Forsyth Barnes’ Post

Transcript

Hi everyone, welcome back to the part of the Approach podcast. For those who's tuning in, this is a podcast series where I sit down with some of the most talented and successful execs in sports and entertainment, learning about their journey so far, the path to success in sports business, as well as career related industry topics as well. Today I'm sat with Kareem for Tea, a successful marketing exec in the industry and. Things about team side, he's worked agency side and he's now leading marketing in North America for Hublot. Kareem, welcome to the podcast and thanks for joining. Thank you for having me. Course, Kareem. Good place. I'd really like to start these things off. Talk to us about I guess that journey for you, how you initially got into the industry. Take us way back to Kareem's first taste of sports business and, and what that looked like then. Yeah, for sure. So both been passionate about sports, particularly soccer since I was a kid growing up in Egypt. Soccer is more than just a game. It's a cultural phenomenon. People are crazy about it. And this passion led me to pursue opportunities, different ones within the industry. My journey first began with my local team, Zamalek Sporting Club or award various hats within the marketing department. And then I launched their social media channels, which was the first of its kind back in 2011. Across the Middle East and Africa and this was the time when digital media has just started to take off in the region. The experience was very eye opening and transformative, kind of felt like a merge of my love for sports with marketing and it opened doors to doing a lot of different opportunities across. International sports properties, I volunteered in the on 2012 under 20 FIFA World Cup in Turkey, did a diploma in sports management with FIFA as well through CIS, their educational arm. And that led me to further pursue educational opportunities in the US and Ohio University where I pursued my MBA in sports marketing. And those foundational experiences kind of ignited a deep interest in sports marketing and set me on the path. Have to work with some of the biggest names in the industry during my time as port 5. Nice, nice. And just talk to us about, I guess growing up in Egypt. I know one Egyptian king by the way, who made it big time in the in the Premier League for my loyal, my loyal Liverpool Football Club. But you know, it's rare and being honest with you, it's rare that you see a lot of people coming out of Egypt on the sports business side. You're probably one of maybe two or three people that I know in the industry. Talk about, you know, I guess any kind of challenges that you came across because I think it's one thing knowing that you love sports or you love soccer in your case, and you know, you want to make it somehow involved in in the world of soccer. I think it's another thing actually taking the necessary steps to be able to go out and do it and overcome some of the hurdles that you know. People not just in your shoes, but in in similar shoes, whether it's in Egypt or anywhere else, typically tend to face. Yeah, I think, I think. The biggest aspect is trying to network and, and get as many opportunities as possible, whether it's internships or volunteering and getting exposed to different experiences. And that has has opened a lot of doors for me. And one thing definitely so the other. The sports industry is as big as it is, it's still very small and the 1st through 2nd degree of, of connection has always been there. And having the opportunity to transition across different continents has made me more adaptable, open to continuous learning, but also build a strong network of obviously born raised in Egypt, but I've worked in Paris and I've worked in the US and each region has its unique market dynamics and consumer behavior, different cultures as well. So being able to immerse in that and learning how, for instance, in Europe, particularly in Paris where I was with Port 5. It taught me a lot about the intricacies of European culture and how sports marketing is evolving there. Moving to the US has a different set of challenges and opportunities. The landscape is definitely more developed, diverse and commercially driven. Yeah. So don't experience is just continue to equip you with the global perspective in the world of sports and make you just more versatile than individual. And you've done a few, a few gigs out in the US before you got the Paris gig, right? So you from knowing you personally, you obviously works at the US Soccer Federation, DC United, the Columbus Crew. How did those kind of opportunities come about for you? Yeah, for sure. There my time at Ohio, one of the kind of core competencies of the of the program is the alumni network. So being able to tap into that, complementing with my studies has been key in order to just get as many hands on experiences as possible. As you've said, I've done event marketing for US Soccer Federation. Manship marketing for DC United. Stream marketing for Columbus Crew. As well as like different consulting projects and case studies. My graduation or capstone project was with Mrs. So tapping on those opportunities, putting yourself out there and not afraid to kind of learn what you like and dislike. And I think it kind of hones your interest specifically in this sports marketing field specifically. And so Sport 5 come knocking. Obviously, they've got an opportunity business with a huge focus on on soccer. I know they've adapted and they've kind of grown in a bunch of different areas over the years. But at that time at least, you know, soccer was was a kind of main focus for them, right. So that must have been, I guess, a big opportunity for you to step into, you know, this one thing. Doing it in an internship environment, it's one thing. And doing it in a contracting environment, it's another thing. Getting a full time gig in Paris, a big city for soccer as well. And with one of the, you know, the the most highly regarded sports agencies in Europe as well. How's that kind of opportunity for you And, and just kind of talk us through you first. Well, guess what you have for five, seven years, six years. 