“Always Optimistic!” Cathy O’Connor Talks oOh!Media’s Big Results

Cathy O’Connor has plenty to be happy about; not only is oOh!Media on the way to COVID recovery with a 62 per cent increase, but she is the captain steering the ship into profitable waters.

Of course, the financial results aren’t surprising to O’Connor. She told B&T, “My view was always optimistic during the pandemic because of how Australians behave and live.

“I was confident that at some point the lockdowns would end and things would bounce back, and we have seen that when the lockdown finished, revenues rebounded.

“I always knew it was just a point in time. Hence, why you are now seeing such a rebound.”

O’Connor’s ability to be pragmatic without being ruffled is what landed her as the number one pick on our Women In Media Power List.

She’s unflappable, which is a pretty unique thing to be in 2022.

Even when I asked how she was celebrating, oOh!Media’s win, she replied, “By heading to back-to-back investor meetings. I’m now onto the second half result, and-committed to that! But, dare I say, we won’t stop,” which is a testament to her work ethic and her ability to keep looking ahead. Even a win won’t slow her stride.

O’Connor puts the resurgence of oOH!Media down to, “Formats are performing above pre covid levels. It’s all pretty good stuff, and it gives a good indication that oOh!Media is on the right track.”

While the success is fun to bask in, O’Connor isn’t one to enjoy the win too much, “We are always looking ahead, and seeing what commercial partners want. You’re never resting on your laurels, which is part of being a market leader,” she explained.

O’Connor’s ability to look ahead might also come down to oOh!Media’s recent partnership with News Corp.

It’s a partnership she’s incredibly thrilled and optimistic about; she said: “When I came to the business, I just saw how compelling our platform was. It has always had the ability for a news brand to capitalise on that brand every day in a very real way. I saw it as a powerful opportunity for news sites, and so we put it to the market, and brands saw it as a powerful opportunity.

“Why wouldn’t a news site want to have the biggest footprint they can? We are in a position where we have the platform, but we need the content and News Corp is a brand that has the content but needs the platform.”

So what can we expect from oOh!Media besides their usual pragmatic approach and emphasis on digital? O’Connor is excited by the in-house stuff it is creating, “We launched Poly, our creative services unit, and this is the evolution of creative services. That is the bespoke agency team, so that is really going well.”

Is she worried that the better landscape for OOH will lead to more competition? In classic O’Connor style, she replied, “Not really. I’m quite energised by competition, and I find it more motivating than anything else.”

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Cathy O’Connor