Name: Adam Brown
Position: KPMG Senior Sports Marketing & Sponsorships Associate
Age: 27
Where I’m from: Wyckoff, N.J.
Where I call home: Wyckoff, N.J.
Focusing on right now: Activation around player sponsorships for the ’17 PGA Tour and LPGA seasons.
Best advice: You never know when somebody’s watching. You could be doing something like passing out fliers to get people to come to a basketball game like I did in college or moving pin flags at a golf tournament, or you can be creating an entire promotional strategy around an event. You never know when someone may be watching, and the attitude you take is extremely significant.
A must for a new hire: Work ethic. Everyone on our team is willing to go the extra mile and put in that extra time. Attention to detail is also a big deal when putting on the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship each summer. Every single detail is really important. Paying attention to a small logistical thing that we may be working on right now in November will pay off down the road.
Exec I admire most: Under Armour Founder, Chair and CEO KEVIN PLANK is pretty impressive. He started that company from the ground up, and now they’re on the world stage battling Nike. I particularly admire the way he’s differentiated the brand from Nike while taking them on head-to-head. Not to mention the foresight on the sponsorship side, getting STEPHEN CURRY and JORDAN SPIETH before they were each the next big thing.
Best book I’ve read this year: I took a lot away from “MONEYBALL” by MICHAEL LEWIS, the major thing being that there’s not only one way to do something successfully. People have been picking baseball players and building teams for years, but BILLY BEANE and the A’s weren’t afraid to take a chance and take a different approach. They may not have won the World Series, but that spearheaded the analytics movement in baseball.
First thing in the morning: I start most mornings by checking my Twitter feed. You never know what you’re going to miss overnight, especially in the sports world. I also read the daily emails from The Skimm.
Talking tech: ShotLink and ProTracer technology have really elevated the game of golf. Fans can now find out what percentage PHIL MICKELSON is putting from 45 feet, shots from the fairway and the rough and scrambling. You can see the swing speed and the apex of the shot. It’s certainly helped us at KPMG because we can integrate that data into our social and digital platforms and then tie it back to what KPMG does.
Must-have music: I like a variety of music and a lot of the top hits. BRUNO MARS is turning out a hit a week, it seems. Every time he puts something out, it gets everybody going.
Food for thought: If I had one choice -- actually, two choices -- it would be brick-oven pizza or, if I’m going to a chain or for fast food, I’ll always look for a Chick-fil-A. If I’m going on a road trip and I need a quick bite, I’ll certainly try to see if I can find one on the way.
How I unwind: I’m a pretty big Penn State football fan and a supporter of their athletics in general, so I’m pretty excited about the year we’re having. There’s always sports on in my house, regardless of what season it is.
Day in the life: Most of my role is working on the KPMG Women’s PGA, ensuring that our employees are connected to our golf sponsorships and making sure that everybody is involved in some way, from top to bottom. We have pro-am spots and things like that, but we also have associates and new hires coming right out of college and working at the championship volunteering. I also work on some of the promotion for the event. Last year I organized the Mariners promotion where a couple of LPGA players threw out the first pitch and had a chipping contest on home plate before a Mariners game and got to meet some of the players.
