BarkleyOKRP has appointed Sean Corcoran, U.S. CEO of Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Mediahub, as its first president of media and analytics. 

Reporting to BarkleyOKRP CEO Jeff King, Corcoran will oversee more than 250 employees and clients including AMC Theatres, Papa Murphy’s, Motel 6, Zappos, The Vitamin Shoppe and 1-800 Contacts. 

Corcoran will aim to scale BarkleyOKRP’s growing media business. In May, the agency bought digital performance marketing agency Adlucent from Advantage Solutions, marking its first acquisition since forming through the merger of Barkley and OKRP earlier this year. (Terms of the Adlucent acquisition were not disclosed.)

As BarkleyOKRP invests further in “technology consulting and development services,” Corcoran will also oversee those capabilities, King said. “​​We’re building a very holistic agency,” he added.

Over his 12 years at Mediahub, which existed within MullenLowe before a spinout in 2019, Corcoran helped the agency scale to over 1,000 employees, according to a BarkleyOKRP statement. Mediahub joined IPG's Mediabrands network in 2023. The agency confirmed that a search is underway for Corcoran's successor. 

Carving out its place

Establishing Corcoran’s role—and investing further in media—is another step in BarkleyOKRP’s efforts to become an “independent at scale,” for which King believes there is “an opening in the market.”

Chicago-based private equity firm Keystone Capital owns a “slight majority” of BarkleyOKRP following the merger, King previously said.

BarkleyOKRP will continue to explore more deals following the Adlucent acquisition, but there’s nothing on the “immediate horizon,” King said. While the agency could explore other areas, media and analytics is currently a “primary area of focus for us.”

“We are very aggressive … in terms of looking at and pursuing opportunities to continue to grow,” King said, “whether it be through talent acquisition and growing organically, or through M&A.”