MediaCom Sport opens first of four international offices starting with Russia

MediaCom Sport has announced its global rollout ahead of schedule, opening a new office in Russia with an additional three countries also preparing to launch. MediaCom Sport Russia & CIS is now open for business in Moscow and will be followed by a further three new offices servicing North America, Latin America and Europe within three months.

 

The agency has named Ken Crease, the former Managing Director of Sport Media Group, to lead its Moscow office.

 

Ken has over 14 years of experience in the Russian market working with clients including Russian challenger team Marussia F1, Volkswagen, Megafon and Hankook.

 

Russia will be a key market for sports sponsorship with the country hosting both the Winter Olympics in 2014 and the Football World Cup in 2018. A number of MediaCom clients have already signed as partners for these events and total sponsorship deals around Sochi 2014 are claimed to be worth $1.2bn.

 

 

“Russia is going to be at the centre of global sport for the next six years. Participating in sport presents great opportunities for brands to forge strong bonds with consumers. Pride in Russia’s ability to win the rights to host these events will ensure that associated brands reap the rewards,” said Ken Crease, Head of MediaCom Sport Russia & CIS.

 

The expansion of the MediaCom Sport network coincides with three new appointments at its London headquarters: James Hough, John Scurfield and Misha Sher.

 

James Hough joins the team from Havas Sports & Entertainment in the UK where he ran the sport divisions within Havas-owned media agencies MPG and Arena Media. He will work alongside former Fuse Sport & Entertainment executive John Scurfield as part of the leadership team, charged with presenting and delivering integrated sports strategies for clients.

 

James has previously worked at Carat Sponsorship and Walker Media, while John joins from OMD’s Fuse where he was head of sponsorship in the UK and worked on brands including Vodafone, Carlsberg and McDonald’s.

 

Misha Sher is responsible for developing MediaCom Sport’s exclusive deal to support brand extensions for Brazilian legend Pelé. Misha has previously overseen global partnerships for Glasgow Rangers FC and also worked for Fox Soccer Channel, Soccerex and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co in Boston.

 

“I am very pleased to have secured the kind of talent that has now joined our existing team. MediaCom Sport is a unique proposition that not only connects clients with bespoke properties but also ensures they are activated early in the planning process and integrated with their entire marketing programmes. We believe that the combination of key local office expansion and the strengthening of our global team with such high calibre and experienced personnel will put us in an even stronger position to unleash the power of sport for more of our clients across all markets,” said Marcus John, Global Head of MediaCom Sport.

 

In August, MediaCom Sport announced a four-year deal to support future global brand extensions for Pelé, a unique deal for a media agency. Like Russia, Brazil is firmly in the world’s sporting spotlight with the 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics due to be staged in the country.