DOOH momentum: Screenverse hires LaConti, JCDecaux Latin America push, mall data
The digital out-of-home advertising sector is building momentum across three fronts: an executive hire, a regional programmatic expansion, and fresh research proving mall-based screens convert foot traffic into purchases.
LaConti joins Screenverse after leading Warner Bros. Discovery's relationship with WPP and overseeing an annual advertising portfolio worth more than $1.5 billion. His resume spans leadership roles at Scripps Networks Interactive, Discovery, and Warner Bros. Discovery, giving him exposure across digital, connected TV, and linear television. Jessica Silva, Screenverse's chief operating officer, said LaConti understands both the revenue mechanics and the relationship-driven nature of the advertising business at a moment when DOOH is claiming a more central role in the omnichannel mix. LaConti will focus on accelerating revenue growth, sharpening sales operations, and deepening Screenverse's connections with brands and agencies.
Across the hemisphere, JCDecaux has switched on programmatic buying across its full Latin American digital inventory, adding Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Paraguay. The move brings more than 4,600 digital screens in streetside locations, airports, metro systems, and shopping centers onto the company's VIOOH supply-side platform, which connects to more than 50 demand-side platforms globally, including Displayce. Nicolas de Tapol, managing director for Central America, South America and the Caribbean at JCDecaux, said the expansion responds to advertiser demand for data-driven, flexible campaign buying. Gavin Wilson, global chief commercial officer at VIOOH, described it as a further step toward broadening programmatic OOH reach across the region, which invidis has previously identified as one of the industry's most underpenetrated long-term growth opportunities.
New research from The People Platform, part of Stagwell's The Marketing Cloud, provides the conversion-layer evidence that makes the other two moves more compelling. A study of 1,000 adults who visited a mall within 48 hours found that apparel draws 65 percent of all mall visitors and converts at 51 percent, making screens near fashion corridors a high-intent ad environment. Eighty-one percent of shoppers visit a mall more than once a month, and the average dwell time of 2.12 hours, rising to 2.61 hours for Gen Z, offers extended creative exposure that few other offline channels can match. David Chester, vice president of research and insights at The People Platform, noted that malls have evolved into mixed-use destinations where advertising can capture consumers at both the discovery and fulfillment stages of the purchase funnel.
Taken together, the three developments reinforce a broader narrative: DOOH is no longer a niche out-of-home add-on but a measurable, programmable channel that retailers, agencies, and brands can treat with the same rigor as CTV or retail media networks. Screenverse is strengthening its commercial leadership, JCDecaux is proving that programmatic DOOH can scale across emerging markets, and the mall data gives planners a category-specific playbook for when and where screens move product. As omnichannel strategies continue to demand measurable offline touchpoints, the DOOH sector is assembling the talent, infrastructure, and evidence needed to compete for a larger share of digital ad budgets.