3-7 years total. Yeah, through that kind of experience, yeah, it was definitely eye opening in a lot of senses. So I first mentioned started back then it was like it sports and their Paris headquarters focusing mainly on the Confederation of African Football and the Libyan national team competitions and doing all the digital marketing for the confederation as well as the different brand partners they've had back then Total, Visa, Orange and and many more. So being. Be able to dive deep into that and also Africa's very diverse in terms of. Sports landscape was definitely eye opening and. Seeing how you can. Evolve an experiment in a lot of different ways, uh, in a, in a non traditional continent was very rewarding. And that then led me to the opportunity to move to New York to more or less help fixed or the, the agencies digital business in North America. And we started initially in the, in the soccer space with the Bruce Dorman, which was our first client doing all things from content creative, internationalization and brand building in, in North America. Which was quite successful and led to us. Winning more business across across the soccer space, we had Atletico Madrid, Flamengo FC, Augsburg and CONCACAF and done some different projects with clients like the Bundesliga, which then led the agency to launch a a global division focused on. Mainly helping sports properties grow, engage and monetize their fan bases worldwide. And we expand into other sports across the NFL, NBA, Tennis, Golf and rugby. Working with clients like The Jets, the Lakers, Raptors, Mavericks, Celtics, U.S. Open and like various PGA tournaments. So yeah, it was definitely, definitely journey. Sounds like you've mentioned you just reeled off and this is just off the bat as well. And what 78910 high profile sports teams? There must have been that sort of pinch me moment at some point where, you know, this kid growing up in Egypt, love soccer, wanted to to make it gone out and actually made it happen for themselves. And, you know, now you're involved in and working with them, partnering with all of these businesses with wherever. That kind of first moment where you just had to kind of take another step back and look around and think, holy **** like this is good. Yeah, definitely. I think it happened early on when I was at Sport 5 in Paris, actually during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. It was in Gabon and we spent like over like a month there three tournament and during and post. But it was during the the final. I was kind of an incredible opportunity. We had multiple brand activations and I was pitch side. So just kind of seeing the the stadium in full and remember using to I used to watch this competition growing up, the Egyptian national team playing in it. Egypt won like three times in a row when I was a kid, so it's definitely memorable competition. And yeah, the atmosphere is electric. Being there, being able to see like the players and Egypt was in the final we lost. But being this close to the action and like witnessing all the behind the scenes operations and executing at a major event was surreal. And it was truly a moment that reinforced my passion and working in the sports industry, it's always good to hear those stories. I think it's, it's quite easy, especially the longer you're in the industry to kind of take it for granted a little. It's just a good moment of reflection for people sometimes just hearing it through someone else's voice to kind of step back and, and you know. Have to think about what they've achieved and, and how they've got to where they've got to and some of the kind of accolades and achievements along the way are always are always memorable from the sound of it. So 78 support 5, you've done the team side, you worked at the Crew for a while, you've done DC United, obviously through Spotify. I can imagine you would have picked up a lot of relationships with both brands and rights holders as well. How did the Hublot opportunity kind of come about? Was that something that I guess? For you from a personal standpoint, was this something that you always had the ambition of wanting to go and work brand side and kind of, you know, complete that overview and marketing overview I should say from each perspective of sat in each of those seats, if that makes sense. Yeah, definitely. I think it's it's a mix of intentional planning and just using opportunities. During my time at Sport 5, majority of my work was for sports properties and obviously having sports property experience prior, but now being that a luxury brand has provided kind of a 360�� view of the entire industry. In sports you've got like either it's property agency or brand or media like broadcast or such. I think each role has its unique. Sort of challenges and learning experiences that kind of like enrich your understanding of how the how each stakeholder connects with one another. And my journey was first started in like digital media and fan engagement was the foundation. But my transition was to support five was more about like broadening my scope, working with the high profile clients. Developing like innovative multi platform campaigns would look kind of felt like a natural progression where I can apply my sports marketing knowledge and expertise to a luxury brand that's quite active in the in the sports. Industry and this experience in general has kind of allowed me to understand the nuances from different perspective and becoming just a more well-rounded marketer. How, how would you say that marketing? Differs between kind of representing a sports team directly a brand or a team out of sports agency or a brand of sports agency and you know, to now obviously work in for a luxury blant brand like like Hoopla. Are there kind of different perspectives and different ways of of how marketing needs to be done? Or is it the same foundation just kind of executed in slightly different ways that make sense? Yeah, I think the foundation is the same. There's definitely a lot of overlap. When you're on the team side, it's more about direct fan engagement. Uh yeah. Building loyalty and affinity, understanding the real pulse of the fans and creating those memorable experiences. From the agency side, you get exposed to kind of running a business and the importance of scalability, creative ideation, multitasking, and being in an in a more fast-paced environment. On the brand side, I think it's kind of learning how you can merge luxury branding. Sports marketing focusing on the exclusivity, the storytelling and creating those like premium high end experiences. But in some sense they're all connected. But I think the the way of execution obviously differs based on the objectives and how you're trying to reach the end ban or consumer.