Slingshot Sponsorship Appoints New Account Director to Launch Sport Division
23rd April, 2014
Slingshot Sponsorship announces that Alex Howells will be joining its London office as an Account Director to head up the agency’s new sport division, as it seeks to drive its ‘creative commercialisation’ concept to rights-owners within the sports industry.
Howells takes up the position at Slingshot with over 9 years of experience across the sports marketing and sponsorship sectors, with previous roles at the Football Association and E.ON. Most recently he has been a key member of the Partnerships team at Sport England where he was responsible for growing Sport England’s portfolio of partners and providing specialist commercial support to national governing bodies of sport.
Jackie Fast, Managing Director at Slingshot Sponsorship, said: “We have been on the hunt for a new Director of Sport for some time as it is incredibly difficult to find senior people who have a combination of strong creativity and commercial acumen. Combining that with proven account management, Alex’s breadth of experience with both influential brands and sporting bodies was an ideal fit for our agency as we look to bring our sponsorship concept to the sporting industry.”
The new Sport Division will deliver fresh insight through the agency’s previous success developing unique commercial strategies and brand campaigns in music, arts and the charity sector.
Slingshot Sponsorship has developed a bespoke sport offering to the industry at a defining time in sports marketing. Sports with smaller audiences are all too often overlooked for their partnership potential because of the lack of television reach, while mass market sports largely sell their sponsorship based on these figures. Slingshot works with both brands and rights owners to look beyond the logo, aided by the advance of technology which is driving both innovation and speed. Jackie Fast states that, “It is now the perfect opportunity to maximise the true potential of sport campaigns that drive engagement – rather than just brand awareness.”
Alex Howells, Account Director, Slingshot Sponsorship stated: “It’s a privilege to join the team at Slingshot. Slingshot do things differently and the agency’s accomplishments in such a short space of time are an indication of the commitment, drive and energy of Jackie and her team. I’m excited to be a part of it and help bring Slingshot’s creativity to sport.”
Howells will carry on the work with Slingshot’s current sport clients, while creating tailored offerings to the industry as a whole with a focus on maximising both participants and commercial revenue streams through effective marketing partnerships. He will also be responsible for building the profile of smaller sports and women’s sport within the sponsorship industry as a whole.
