Cooke to replace Holley at OHMSA

Barbara Cooke

Cooke has already begun her role at OHMSA, as of 16 August 2010, and her priority is to help find a successor for Holley, as well as to keep the association running smoothly across all of its activities. However, Cooke's biggest challenge is the research initiative - one that will take OOH to new and more competitive heights.

"Frankly, retirement didn't suit me very well," says Cooke. "I was intrigued at the thought of getting to know a medium that had always fascinated me. The clincher was the opportunity to be at the start of a new era for OOH media in terms of development and research methodology, which will for the first time, give media planners an effective reach and frequency planning tool."

Research to move outdoor to mainstream

"The international trend is one of growth and as South Africans become more mobile and more adventurous; this medium will literally stop them in their tracks. The research will be a powerful tool to move OOH from being seen as a 'Cinderella' medium to that of a mainstream medium; one not to be left off the schedules," she concludes.

Cooke believes that the main problem in this industry sector has been the lack of research to prove OOH's effectiveness.

"The South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) offering is less than exciting and the few questions that are included in the AMPS questionnaire do not provide an opportunity for media planners to evaluate the medium's effectiveness in delivering audience against that of TV, print or radio."

The research that Cooke will be overseeing will be state-of-the-art and best practice in terms of the global guidelines set by the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR), which is the world organisation that enables research into markets, consumers and societies, and it will ultimately provide media planners with a proper planning tool for OOH.

Distinguished career

Barbara Cooke was the general manager of research and marketing at National Magazines, the magazine division of the Nasionale Pers Publishing Group (now Media24) for over 13 years. She was also the director of research and planning at J. Walter Thompson following nearly 20 years at Unilever.

Cooke has also has been widely published and is a member of a variety of professional bodies - she has served on the boards of the Print Media Association of South Africa (PMASA), the Magazine and Publishers Association of South Africa (MPASA)and the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF), of which she was vice-chairman.

Cooke has been recognised on various platforms such as the 1994 Protea Award from the South African Association of Marketers when she was the first and only woman in the history of this award to be named 'Marketing Person of the Year'. In 1998, she was awarded the Fellowship of the PMASA, and in 1999, the Fellowship of the Institute of Marketing and Media (IMM). In February 2001, she shared the inaugural Platinum Achievement Award from the Media Director's Circle for long-term service to the industry.

In September 1999, she started Marketing & Media Research Brokers with her husband Tim Cooke. In 2002, with Tim Bester (former chair of McCann Erickson and also one-time chair of SAARF), they formed the Brand Survey Company SA to introduce the internationally acclaimed TGI (Target Group Index) to the South African market - the 50th TGI country in the world and the first in Africa.

After successfully launching and establishing TGI in South Africa, she retired from the company and started her own consultancy once again. Cooke served on the Council of the Technikon Witwatersrand until its amalgamation with Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) to form the new University of Johannesburg (UJ).