Shopping Centre News Industry Partner Profile: Anthony Deeble.

(Originally published on Shopping Centre News)

What is your current role and main responsibilities?

My role is Chief Commercial Officer – HOYTS Group which incorporates HOYTS Cinemas and advertising brands, VMO, Val Morgan Cinema and Val Morgan Digital. My key responsibilities are focused on business growth whether it be through acquisition or capital investment leads, while also strengthening our current commercial partnerships or introducing new ones.

Tell us about VMO and the role it plays within the shopping centre industry

I launched VMO in 2003 from a single screen in a Melbourne shopping centre, driven by a vision to create a pioneering outdoor media company.

During the past 20 years, the brand has experienced exponential growth, expanding across multiple sectors including retail, petro and convenience, gyms and wellness centres, and office media, connecting with millions of people every day.

Last year, the brand repositioned to Outdoor Done Differently; an ethos that has underpinned the business since its inception. From being one of the earliest digital outdoor companies, to launching our audience measurement tool, and being the pioneers for programmatic outdoor in Australia, the business has consistently been at the forefront of innovation.

Within shopping centres, the role VMO plays is transforming spaces through high quality screen solutions that seamlessly complement the environments where people shop and play. Our mission is to deploy screen solutions that not only enhance shopping centres, but also create enjoyable and immersive experiences for consumers, all while connecting brands with their target audiences.

What do you love most about VMO, what excites you about the business?

VMO is not only a high performing digital outdoor media operator but a true innovator in the industry. What I love most is that our team consistently pushes the boundaries of meaningful innovation, driving real change across the industry. This energy has become part of the team’s DNA and it’s incredibly exciting to be part of.

Tell us more about these innovations and how VMO is using technology to enhance the customer experience?

Enhancing the shopping centre experience is at the core of our retail network, and not only do we deploy the best-in-class digital screen assets, but we also provide our partners with access to one of the industry’s most advanced out-of-home audience insights tools, DART.

DART technology equips our partners and centre managers with exclusive, real-time data on customer interactions with our screens throughout their centre, enabling access to the demographic profiles of their visitors, foot traffic patterns and key engagement metrics.

With this data at their fingertips, informed decisions can be made to optimise centre marketing strategies and tailor activations and experiences to align with the centre more strongly. We’ve developed and implemented advanced solutions specifically tailored for the shopping centre environment, such as DCOOH (Dynamic Creative Out of Home). This programmatic solution allows brands to deliver highly creative and contextually relevant messaging at the individual screen level, giving audiences personalised, real-time interactions.

Our VM3D solution takes campaign creativity to a new level. Through our in-house studio team, brands can design captivating 3D animated ads that enhance the in-centre experience.

These innovative solutions are designed to build stronger connections with shoppers, transforming the way brands engage with their audience and driving deeper interaction within centres.

We’ve recently commissioned a mall alert platform for our shopping centre partners, allowing them to quickly and easily broadcast important messages across our screen network during critical situations. The platform will also be accessible via mobile phones, with a multi-layered authentication system in place to prevent accidental use.

We’re continually exploring new technologies and solutions to enhance what we can provide our partners – both from an advertising and commercial standpoint.

Can you tell us about some of your recent projects?

During the past few years our key priority has been growing the retail portfolio of the business with significant CAPEX investment and upgrades across our network.

We’ve also focused on growing our other place-based channels. Last year, we launched an office media network across Australia and just a few months ago we significantly expanded our petro convenience footprint with the acquisition of the TMS Ignite network.

We’re continuing to refine our screen-specific content strategy in partnership with our sister brand, Val Morgan Digital, to amplify audience-driven content from LADbible, SPORTbible, BuzzFeed, The Latch, and POPSUGAR. This strategy was built from insights from an ethnographic study, which identified food, pop culture, sport, and lifestyle as key interest areas for consumers. By leveraging these findings, we’re able to deliver targeted, meaningful content that audiences want to consume.

Earlier this year, we also launched the Ultimate Media Champion; a competition created to bring the Australian media industry together through health and wellness.

How do you foster good relationships with retail partners?

The success of our retail network is tied to our shopping centre partners, and we are committed to building strong relationships with every landlord and developer to ensure we collectively achieve optimal commercial outcomes.

Our team are true experts within the shopping centre and outdoor media sector. Their commitment to expanding their knowledge, staying ahead of trends and creating new product solutions ensures we consistently exceed our partners’ expectations.

We also empower our partners by providing access to innovative technologies like DART, for their own use.

Above all, our goal is to cultivate a partnership experience built on transparency and integrity. We recognise true collaboration goes beyond delivering favourable outcomes; it’s about fostering trust. This commitment is evident in our approach to screen placement, with every solution we propose focused on genuinely enhancing the shopping centre experience, rather than simply filling space.

Reflecting on your career, what are your most memorable moments?

The most memorable moments have been the 11 acquisitions that have accelerated growth across all our businesses. A standout achievement was securing the extensive multi-year partnership with Asahi Lifestyle Beverages, which resulted in the successful integration of their products into HOYTS Cinemas across Australia.

What I am most proud of is seeing the hundreds of people who we have employed over the years grow and thrive within their roles.

Who’s someone who inspires you and why?

I’m inspired by the underdogs who, against all odds, achieve great things through perseverance and commitment in the face of adversity. There are so many examples – like Frank Lowy, Lindsay Fox and others –who didn’t start at the top, but through hard work and determination, they reached incredible heights.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

Early in my career, I was given a simple piece of advice that holds true today: “We go on as we begin”. This has always reminded me of the importance of getting things right from the start. Taking the time and effort upfront to establish solid foundations can make all the difference – because correcting mistakes later often slows progress or can even derail success entirely.

Good habits become good behaviours, and these behaviours partly define you and what opportunities may come your way.

Finally, you never really build a business by yourself; you build the people who will build the business.