Martin Corke, Chief Marketing Officer of Bauer Media Outdoor, on thirty-three years in UK media, the oldest medium with the brightest future, and why public trust is the defining strength of out-of-home.
"Technology is the enabler. Not the disruptor."
Thirty-three years in UK media, across recruitment magazines, IPC consumer titles, News International digital strategy and now 13 years at what is now Bauer Media Outdoor. Martin Corke on technology as an enabler not a disruptor, programmatic OOH as premium data-layered access, carbon efficiency as a structural advantage, public trust as the category’s defining strength, and why marketers have to market marketing.
Corke joined media sales in 1993 at Miller Freeman selling recruitment advertising for an engineering title. Thirty-three years later he is the CMO of Bauer Media Outdoor, the out-of-home group formerly known as Clear Channel UK before Bauer Media’s 2020 acquisition. His career has run through every major UK media transformation: IPC Media consumer magazines, TDI Advertising’s London Underground and bus posters, Associated Northcliffe Digital’s 65-site portfolio, News International’s digital strategy spine across The Sun and The Times, and now 13 years in out-of-home.
In this conversation with host John Horsley, Martin Corke argues that out-of-home’s digital transformation is the healthiest of any legacy medium, unpacks why programmatic OOH is a fundamentally different proposition to programmatic in print, makes the commercial case for brand and demand working together, makes the carbon-efficiency case for one-to-many broadcast media, draws the line where AI threatens public trust in the category, and argues, as a 23-year sales veteran turned CMO, that marketers must market marketing inside their own businesses.
Pretty much everywhere I’ve worked, every channel, has been through digital transformation. That’s the switch.
Corke began in print media before the digital revolution. Every subsequent role, across consumer magazines, national newspapers and out-of-home, has been a version of the same transformation. What sets out-of-home apart is that tech has grown the category rather than disrupted it.
Tech has been an enabler for out-of-home. It’s helped the business grow upon its fundamental strengths, rather than disrupt it.
Out-of-home moved from a few hundred shopping-mall digital screens to a medium almost entirely driven by digital growth. Screen technology, programmatic platforms and data layering have compounded broadcast reach. The category is one of the oldest traditional media channels, Corke argues, and also the one with the brightest future.
Programmatic in OOH is about premium, data-layered opportunities for advertisers. Not unsold inventory.
Corke has run programmatic businesses in both print and out-of-home. Print programmatic began as a way for media owners to clear unsold inventory. Out-of-home programmatic began as a way to offer premium, contextually relevant, data-layered opportunities to advertisers. High double-digit annual revenue growth. Attracting new advertisers and expanding existing ones.
Interfere with public trust through AI and you’re dancing with the devil for your brand reputation.
A year ago some brands used AI to fake out-of-home campaigns and showcase them on social. Consumers called them out publicly, and the practice has largely stopped. Corke’s argument: public trust is out-of-home’s defining strength. Productive AI use sits elsewhere, in creative testing, copy approval workflows, and helping advertisers test whether a poster hits the metrics that define a great execution.
Be clear why the change is positive for advertisers and consumers. Don’t get distracted by shiny new things.
Corke cites the launch of The Times iPad subscription, which sold 25,000 subscriptions the first weekend against universal expert advice that nobody would pay for content. He applies the same principle to AI in out-of-home. On marketing itself: a third of Fortune 500 companies have no CMO. Marketers must answer "so what?" at board level: does it sell more, build reputation, win tenders? That is the path back to the top table.
"Interfere with public trust through AI. That’s dancing with the devil."
John Horsley Your journey and how you got to where you are today.
Martin 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.
John Horsley What has been most transformative?
Martin 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.
John Horsley Out-of-home has reinvented itself. How did the channel evolve?
Martin 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.
John Horsley How does it evolve over the next three to five years?
Martin 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.
John Horsley Carbon efficiency.
Martin 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.
John Horsley Do marketers underestimate the opportunity in out-of-home?
Martin 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.
John Horsley What campaigns work particularly well?
Martin 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.
John Horsley Programmatic.
Martin 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.
John Horsley Storytelling.
Martin 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.
John Horsley Leading change in legacy media.
Martin 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.
John Horsley Next decade for OOH.
Martin 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.
John Horsley Innovation sources.
Martin 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.
John Horsley Democratising access.
Martin 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.
John Horsley AI: over or under hyped?
Martin 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.
John Horsley One capability every marketer needs.
Martin 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.
John Horsley Advice to someone entering the industry.
Martin 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.
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