Independent out-of-home (OOH) Gawk Outdoor, founded in 2018 by brothers Luke and James Course, made AFR’s Fast Starters List in 2022. After eight years of growth with oOh!media, the Course brothers are going solo.

Having emerged as an established powerhouse in independent regional advertising, with campaigns that rival the reach and engagement of metropolitan audiences, Gawk Outdoor is now in a position to take on commercial heavy-hitters in competition for national media budgets. 

The grassroots agency has built up 422-plus static and 64 digital billboard faces since launching in 2018, securing an 80 percent share of roadside OOH presence in regional Victoria as well as the largest digital billboard presence in South Australia.

To compete with oOh!media in regional New South Wales, where Gawk Outdoor ranks second in marketing operations, the brothers have opened their first NSW office in Erina. 

Gawk Outdoor group agency director Tim Stevenson

A Sydney office is also in development, placing Gawk Outdoor in direct proximity to the city’s major media agencies and commercial clients. The amicable break-up between Gawk and oOh! will take effect from 12 January 2026, prompting Gawk Outdoor to assemble a dedicated agency sales team led by group agency director Tim Stevenson and Heidi Lawrie,  as agency sales director for Victoria.

New commercial horizons across the east coast

The decision to break away from oOh!media was driven by growth in revenue and inventory, says Stevenson. 

Citing the brand’s 80 percent share of regional billboard coverage in Victoria, he said, “It has become clear we have the scale to entice agencies through our doors. Now, with regional New South Wales and South Australia growing quickly, our offering becomes very compelling. This is the right time to build up our agency sales team to match where we are going.” 

Gawk Outdoor director Luke Course

Gawk Outdoor director Luke Course echoes this confidence in new territory expansion, with regional NSW and SA following a similar rate of commercial growth as currently seen in regional Victoria. 

“This was the time to put our big boy pants on,” Course says, “and show the market that we can succeed on our own two feet.”

The high rate of growth over the past eight years has mostly been accomplished out of the limelight, prompting Stevenson to consider Gawk Outdoor the best-kept secret in regional OOH advertising. The brand’s pace of inventory growth, he wryly claims, has been matched only by Aussie sprinter Gout Gout. 

“We think the market is ready to hear us take the piss out of ourselves and answer the phone – and briefs – faster than a Carlos Alcaraz return,” Stevenson adds.

As for the long run ahead, Course emphasises the brand will be running solo with no potential partnerships for the foreseeable future. “oOh! was a great partner,” he says of their eight-year union, “so if we were ever going to leave, it was going to be able to control our own destiny.”

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