Elite kayak competitor and coach, turned serial entrepreneur and sports marketing specialist and strategist, Doug Bird has spent two decades turning participants in events like the Cape Epic, Berg&Bush, Dusi, Comrades Marathon into lifelong customers for many top sponsors and brands.

Doug, former Head of Sports Marketing at Red Bull South Africa, is an astute marketer who knows more than a thing or two about sponsorships and events. On the latest ESG EvolvX episode, WILD AIR Agency founder speaks of the "Real Power of Experiential Marketing" - and why he believes that the brands winning right now aren't chasing impressions, they're filling start lines, stadiums and finish chutes with real people and real supporters.

Is Experiential Marketing the new golden age of event and sports marketing?

EvolvX Ep.7: Leadership when it matters most.

In the midst of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour between the Springboks and the All Blacks, join ESG and Gerald de Kock as he tackles the subject: “Leadership when it matters most” with former Springbok skipper, Corne Krige, Andrew Finlayson, Co-Founder of Maven Wealth and former lock, WP captain and CEO of Electrum Software, Anton van Zyl.

Gerald asks the question:

What does it take to lead when it matters most?

Welcome to another EvolvX podcast where sport, business and leadership come together. Real conversations. Honest perspectives.

Brought to you by Evolv Sports Global

The goal posts have shifted.

In today’s multi-billion rand sports sponsorship industry, it’s no longer about logo placement or player endorsements. Forward-thinking brands are asking for real and measurable outcomes for their ROI.

Beyond a lift in sales, share of voice, sentiment and engagement, there is a bigger shift: brands are moving from mass awareness and reach toward resonance - and a genuine alignment of values with the people who follow them.

Join us as Gary ‘The Man’ van Rooyen, water sports legend and the man responsible for bringing many famous sporting footwear brands and apparel to the SA market, and international sports industry specialist and strategic event consultant, Steyn Momberg, delve into the numbers, the motivations… and the metrics.

Sought after speaker, author, futurist and South Africa Country Manager at Spencer Stuart, Guy Lundy shares the mic with John Kennedy, Director and Head of Wealth Management at Citadel Wealth Management as they discuss “What it takes to make the right business decisions in this ever-changing, data-driven world we currently live in.”

Making the right decisions to help you reach your full potential.

EVOLVX hosted by Gerald de Kock

Conversations across Sport, Business and Leadership.

Proudly brought to you by Evolv Sports Global

On the back of a feast of top international sports events from the Soccer World Cup to the back-to-back wins by the Junior Springboks in the World Rugby Junior Championships, the latest EvolvX podcast, brought to you by Evolv Sports Global, examines what it takes to build successful high-performance systems in sport. Gerald De Kock is behind the mic chatting to two individuals who have changed the approach to sports medicine and coaching - not just locally but on the global stage.

Jeroen Swart - Professor of Sports Medicine at the University of Cape Town, a specialist in Sports Medicine with a PhD in Exercise Science and who is globally recognised expert in the field of performance sport. As Head of Performance for the UAE Team Emirates World Cycling he has been the dynamo behind their success and has worked with three different Tour De France winners. 

Our other guest is former coach of the Lions rugby team, and the coach that set the Junior Boks on their winning ways in collecting the 2003 & 2005 World Championship titles. He is none other than internationally renowned Strategy and Tactical planning expert, Eugene “Loffie” Eloff.

The conversation is all about what it takes to train a sports team or individual athlete from zero to hero in today’s ever-competitive elite sporting environment. 

In our 3rd podcast, EvolvX with Gerald De Kock brings you another inspirational encounter. This time it is the turn of two very successful business entrepreneurs: Ken Kinsey-Quick, co-founder of the highly successful and well-known brand, BANHOEK CHILLI OIL and Andrew Gold, co-founder and CEO of CIOVITA, a high-end, high-performance cycling apparel brand based in Cape Town.  Listen to their stories about how they turned their passion and ideas into thriving businesses - both here in South Africa and across several international markets.

It’s honest conversations about life, business, sport and how consistency is the key ingredient to success.

EvolvX with Gerald De Kock brings you another inspirational and engaging conversation with two remarkable South African sportswomen. Hannele Steyn (aka The Last Lioness), the only woman to have competed in all 22 Cape Epic cycle races; and Adéle Niemand Zeelie, Ex-Protea Netball, 5x Cape Epic rider and Breast Cancer survivor.  Hear the remarkable stories of how they have both been to the top of the mountain and to the depths of the abyss in their sporting and personal lives.  Its honest conversations and real perspectives with lessons we can all learn from. 

In this inaugural EvolvX podcast, Gerald De Kock is in conversation with former Province and Stormers flanker, Justin Melck;  Ex WP/Stormers / Free State Cheetahs & EP Kings centre  – now turned broadcaster, Morgan Newman;  and a man who needs no introduction… the legendary triathlete Conrad “The Caveman” Stoltz. 

The conversation is an honest engagement about life after sport – it is about identity, transition and purpose once the final whistle has been blown.