Our year of growth – cliff jumping, changing audiences and an exciting new partnership

Matthew Dearden, CEO, Alight Media

A little over a year ago I was celebrating big news for Alight Media, the business my partner Dave Huckerby and I had co-founded in 2018. We had won our second major OOH 6 sheet contract and entered the digital billboard market.

Setting up a business is, as many people know, akin to jumping off a cliff with no certainty where you’ll land. That’s exactly how Dave and I felt: we had a plan – but you never know! Soon we experienced the exhilarating rush of winning our first contract – installing 6 sheets in Bournemouth. Our Chief Revenue Officer Ged Glover joined us early on, and I’ll always be grateful for the belief and support from that small team.

Then came August last year – winning the South Yorkshire bus shelter 6 sheet contract and acquiring our first D48s and a group of fantastic additional employees through a buyout.

After a period of very hard work integrating our new team members into the Alight family and kicking on with the business of growth and delivering on promises to clients, we hit the shock and uncertainty everyone shared in a global pandemic and lockdown.

2020 will no doubt go down in history as an extraordinary year in every sense of the word, but from my personal perspective it is a good opportunity to take stock and review the last twelve months.

For all the difficulty and uncertainty, I do believe that the current crisis gives a moment of pause for us all to choose how we want to build our businesses. It has provided plenty of reflection time and, if we choose, we can use it as a point to define our future behaviour. I’m proud that we have kept our focus, continuing to invest and build to deliver our vision of creating a network that stands out, adds incremental coverage to national plans and offer advertisers the true power of outdoor everywhere.

We now have an audience of 12 million adults each fortnight, located across 91 towns - boosted by a further contract win in Telford and a growing national D48 offering. By the end of this year we will have grown eight-fold since September 2019.

Most importantly, we have a team who continue to go above and beyond, for each other, for our clients and for the business. We have continued to provide proof-points of our commitment to build the company we always promised, and I’d like to thank every one of the team, as well as our clients, partners and supporters.

Finally, I firmly believe we are able to help brands re-connect with consumers as society continues to adapt to life in 2020 and beyond. As an out-of-home media owner that was created with the mission to help bring truly national audiences to advertisers, we are well-versed in understanding the importance of where audiences are. The pandemic has thrown a huge challenge for the industry into the centre of the ring: the need for media planning and buying to reflect the seismic changes in consumer behaviour and audiences. As the year has gone on, audiences for roadside OOH have largely returned; the challenge for everyone involved is to create, plan and buy campaigns that work in the new world that is emerging.

It is this confidence in and commitment to both our business and the wider OOH industry that led to us working with The Drum on its Out of Home Awards as exclusive sponsor. There is a synergy with the two brands, with both having a history of constructively challenging the status quo, and this year more than ever before, I believe awards hold a particular significance as we recognise the best work across our industry.

As we move towards the end of 2020, I’m filled with hope and belief for brighter times ahead. I know that the experiences we’ve had as a business this year will deliver lessons that will guide us well into the decade, keeping focused on our vision, beliefs, people, partners and clients. My most important lesson? If you’re going cliff-jumping, find the right companions.