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People and Pop Culture

Hangin' With ... Gramercy Global Media Managing Director Troy Pugmire

TROY PUGMIRE is the managing director of int'l online marketing agency gramercy global media. The company, which was founded in '09, provides a variety of services, such as search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, web analytics and website monetization. Gramercy global media's main focus is in the sports, entertainment and media industry. Pugmire covers the bases between the company's N.Y., Berlin, Munich, London and Singapore offices. Prior to joining gramercy global media he worked in the music industry, for IMG and the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing Meadows. Pugmire talked to SBD Global about online marketing in sports, differences between European and U.S. sport organziations and his love for Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.

On what customers are looking for ...
Troy Pugmire: Our customers usually engage us to help them sell more merchandise, tickets, memberships or subscriptions on the Internet. We get the best results from paid-search campaigns on Google and Bing because people who search are obviously telling us what they are looking for -- we can in turn connect the person searching for a team shirt with the official online shop. Social media campaigns -- the Facebook ads in the right column -- allow for excellent targeting by interest, geography etc. and produce great results for our clients as well. Recently we have been approached more frequently about affordable website solutions -- of course a better website will produce better online sales, so we can combine a new site with our online marketing services.

Troy Pugmire
On targeting European sport organizations and the differences to their U.S. counterparts ...
Pugmire: I grew up in Germany, speak German fluently and visit friends and family there often. Most teams and sports organizations in Germany were not utilizing any form of online marketing several years ago. There was a greater opportunity than in the U.S. in offering online marketing services in Germany and other European countries simply because it had rarely been tried before. Teams in the U.S. are and have been more sophisticated in utilizing online marketing. In addition, teams in the U.K. and Germany work much more independently -- for example, every team runs its own merchandise shop; there is no consolidation as in the U.S. leagues -- which makes it easier to find the person in charge and sign a contract for an individual team than it is in the U.S.

On the future of online marketing in sports ...
Pugmire: Online marketing will probably never completely replace traditional marketing -- there will always be outdoor space that can be utilized for advertising, for example. However, online marketing will continue to grow and have an impact on traditional advertising. Online marketing offers advantages such as being able to track user interaction and sales, more flexibility with budgets and creative as well as a usually very good ROI.

On gramercy global media's growth potential ...
Pugmire: Our website portfolio has been growing over the past two years and we are exploring new opportunities building websites for sports leagues, associations and players. They often can’t find a solution for a professional-looking website that won’t break the bank. We are also looking at expanding beyond Europe and the U.S. into areas such as the Caribbean, South America and Asia -- there is a lot of opportunity to promote products and services here as the internet and e-commerce continues to develop.

On his favorite sport and working in the industry ...
Pugmire: I played soccer as a kid and it remains the sport I love to play and watch in the stadium or on TV. I attended my first Werder Bremen game when I was 10 or 11 and have been a fan ever since. Of course one gains a much greater understanding of the business of sports when working with services and sales figures every day. I was employed with IMG before gramercy global media and have been able to work in sports business on both the client and agency side, which has been a valuable experience.

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