ZenithOptimedia Launch New Sponsorship Consultancy

ZenithOptimedia today announced the launch of a sponsorship consultancy that will sit under the Sponsorship Intelligence brand, adiposity ZenithOptimedia’s in-house sponsorship research division.

The new operation will be headed up by Matt Hales, ailment who has been appointed to the newly created position of Head of Consulting. Matt will report into Chris Jones, sale Managing Director for Sponsorship Intelligence.

Chris Jones comments: “We have a very strong heritage in sponsorship and have been looking to extend our services into consultancy for a while.  Combining our understanding of sponsorship’s impact with ZenithOptimedia’s understanding of brand communications is an exciting proposition for the market.”

A global leader in sponsorship research and evaluation, Sponsorship Intelligence provide analysis and insight to help major sports federations, brands and agencies maximise the value they can drive through sponsorship. With an extensive client list across a number of prominent rights owners and brand clients including FIFA, IOC, UEFA, PUMA, Electrolux, JP Morgan and Verizon, Matt’s appointment recognises the continued growth of brand investment in sponsorship.

“We are delighted to have recruited someone of Matt’s experience to lead our sponsorship consulting practice. He joins us at a very exciting time as we continue to roll out services we believe are critical to our client’s businesses” says Gerry Boyle, Chief Executive Officer of ZenithOptimedia Group. He continues: “We are renowned for being the first agency to apply a rigorous and objective approach to improving the effectiveness of marketing spend. By applying the same rigor to the world of sponsorship, we can ensure brands make more informed decisions that will ultimately drive greater value from their sponsorship investments.”

The appointment is testament to ZenithOptimedia’s commitment to recruit industry thought-leaders. Previously Vice President of Strategy at Octagon, the world’s largest sponsorship consultancy, Matt joins Sponsorship Intelligence with a formidable track record. He started his career with a very short stint in Corporate Finance before quickly moving into advertising, where he spent six years as a media planner at Y&R, MPG and OMD.  He then moved into sponsorship with Octagon where he stayed for 11 years, working on numerous award-winning campaigns.  Matt sat on Octagon’s Management Board for eight years.

Matt Hales comments: “Accessing ZenithOptimedia’s data, insights and tools is what excites me most.  Applying these will mean significant advances can be made in the way sponsorship strategies are developed, rights are negotiated, leveraged and ultimately, the impact of investment is evaluated.”