New OOH Agency Launches With a Strong Roster of DTC Brands

A new agency player has entered the out-of-home arena. Quan Media Group officially launched today, with a roster of DTC brands including Away, Banza, Contiki, Dagne Dover, Daily Harvest and digital health care company Ro. Quan was founded by agency veteran Brian Rappaport, who will serve as the company’s CEO. “Today’s brand marketers need a more personalized, measurable and flexible approach to OOH buying and planning, as well as cutting-edge solutions to help them win market share at a scale consistent with their growth requirements,” said Rappaport in a statement. “Quan [can] deliver on both of those opportunities because our model recognizes that success in OOH isn't defined by how much money is spent on a given campaign, but by a true understanding of each client’s unique audiences and goals.” Before launching the new agency, Rappaport served as group director of IPG’s RapportWW and was at Zenith Media earlier in his career, working on well-known brands like JetBlue, Royal Caribbean, Chase, Verizon, Delta Air Lines, Sonic and others. Though Quan Media Group won't focus solely on the DTC space, initially emphasizing those types of companies reflects the changing nature of brands. "Quan isn't focused solely on DTC brands vs. legacy brands, but we’d be lying if we didn’t say that we want to be known as the partner for any and all DTC brands looking to test, launch & scale their OOH efforts," Rappaport said. "The growth opportunity for these brands is enormous. To help them [grow in] different markets across North America as they expand their reach and, ultimately, move into brick and mortar is not only exciting but rewarding as they lean on us for our market knowledge and expertise." Rappaport also pointed out that Quan will pursue more traditional legacy brands as time goes on. "We expect to slowly start to build relationships with those legacy brands that begin to step away from the full-service agency model, and want to work with experts in a specific given channel," he noted. Quan’s most recent high-profile work was with DTC luggage brand Away, working on the planning and buying for a campaign that supports Serena Williams’ new collection—with full brand takeovers in the baggage claim areas of JFK and LAX airports. [kickout id="1"] The new agency is also putting emphasis on attribution, transparency and flexibility. According to Rappaport, other agencies “lock clients into expensive all-or-nothing contracts,” while his agency “is fully transparent about pricing and works with any budget or campaign size,” and uses real-time data to understand the results. Additionally, Rappaport’s negotiating skills, according to Rob Schutz, co-founder and chief digital officer of Ro, are another advantage. “He is relentless at putting together the best deals possible, advocating for clients and always has [their] best interests in mind,” Schutz said. OOH remains the only traditional advertising medium that is experiencing growth. According to Magna, TV revenues are predicted to have shrunk by 2% in 2019. Additionally, print and radio were set on track for a decline of 10% and 1% respectively last year. OOH, however, was primed to grow by 5% and, according to WARC, represents a 6% share (excluding cinema advertising) of ad investment, ranking fourth behind Facebook, Alphabet (Google) and TV.