BarkleyOKRP launches new standalone media agency MissionOne Media to ‘scale with soul’
By Michael Bürgi • March 13, 2025 •
Ivy Liu
Perhaps sensing the opportunity that’s being created by agency holding companies getting bigger and broader — and leaving mid-sized marketers to feel like they’re being overlooked — another independent agency group is launching a new media agency extension.
BarkleyOKRP, which has long handled some of its own media work but is primarily known for its creative chops, has launched media agency MissionOne Media. It’s led by Sean Corcoran, a veteran media agency executive who most recently ran IPG’s Mediahub until last year, when he joined Barkley.
The new shop will handle all elements of a full-service media agency but with a focus on staying closely linked to the creative side of the business. Corcoran emphasized that being the right size is vital to its success. “We feel like it’s kind of Goldilocks size,” he said, as in neither too big nor too small. The perfect client spends somewhere in the $50 million to $100 million range, he added.
MissionOne Media was built on the backbone of performance-driven agency Adlucent, an acquisition Barkley made last year, and which houses proprietary ad tech specializing in audience-based and search and shopping bid tech, as well as data management tech.
“We’re using [Adlucent] as the base layer of tech, and we’ve already started to build on top of it, to expand it so it’s more of a full service capability around media, from a full-funnel perspective,” said Corcoran.
Clients moving over from the original media shop at Barkley include the National Pork Board, which Barkley recently won, as well as AMC, Ruiz Foods and The Vitamin Shoppe, among others.
Being full service for clients under the tagline “Scale with soul” is key to how Corcoran distinguishes MissionOne, including CRM and creative input as well as finding the right role for AI. “Transparency and [being] anti-principal buying, all that stuff — it’s a big pillar but I didn’t want to make that the center of the conversation,” he explained. “We’re also focused on bringing full service and a true holistic approach. We look at every aspect of acquiring a customer, converting a customer and keeping a customer. We can do all aspects of that, where a lot of media agencies are very myopic and focused on their narrow band” of expertise.
“It’s the scale and ability to combine the powers of media, analytics and CRM all within one umbrella, underpinned by great tech, great talent and connectivity to the larger agency offerings such as strategy and creative,” added Reshma Karnik, chief media officer for MissionOne and a Barkley veteran. “It allows us to provide bespoke solutions to our clients across the spectrum, all the way from branding to deep performance.”
Jay Pattisall, vp and senior agency analyst at Forrester, noted there’s been a surge in independent agency momentum in both creative and media, due in part to an influx of private equity investment, business growth and capabilities expansion in recent years. “The top independent media agencies account for nearly 10% or $67 billion in billings for North America. We receive frequent client questions about the capabilities and limitations of independents. So, it’s to be expected that other independents — like Barkley, Mother or Zambezi would move to capitalize on this trend,” he said.
Pattisall cautioned that “creating a standalone media company inside a full-service agency like Barkley does create a siloed approach to creative and media that is reminiscent of the holding company strategy. While separate business units aid in profitability, the silos can impede the consumer advertising and marketing experience. Marketers interested in integrated offerings should pay close attention to how independent manage the silos.”
But Pattisall credited Corcoran, who would argue that last point, for having “the pedigree and experience to manage not only creative and media integration (as he did for Mullen and Mediahub), but also high performing media planning and activation.”
Other Barkley vets are moving over to MissionOne Media, including svp of data and analytics Madeline Juneau, and Matt Zeiger, svp of data and tech — the latter of whom will report to new hire (and fellow ex-Mediahub-er) Demian Brink, chief data and analytics officer.
Among new hires, Corcoran has brought in marketing veteran Pat LaCroix to be evp of media and growth. LaCroix was most recently head of marketing and partnerships at B2B AI firm Seekr but also has experience working at Bose and CVS Health.
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