Brendon Cook to step down as CEO and MD of Ooh Media

Ooh Media founder Brendon Cook has announced he will be stepping down as MD and CEO of the outdoor media business during 2020. 

Ooh Media was founded in 1989. A replacement for Cook will be sourced in the coming months and Cook will stay on for the transition period.

Brendon Cook is stepping down from Ooh Media

In an announcement made to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) this morning, Cook advised he would be taking up a non-executive consulting role to provide ‘ongoing strategic advice’ as the company transitions to a new CEO.

Ooh chairman Tony Faure acknowledged the contribution Cook had made over his 30 years with the business.

“Brendon has been a true pioneer of the Out of Home industry in Australia. Having founded Ooh in 1989, he has been an innovator and passionate industry leader.

“Brendon had the foresight to recognise the growth potential of digital and has been a powerful advocate for the development of new outdoor environments to capitalise on the rapid growth in media consumption habits away from the home. He also led the development of new ways to measure the true value of the out of home segment.

“He has successfully led Ooh’s diversification strategy to build a data-centric, scalable multi-format business across billboards, retail, office buildings, street furniture, rail, universities, cafes and airports which leads the Australian and New Zealand markets. The company is in good shape and has a strong and established management team.

“On behalf of the Board and the entire team at Ooh, I want to thank Brendon for his enormous commitment and dedication to building and leading our business over the past 30 years. We look forward to continuing to work with Brendon in his new role.”

Cook said seeing the scale of Ooh had been a dream come true.

“I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with such a great team of people over the past 30 years. To have witnessed the company grow to the size and scale it is today is immensely satisfying and I am delighted I will continue to be a part of the Ooh story to ensure it is well set up for the next stage of growth. With our integration now largely complete and a strong team in place, I believe now is the right time to make the transition.

“I look forward to continuing to be a supportive, long term shareholder providing strategic advice to the company once transition to new leadership is complete.”

The Board has already commenced the process to find a replacement for Cook, leading a global search to find a new MD and CEO.

Cook will remain in place until a replacement is found.

Ooh Media upgraded its earnings forecast at the end of 2019, reporting that a rise in bookings in the latter half of the year had buoyed expectations. Four months earlier the company has dropped expectations to between $125m and $135m from the initial guidance of $152m to $162m. In December, the figures were then revised to between $138m and $143m.

In 2018, the outdoor company completed a $570m acquisition of street furniture business Adshel, which it bought from Here, There and Everywhere. Ooh Media successfully negotiated the deal after a bidding war with APN Outdoor. APN and Ooh had attempted a merger before that. 

In 2016, Ooh Media bought youth publisher Junkee Media, securing 85% of the company for $11.05m. The team still remains as a stand-alone enterprise, with existing CEO and publisher, Neil Ackland and Tim Duggan, staying on.