Pitch Marketing Group, the independent sports and entertainment marketing agency, has announced the appointment of Luke Wilson in the role of Head of Partnerships to lead its sponsorship consultancy and activation business; Pitch Partnerships. This news follows the agency’s most successful year ever in terms of accolades and profitability, and a series of high-profile senior hires such as Mark Norcutt from Saatchi and Saatchi in the role of Executive Creative Director.
Pitch Partnerships is a specialist department within ESA member Pitch Marketing Group, which provides commercial consultancy, brand positioning and sales strategy for rights holders, as well as sponsorship negotiation, strategy and activation for consumer brands. It sits alongside Pitch PR – the 7th fastest growing PR agency in the UK according to PR Week – and Pitch Productions, the agency’s in-house creative studio.
The addition of Luke’s expertise to the leadership team will provide further ratification of Pitch’s industry-leading credentials in football. He brings with him more than a decade of invaluable experience delivering high profile sponsorship campaigns from both agency and in-house roles; having provided strategic insight and commercial consultancy to globally recognised brands and rights holders.
He joins Pitch following a two-year spell in Switzerland at UEFA’s exclusive agency for Club Competitions: TEAM Marketing AG. It was here that he led a team responsible for managing UEFA Champions League Partners including Nissan, PlayStation, Santander and Gazprom. Prior to that he spent four years at Arsenal Football Club, managing a mixture of global and regional partnerships with Vitality, Europcar, Gatorade and Citroen among others.
Luke will work alongside Managing Partner – Adam Raincock, and Chris Allen who was recently promoted to Director of Campaigns across the group. He’ll be responsible for the direction and development of the Pitch Partnerships team whose clients include Hyundai, TAG Heuer and Pokémon.
Adam Raincock, Managing Partner of Pitch Marketing Group, said: “Luke is a world class operator whose experience spans rights holder and agency, working on some of the biggest partnerships in the world. Pitch Marketing Group has got arguably the best football clients out there ranging from the Premier League and The FA to Tag Heuer and BT Sport and his pedigree only enhances this further. His appointment is the next step in our journey and follows off the back of strong financial growth and new business wins.”
Luke Wilson, Head of Partnerships said: ‘It goes without saying that I’m excited by this opportunity to lead a rapidly-growing division at an agency with established expertise, credentials, and a reputation for repeatedly delivering innovative, creative and high-impact work across the industry. I’ve been impressed by the incredibly strong roster of football clients at Pitch, and by the passion and ambition of the team. My focus is on the continued growth of Pitch Partnerships in football and beyond, but also to deliver high profile, award-winning work, and tangible business results for our clients.”
–ENDS–
About Pitch Marketing Group
Pitch Marketing Group is an independent, creative marketing agency that delivers distinctive campaigns across the worlds of consumer, lifestyle, sport and entertainment. It was founded by Henry Chappell in 2002 and now boasts 45 full-time staff at its central London headquarters.
Pitch Marketing Group is split into three specialist divisions – PR, Production and Partnerships. The multi-award-winning agency has established an unrivalled portfolio of clients that includes brands, governing bodies, and media organisations such as ASICS, Beats by Dre, BT Sport, Hyundai, the Premier League, Red Bull, TAG Heuer and Uber Eats.
For further information please contact:
Maria Nicolaides – Senior Marketing Manager
E: maria.nicolaides@pitch.co.uk
T: 020 7494 1616