toyota Australia, and Patties Food Group.
See also: John O’Neill: Paris Olympics and Paralympics pose huge advantage for brands. Are you ready to play?
Murphy said QMS’ partnership with the Australian Olympic and Paralympic Committee is “a major program of work, which is like nothing this business has embarked on before.”
“We’re days away now from the Opening Ceremony, which is horrifying, but really exciting. The partners that have come on board are really connected to what we’re trying to achieve there, and our opportunity to deliver and execute this program is something that we’re very, very focused on.”
Taking on a project the size and scale of the Paris 2024 Network requires every single part of the organisation to be completely in step.
“Australians will be waking up and driving to work in the morning, and seeing all the all the updates – all the different elements that come through require hundreds and thousands of pieces of dynamic content to be delivered across our Olympic network.
“It’s going to be brilliant. Seeing it come to life is going to show a lot of different advertisers and brands that this is a premium digital ad home network, and this is how you can use it to its full effect,” Murphy said.
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Top image: Tim Murphy