Mark Barber, Radiocentre's planning director and the force behind studies such as Re-evaluating Media and ROI Multiplier, is stepping back after more than 25 years.
Mark Barber, the planning director at Radiocentre and one of the best-known names in advertising effectiveness research, is stepping down after more than 25 years with the commercial radio industry’s trade body. He will spend more time on his non-executive role at the independent media agency December19, and Radiocentre said further changes to its advertising and commercial team would follow, as Decision Marketing reported.
Barber joined the then Radio Advertising Bureau in 2001 after a career as a strategic planner at media agencies including Universal McCann and Ted Bates, and stayed through its merger into Radiocentre in 2006. He has worked in advertising and media for more than 44 years, and was appointed MBE in 2015 for services to commercial radio.
His legacy is a body of research that changed how radio is bought. Studies including Radiogauge, ROI Multiplier, Generation Audio, Re-evaluating Media and High Gain Audio gave the medium hard evidence on reach, attention and return on investment, at a time when it was often treated as an afterthought in the media plan.
Matt Payton, Radiocentre’s chief executive, said Barber’s “body of work is immense and respected around the world”. Barber said he felt fortunate to have spent 25 years with the industry and that it felt like “an appropriate moment to step back and consider a more fractional approach”.
Smaller media owe much of their place on the plan to trade bodies that fund serious research, and Re-evaluating Media in particular is still quoted whenever planners argue about cost and attention across channels. Losing the person behind it is a real loss for audio, which is trying to grow its share against the digital giants that now take two thirds of global ad spend. For why that kind of evidence matters, see our piece on the effectiveness function.
He plans, buys and reviews advertising for a living, and helps score campaigns on the site against the same five Crown Score criteria alongside other authors and contributors.
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