GroupM Canada has added a new partnerships and brand engagement unit designed to provide advertisers with impactful, multi-platform sports marketing programs.
GroupM Sports & Live will offer Canadian clients media and advertising with sports-specific brand consulting, partnership marketing and media partnership amplification. It will work across GroupM agencies EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker to offer clients scale and seamless access to engaged audiences.
“We have seen significant growth in this space over the last few years so this move to formalize the offering and invest in its growth is a testament to the opportunity and to the team’s ability to deliver outstanding sports and live experiences to our clients,” says Kevin Johnson, CEO of GroupM Canada.
The team of specialists will be led by EVP Jim Kozak (pictured, above), who brings more than two decades of experience in global sports marketing to his new position. He most recently lead sports and entertainment teams as an SVP at EssenceMediacom. Prior to that, he was a VP at sports-centric agency Wasserman and on the Olympic team at CBC.
“Over the last few years, sports programming and live events have strongly and brightly rebounded in parallel with strong investment across the industry,” Kozak says. “We know GroupM Sports & Live and its bespoke offerings will allow us to drive more overall value for our clients because we will be more deeply engrained in the planning process with them.”
The launch comes amid a period of rapid growth in the North American sports sponsorship market, which has had an average 9.3% year-over-year increase since 2020.
“While the success of sports-oriented campaigns and partnerships are contingent upon the KPIs its measured against, the ripple effect in this industry is unlike any other,” Kozak says. “Sports intersects several aspects of pop culture – music, fashion and technology to name a few – and there are incredible opportunities for brands to get involved. Viewers who watch sports are fervent and loyal in their fandoms, and that’s an exciting environment for an advertiser.”
