International Events

oOh!media’s CEO, Cathy O’Connor to be headline speaker at forthcoming WOO Annual Congress

She will speak on the growth of Retail Media

Published

March 20, 2025

oOh!media CEO Cathy O’Connor is the first speaker to be announced for the World Out of Home Organization’s forthcoming 2025 Annual Congress in Mexico City. O’Connor will explore the growth of retail media and its opportunities for the Out of Home industry.

Retail Media is the fastest growing media sector with global revenues set to surpass $179.5B in 2025. As the category scales and looks to take an even greater share of advertising spend, in-store retail media has emerged as the next big wave of growth with broad implications and opportunities for the OOH sector.

One of Australia’s leading media owners, oOh!media CEO and WOO board member Cathy O’Connor will explore the strategic opportunity retail media represents for the OOH sector and how oOh!media has set itself up to capitalise on the next big wave of growth in a presentation at the World Out of Home Organization Annual Congress in Mexico City from June 4-6.

oOh!media launched retail media division reo in 2023 with a vision to partner with retailers to build and monetise their omni-channel retail media networks, complementing oOh!media’s retail OOH offering of over 4,000 screens in more than 450 retail centres. Clients include leading ANZ retailers Officeworks, Petbarn, The Warehouse Group and Australia Post.

O’Connor was appointed CEO in 2021. Before oOh!media, she led Nova Entertainment as CEO for 12 years, where she helped to transform the company into a multi-platform business and launched Smooth FM. Her earlier career includes management roles at Austereo and radio advertising sales

positions at 2SM and 2GB. As well as her executive role, she chairs the Sony Foundation, serves on the board of the Outdoor Media Association, is a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW) She has been a member of the Commercial Radio Australia Board and is a respected mentor through programs such as IMAA’s Female Leaders of Tomorrow.

WOO President Tom Goddard says: “Cathy O’Connor is one of today’s ground-breaking media leaders, seeing the bigger media picture as well as the particular issues of OOH. Retail media is one of the key growth drivers for OOH now and in the future and there could be no better guide to its opportunities and challenges.”