With two of Emerge Sports Management’s three clients heading to the Olympic Games, the Rio 2016 hype is something the new female-focused agency is quick to embrace. The agency, a partnership between 100and10% and investment group ESRG announced the signing of Team GB athletes judoka Nekoda Davis and paracanoeist Emma Wiggs along with England national team football player Jordan Nobbs at the beginning of July. With the Rio Games Opening Ceremony on Friday, 100and10% Managing Dir Jonathan Wilson said securing Olympians was an ideal start for the company, which is based outside of London in Wokingham. “Key to our timings with Emerge was making sure that we had an opportunity to hopefully sign up some athletes in the buildup to [Rio] 2016,” said Wilson, who founded 100and10% nine years ago. Through arranging national interviews and appearances on sports programs,
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| Jonathan Wilson |
Wilson said the agency is building up its brand as the athletes prepare for the biggest stage of their careers. "We’re putting all of our plans in place to maximize and utilize any opportunity that 2016 provides us," Wilson said. "We need to help build their profile in order to help them commercially. We recognize the fact that they’re not going to be the most recognizable and noticeable yet, but they’re on a really exciting journey, and that’s what we want people to buy into.”
IN FOR THE LONG-HAUL: The journey is something Emerge is keen to invest in, said Wilson. With both Davis and Wiggs looking to extend their careers to another Olympics, Wilson said a key strategy for the company is to emphasize their athletes’ long-term goals. “With regards to the next four years, our job is ultimately to use our PR and our communication skills to further raise their profile and explain to people this isn’t just a once-every-four-year opportunity for them,” Wilson said. “They’ll be working towards Tokyo 2020, but in the meantime, there are World Championships, European Championships, Commonwealth Games and major international competitions that allow people to get excited about what it is they are doing in the buildup to what will be hopefully another successful Olympics in 2020.” Highlighting the company’s long-term commitment to its athletes, Business Development Head Jenny Forbes noted the fact that both Davis and Wiggs were signed before they completed their Olympic trials. “The significant thing here was that we didn’t target athletes that were going to Rio. … We actually started working with Nekoda before her Olympic trials. It was fantastic that she qualified. But it was never about us working with her
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| Jenny Forbes |
because she’s going to Rio. She’s very young and her target was always the Tokyo Olympics. So we’re absolutely delighted that she’s got the chance to go to Rio this year.” Forbes said the case was the same for Wiggs. After the paralympian questioned whether the agency wanted to wait until after the trials to partner, Forbes quickly dismissed the suggestion. “I said straight out, ‘I’m committed to working with you whatever the result,’” Forbes recalled. “She qualified and that’s the journey that we’re going on together at the moment.” With two Rio-bound athletes and a national team football player on the roster, the new agency is optimistic about the future. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start, really,” Forbes said.
