Outfront hires its first chief data officer
- Aug 5
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
TL;DR: Out-of-home giant Outfront has created its first chief data officer role, hiring UM and IPG veteran Huw Griffiths — a clear signal that OOH is racing to close the measurement gap with digital.
Out-of-home advertising company Outfront has created a new chief data officer role and filled it with a heavyweight: Huw Griffiths, a 15-year veteran of UM (eight as global chief product officer) and later Kinesso.
The appointment is part of a broader leadership refresh — five senior hires plus two internal promotions — all aimed at one goal: proving the measurable value of 'IRL' media against a digital ecosystem that has long claimed the measurement high ground.
Why OOH needs a data chief
Out-of-home has always sold impact and fame but struggled to match digital's granular attribution. By putting an experienced data and product leader in charge of audience, analytics and measurement, Outfront is signalling that OOH intends to compete on evidence, not just creativity.
Griffiths will lead data, audience, analytics and measurement — the exact capabilities buyers demand before shifting budget from trackable digital channels into billboards and screens.
The strategic context
As digital measurement itself gets messier — signal loss, cookie deprecation, walled gardens — OOH has a genuine opening. If it can prove reach and outcomes with credible data, it becomes a more defensible line on the media plan, not a leap of faith.
Our read: this hire is a bet that the next battleground is measurement, not format. The channels that can prove outcomes will win budget; those that can't will keep losing it to platforms that can.
What advertisers should take away
If you have under-invested in OOH because you couldn't measure it, watch this space — the category is arming itself with attribution tools. In the meantime, demand outcome data from any OOH partner before committing spend.
The wider lesson applies to every channel: in 2026, the ability to prove impact is becoming the single biggest driver of where budgets flow.
Quick FAQ
Who is Outfront's new chief data officer?
Huw Griffiths, a 15-year veteran of media agency UM (eight years as global chief product officer) and later Kinesso, has been named Outfront's first chief data officer.
Why did Outfront create the role?
To prove the measurable value of out-of-home media against digital, leading data, audience, analytics and measurement as part of a broader leadership refresh.
What does it mean for advertisers?
OOH is investing in attribution tools. Buyers who avoided the channel over measurement should reassess, and should demand outcome data from OOH partners.
— Dimitro Cohen, Technology & Ad-Tech Correspondent at Marketing Minute
The takeaway: in 2026 the channels that can prove outcomes win budget — measurement, not format, is the battleground.
Have you avoided a channel purely because you couldn't measure it — and is that still true?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: MediaPost, TastyAd.
Related reading
Written by Dimitro Cohen, Technology & Ad-Tech Correspondent at Marketing Minute
Comments