The Athlete Sitdown

Jack Kenney-Herbert, is Director of Sponsorship for Sid Lee, a multidisciplinary global creative agency of brand builders. Part of the Kyu group, which is under Hakuhodo DY Holdings, Sid Lee works with a selection of the world's leading sports rights holders and sports talent and have delivered exceptional campaigns.

Jack talks to us about his 10+ years of working in and around sport, about great campaigns, including an extraordinarily successful and continuing multi-year partnership between the Brand 'Sure' and Premier League Football Clubs in the UK. He also shares what he thinks is essential for successful sports sponsorships, his aspirations for 2023, and the fact that the CEO of Sid Lee in London is a true sports fan.

Show Notes:

01:12 What sport Jack does himself 

02:18 Jack's role in Sid Lee

04:41 Oppo + Champions League partnership

05:15 Lidl + UEFA

06:06 Bringing the brand Sure into Football in the UK

08:11 The next 12-24 months in terms of collaborating with sport
- 08:36 why an individual deal with athlete can be beneficial
- 09:13 benefits of partnering with a sports team/ property 
 
10:50 Mitigating risk in campaigns and need for flexibility 

12:00 The role of tech and AI in future collaborations

14:49 'Authentic' content is now a must have

16:20 Mitigating risk in collaborations

18:25 Investing in producing proper content leads to much better outcomes/ ROI

19:39 Is there an optimum length for a collaboration/ partnership?

21:01 What industries collaborate well with sport?

22:01 Does sport transcend culture and assist in targeted messaging?

23:11 How to measure ROI?

24:54 Top 3 moments in relation to sport for Jack so far?

27:03 Biggest challenge so far in career?

28:26 Best joker encountered so far?

29:38 Person with 'Nerves of Steel'?

30:46 Biggest sports fan Jack knows

31:32 Sporting hero?

32:02 Best sports event attended so far?

32:48 Favourite way to relax?

33:09 Best thing to happen this week?

33:35 Hopes for the remainder of 2023?

END

What's the secret to being an excellent athlete? Could you succeed in being that good in four different sports along your journey as an elite athlete? 

In this episode of 'The Sitdown with Sport Endorse', our guest is Megan Henry, a USA athlete that has excelled at four sports, and is now helping athletes herself. 

We cover a lot of ground, from life threatening blood clots, the disappointment of missing out on Team USA for an Olympics after being a leading contender ranked 8th in the world, meditation, mindset, food, and much more.

Show Notes:

01:38 How Megan got involved in sport

04:31 D1 collegiate athletic career

05:06 Joining the military

07:13 What Skeleton is all about

13:21 Competing for Team USA

17:31 Important to reach out if needed

19:27 Impact of not making an Olympics

23:29 Getting into Olympic Weightlifting

25:01 Dropping weight in a short time period

29:24 Discovering life-threatening blood clots

33:11 The road to recovery

38:42 What Megan does for 'fun'!

40:36 Who would Megan like to play her in a movie

40:52 Sporting heroes

43:50 Brands that Megan uses regularly

45:28 Cheat meal choice

47:10 Athlete types and locations that Megan would work with

END

For the first episode in a series where we explore the collaboration between brands and sport and what best practice looks like, we were delighted to have Lorna Danaher, Sponsorship Manager for Energia, as our guest.

Energia is one of longest providers of green energy across the island of Ireland, and has over 250,000 customers, and as a brand, it has a strong history of aligning with sport. Lorna's experience around sponsorship for both Energia, and companies she worked with before, mark her out as an authority on sponsorship, working with sport, and how to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes.

Show Notes:

01:17 Lorna's involvement in sports

02:09 How to stay motivated

03:16 What makes Energia special

04:10 Current partnerships

05:58 Grassroots approach

08:02 Stacey Flood and Hugo Keenan as brand ambassadors

10:09 Most satisfactory collaboration to-date

17:25 Yes/No on social media

19:24 TikTok Six Nations a good thing

21:00 The team in Energia that make the sponsorship’s succeed

24:15 Mitigating risk in sponsorship

27:17 Can sport work for different industries

29:33 Does sport transcend cultures

31:10 Challenges or innovation in sport

32:49 Measuring ROI on sponsorship

35:51 Best sporting moments to-date

38:24 Tough moments

40:10 Funniest sports person

42:43 Nerves of steel sports person

43:26 Biggest sports fan in the office

44:40 Sporting hero, best sports event ever, favourite way to relax, best things to happen so far this week

47:14 Hopes for the rest of 2023

It was great to talk with Muhmmad Azmi, Founder of GYMZYG, a new UK based brand that aims to give people improved confidence by ensuring that the gym gear they wear fits properly. We discuss why Muhammad founded GYMZYG, what the aims for the brand are, why sports people make sense to help promote the range, and how AI is helping the brand to differentiate itself in what is a crowded market.

Show Notes:

01:17 Muhammad's involvement in sports

03:37 Why GYMZYG was founded

05:17 Delivering value to customers

07:37 Brand values

10:35 What's behind the name GYMZYG

13:07 Core products at the moment and plans for product range

17:18 Importance of technology to the business

19:38 Biggest challenge to-date

21:23 Best success so far

24:12 Staying motivated

26:34 Managing currency exposures

28:25 Purpose and aims for the brand

31:29 Sporting hero

33:14 Favourite way to relax

33:39 Favourite music

35:01 Favourite meal

37:29 Languages spoken

38:57 Complexity around sizing

42:23 Open to discussion with athletes

It was a pleasure to talk with Mike Flowers, a talented American basketball player who attended Western Michigan University, played for the South Alabama Jaguars, and also Washington State. A D1 Scholarship athlete, Mike was named the Sun Belt Conference's Newcomer of the Year in men's basketball in 2020-21 and currently plays for the VfL Kirchheim Knights in Germany as a combo guard. Hear how he has adjusted to Europe, his advice for collegiate players, and more about his story.

