Sports marketing company Jung von Matt/sports Co-Managing Dir Raphael Brinkert told SBD Global the goal of the newly founded division is to become Germany's top sports marketing agency. Brinkert: "Short-term plans are to attend to one top client within each of these categories: clubs, associations, enterprises and athletes. Long-term goal is to become Germany's leading creative sports marketing agency." JvM/sports, which launched on July 1 and is part of Hamburg-based ad agency group Jung von Matt, will focus on developing innovative sports marketing concepts for corporations, clubs, associations and athletes -- ranging from individual measures geared toward securing sponsorships to integrated campaigns. Brinkert: "We are in contact with several leading associations, clubs and enterprises and hope to be able to communicate our first acquisitions within the next couple of weeks." Asked how JvM/sports wants to compete with more established sports agencies, he said, "One major advantage that distinguishes all Jung von Matt agencies is the strive for creative excellence. Excellent creative output is one of our key assets in combination with a very experienced set up: two former pros and a highly experienced sports manager ensure the expertise our clients expect."
THE TIME HAS COME: JvM was founded in '91 and has managed to become one of Europe's leading ad agencies. Asked why it took JvM more than 20 years to get into sports marketing, Brinkert said, "In the past couple of years sport marketing has continuously gained importance, which we have permanently noticed when developing campaigns for our major clients such as Mercedes, Bitburger or Bild." He added, "Our wish to get majorly involved in sports has been around for quite a while -- also due to this growing interest from our clients’ side. Having Katja Kraus and Christoph Metzelder join in is a major bonus for this business venture; they are our absolute first choice candidates."
THREE-HEADED MONSTER: Kraus and Metzelder are both former professional football players and together with Brinkert the managing directors of JvM/sports. Asked about the odd constellation in charge of the new venture, Brinkert said, "I had the chance to work with Katja and Christoph in the past on several campaigns and projects that have won multiple sponsoring awards. At the time they were my clients so to say, and we had a very fruitful and energetic working relationship." He added, "Katja is an expert in everything to do with clubs and the marketing and commercialization of them. Christoph is a former international who speaks the language of the pros and who has very valuable knowledge in all CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] matters due to his foundation work. And I would like to add my experience from advertising, social media and marketing, so that we can cover all aspects and facets of sports marketing."
