The Public Medium

Lightly edited for readability.

Host Your journey and how you got to where you are today.

Corke Graduated 33 years ago. Realised I didn’t want to be a management consultant or an accountant and didn’t want to stay in education. Picked up The Guardian, saw an ad for media sales executives. A few weeks later I was at Miller Freeman selling recruitment advertising for an engineering title.

Host What has been most transformative?

Corke My career started very much in traditional media, before the digital revolution. Everywhere I’ve worked since, every channel, has been through digital transformation. That’s the significant change, both in how consumers engage with content and in the media sales proposition to advertisers.

Host Out-of-home has reinvented itself. How did the channel evolve?

Corke In my 13 years at Bauer Media Outdoor, it’s changed dramatically. A few hundred digital screens in shopping malls, to a medium almost entirely driven by digital growth, and investment in the platforms that make it easier for advertisers to access those screens. What’s been exciting is that technology has been an enabler for out-of-home. It’s helped the business grow upon its fundamental strengths, rather than disrupt it. That sets it apart from other traditional channels like national print.

Host How does it evolve over the next three to five years?

Corke There’s still room for digital network growth across the UK and Europe, particularly in public space. Plenty of room to advance the platforms that let advertisers access out-of-home simply. Continued investment in carbon efficiency. And I’m really focused on making sure out-of-home is not just effective for brands, but a positive contributor to society.

Host Carbon efficiency.

Corke Out-of-home is a one-to-many medium. Research has shown it is the most carbon-efficient medium of all. Relatively few screens reaching national broadcast audiences. Screen technology has improved dramatically, so electricity consumed for public messaging keeps falling. Bauer Media Outdoor recently acquired Amscreen, the sole supplier of screens and ad technology to the business, one of whose primary focuses is reducing electricity consumption.

Host Do marketers underestimate the opportunity in out-of-home?

Corke Some do. Some absolutely don’t. That’s reflected in the Outdoor Media Awards that Bauer Media Outdoor runs every year. Charities, restaurant groups, travel brands doing OOH brilliantly. My forever challenge is to help the ones who haven’t got there yet get the very best out of the medium.

Host What campaigns work particularly well?

Corke OOH is flexible. Its mainstay is brand building. Last year’s Grand Prix winner at the Outdoor Media Awards was British Airways and the work was outstanding. But advertisers underestimate the capacity, particularly since the digital revolution, to use out-of-home as an activation medium as well. Brand metrics and short-term sales simultaneously.

Host Programmatic.

Corke Different starting point. In programmatic print and online, it often began as a way for media owners to clear unsold inventory. In OOH, programmatic is about offering premium, data-layered opportunities to advertisers. Helps them access out-of-home quicker, more simply, and just as effectively as channels they might otherwise swerve to online. High double-digit growth. Every year. Attracting new advertisers and helping existing brands do more. Data is underneath all of it.

Host Storytelling.

Corke My job is to bring the Bauer Media Outdoor way to life. That’s a platform for brands and a platform for good, in equal measure. Sounds neat, but like any good story it has to have substance and proof. I fully expect to be challenged where and when the story isn’t authentic.

Host Leading change in legacy media.

Corke The experience that stands out is being part of the team that launched The Times iPad subscription, at a time when advertisers, commentators and journalists were telling us we were completely bonkers and no one would pay for content. Twenty-five thousand subscriptions the first weekend proved people wrong. Be clear why the change is positive. Don’t get distracted by shiny things. Focus on substantive change and the longer term. It comes down to buy-in, leadership and talent.

Host Next decade for OOH.

Corke Revenue will grow. OOH is a bit of a sleeping giant in share. There’s a lot of love for the medium, but it really should be taking more share from other channels, particularly online. That is beginning to happen. More digital screens. More energy efficiency. More flexibility. Platforms that make OOH as easy to plan as YouTube or other social platforms.

Host Innovation sources.

Corke Technology, data, creative and partnerships. Within Bauer Media Outdoor we have Technic, our technology and digital screen division, advancing format and capability. OOH will continue to grow through partnerships. We’re into the hard yards now, making sure the platforms are there to make it easier to access.

Host Democratising access.

Corke Important. Direct sales and direct relationships with SMEs are still bigger than programmatic for us. Small clients are often surprised how effective and inexpensive OOH can be for them. We celebrate small businesses and small charities in the Outdoor Media Awards as well. We are there for global mega brands and the local butcher.

Host AI: over or under hyped?

Corke Both. Overhyped short term, underhyped long term. Young people in our team are finding smart practical uses: creative testing, copy approvals, helping advertisers build better posters. The failure mode is brands faking out-of-home on social with AI. Consumers called that out publicly. Public trust is one of out-of-home’s biggest strengths. Interfere with it through AI and you’re dancing with the devil for your brand reputation.

Host One capability every marketer needs.

Corke Be a great leader of people. Team first. And marketers have to be really good at marketing, marketing within their own business. A third of Fortune 500 companies have decided they don’t need a CMO. That feels particularly daft to me. We have to demonstrate why marketing adds value and earn the top-table seat on results.

Host Advice to someone entering the industry.

Corke The young people in my team who progress quickest ask the best questions. Deep questions, without being annoying, coming from a genuine place of wanting to learn. Diversity and inclusion is something to be celebrated. If you find yourself in a business that wants you to conform, leave and work somewhere else. Make sure you are working within a culture that works for you.