Mediacom Launches New Sports Division

MediaCom Worldwide has launched a new global sports division, MediaCom Sport, which will be headed by global head of sports Marcus John – previously SVP & managing director of IMG Consulting Asia/Pacific.

MediaCom Sport will offer four key areas of services: Strategic advice, rights negotiation, rights activation and measurement.

Marcus’ remit will be to work with MediaCom’s global account directors, to manage the relationship with key sporting bodies and to provide clients with first hand access to these opportunities in order to help them meet their ever-more complex marketing challenges.

He will also work closely with the MediaCom Beyond Advertising team and GroupM’s Entertainment & Sports Partnerships group to communicate client engagement in sports across all consumer touch points.

Prior to joining MediaCom, Marcus spent ten years at IMG completing his tenure as SVP & managing director, IMG Consulting Asia/Pacific.

He was responsible for deals in Asia including the Beijing Olympics’ first deal to exceed the USD100million mark.

In addition he advised a wide range of clients over the past decade in this area such as Visa, GE, Phillips, Hyundai and Johnson & Johnson.

Chairman and CEO Stephen Allan, said: ‘Both consumers and clients are increasingly interested in what sports can deliver. MediaCom has previously focused its sports expertise at a local and regional level but we realised that our clients now require a more global and deeper understanding of the sports arena as their budgets continue to shift towards investments in this area and with it a much greater sensitivity to achieve solid returns’.

‘We need to be able to offer our clients the very best in advice and are therefore delighted to welcome Marcus to MediaCom’s global team. Marcus’ brief is to build the scale of our offer, establish strong ties with right holders and make the best opportunities available to our clients’.

New global head of Sports Marcus John, added: ‘I am very excited about building a standalone sports business for one of the world’s most powerful media agencies and adding significant value to its large and diversified client base’.

‘Establishing sports expertise within a media agency will ensure that brands who invest in sports rights also activate these properties to their full potential and integrate them across all their communication channels’.