In our latest podcast, you will hear a great story about one of our rights holders in professional motorcycle sports - OMG Racing. 

Declan Bourke, our co-founder, talks with Si McNally, Head of Communications at OMG Racing.

You'll learn how OMG Racing went from being new kids on the block in 2018 to championship winners in 2022.

You’ll also hear Si’s views on rider mindset, what makes the sport so engaging with over 9.4million viewers of the championship in 2022, and what’s in store for the 2023 season. 

Learn how your business could benefit from partnering with a champion team with a fan base that reaches from the UK to Asia - contact us at [email protected] now 

Enjoy the listen!

Cross country runner and England international athlete Alex George talks to Sport Endorse Co-founder, Declan Bourke. Alex attended the University of Arkansas in America, where he was an NCAA All-American, SEC Champion, and Runner of the Year in 2016. He was also the European junior 5000m champion in 2015 and recently finished Milano Cross Challenge as champion in the 5K XC. Listen to Alex's experience as a full scholarship student athlete in America, his passion for books, his interest outside of sports and the kind of sponsors he thinks make sense.

In this episode of The Sitdown With Sport Endorse podcast, we feature the story of an Irish female athlete with a bright future in competitive football. In addition to playing college football in America, Hayley is now a professional football player for London City Lionesses. Hayley is available for partnerships and collaborations on the sport endorse platform for sponsors to unlock the potential of sports ambassador marketing. 

In spite of the record ticket sales and live global audience during this year's Women's Euro 22, the sponsorship dollars that go to women's sports and female athletes are still a small fraction of those allocated to men's sports and athletes. With this episode, we hope to contribute to changing this by getting more brands to listen in. 

Show Notes :

2:00 Childhood motivation to get involved in sports

3:20 First itch to play professional football 

4:50 Competitive rivalry among siblings acted as the driving force to be a professional athlete

6:00 Decision to moving to America to play college football is one I recommend to other teenage girls 

8:00 America has many successful role models in female football to learn from

9:15 Influence of Head Coach Lisa fallon to join London City Lionesses 

11:00 Embrace the opportunity to move to new places and learn from the different sporting in ideologies 

13:00 Mentality it takes to return to playing after a serious injury

15:00 Understood a gap in the market to launch a side business with her sister 

17:00 Lack of female participation in sport at a young age is something to remedy

19:00 Euro 22 witnessed a transformational landscape encouraging women's football

21:00 Personal aspirations on sponsorship & resonance with like minded partners

24:00 Open to promotional opportunities in person, social media, podcasts & events

26:00 Experience of being on TV series on a BBC show on football

26:45 In order for women’s football to catch up to men’s, the media can help promote the women’s game across social media, notice boards, radio stations, and buses.

Links: 

Hayley Nolan’s Instagram

Sport Endorse Website

Sport Endorse Instagram

Sport Endorse LinkedIn

About Sport Endorse:
A revolutionary sports sponsorship platform that facilitates end-to-end sport endorsement opportunities by connecting elite athletes with brands.

About Manav Bhatia : 

Learn more about Manav, your host and the Marketing Manager at Sport Endorse, by clicking here.   

Tune in to this episode, where we speak with professional footballer Georgie Kelly, the centre-forward from Rotherham United and leading Irish goal scorer in 2021. Georgie discusses some of the motivations, inspirations, and achievements as a professional football player and talks about some of the challenges of being a professional athlete while studying in University. He shares his thoughts on environmental sustainability and the role athletes and clubs can play in protecting our planet.

Social Links-

IG: @georgie_kelly_

IG: @sport_endorse

Show notes:

1:33 Inspiration for becoming professional footballer

3:00 Favourite players and clubs growing up

3:33 Motivations for becoming a professional athlete 

5:25 Playing professional football in the UK 

7:05 Highlights of being a professional athlete

8:00 Achieving sports and career goals

8:35 New teams, trades, and locker room dynamics

11:09 English Football League championship

12:01 Athlete superstitions and pregame rituals

12:53 Advise on balancing education and professional athletics

15:16 Value of renewable energy and environmental finance 

19:05 Improving environmental sustainability practices for athletes and clubs

23:05 Raising consciousness about environmentally safe practices and individual habits

25:11 Role of sponsors in sports 

26:25 Environmentally friendly brands and sponsors

33:00 Bridging the gap between athletes and sponsors through Sport Endorse

Joel is an Olympic medalist who has excelled at elite level in Athletics and Bobsleigh, representing Great Britain on the world stage in both sports. 

Joel won Olympic bronzein the 4-man Bobsleigh event at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. He also claims a place in the history books when he clocked 9.96 seconds in the 100m at an English championships in Bedford 

On this episode, Joel opens about his friendly, family-man side and on how he enjoys motivating the next generation to achieve the pinnacle in sport 

Listen to the whole conversation with Manav Bhatia available on your favourite streaming platform now! 

Instagram
@joelfearon6